Canada's Funding Allocation in response to Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean

On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew tore through Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, affecting over 1.24 million people in Haiti alone. Based on recent assessments, Canada is allocating humanitarian assistance funding of $4.58 million for Cuba and Haiti.

Cuba

Through the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund (CHAF), a Global Affairs Canada-financed draw-down fund managed by the Humanitarian Coalition and designed to provide a timely and effective response to rapid-onset crises, Canada contributed $200,000 to Oxfam Canada to provide CHAF-funded clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, basic shelter, including tarps, and other non-food items for up to 4,800 people in the municipality of Baracoa, Guantanamo province, Cuba.

In response to Hurricane Matthew's impact on Cuba, the World Food Programme is launching an emergency operation to respond to immediate food and logistical needs. Canada is contributing $300,000 to the operation that will transport and distribute food assistance up to 180,000 people in the most affected regions of Guantanamo and Holgiun provinces.

Haiti

On October 6, 2016, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched an emergency relief operation to support the Haitian Red Cross Society in providing immediate assistance to approximately 50,000 people for twelve months. The operation will focus on meeting the health, water and sanitation, and shelter needs to those affected by the floods in the departments of Sud, Grand Anse, Nippes, Sud-est, Ouest and Nord-ouest. Canada is supporting this emergency relief operation through the Canadian Red Cross Society by contributing $300,000.

Through the CHAF, Canada is contributing $280,000 to Save the Children Canada to provide clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, hygiene kits and child friendly spaces for up to 5,800 people in the communes of Camp Perrin and Beaumon in the Departments of South and Grande Anse, Haiti.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) serves as the regional office for the Americas of the World Health Organization. PAHO will assist in scaling up their operation in Haiti, which currently includes rapid response emergency health units, and the provision of medical personnel, essential medication and vaccines, as well as much needed medical supplies. Canada’s contribution of $400,000 will assist PAHO with treating and containing the reported cholera outbreak in Haiti, which will likely be exacerbated by the Hurricane.

Canada’s $900,000 contribution to UNICEF will assist in the delivery of water and sanitation services which will be critical in containing outbreaks such as cholera. Additionally, support will provide food assistance nutrition inputs and protection services to the most vulnerable populations, with a specific emphasis on women and children.

Haiti is experiencing significant harvest, food stock and production loss. In response, the World Food Programme (WFP) is working to meet the immediate food needs of the most affected populations. Additionally, WFP has strong logistical capacity in the country and is providing a critical function in the coordination and delivery of assistance. Canada’s contribution of $1,000,000 to WFP will assist in the provision of food rations to the most vulnerable, including women and children, cash assistance to allow beneficiaries to meet their own needs, and the delivery and coordination of food assistance to the heavily impacted regions of Haiti which remain isolated or hard to reach.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is the primary humanitarian partner coordinating assistance in the sectors of shelter and logistics in the wake of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. Canada’s support of $1,200,000 to the IOM will assist in the establishment and management of temporary shelter for displaced people, the distribution of essential items such as tarps, shelter kits, hygiene kits, and water treatment supplies and the coordination of relief stocks entering the country.

Working with the Canadian Red Cross, Global Affairs Canada is dispatching relief supplies from warehouses in Mississauga Ontario to support emergency relief operations in Haiti. The relief supplies will be distributed by the Haitian Red Cross Society, to help meet the immediate needs of up to 2,000 families affected by the hurricane. The relief supplies include tarpaulins and shelter toolkits to help provide temporary shelter, basic household items such as kitchen sets and hygiene kits (which include items such as soap and toothbrushes), as well as jerry cans and buckets to safely transport clean water.

Global Affairs Canada has supported the maintenance of relief supplies at readiness for international deployment since 1999. Today, these supplies are warehoused in Mississauga and Dubai and used to support international response efforts following large-scale crises.