HAITI

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12 has taken the lives of an estimated 50,000 people, and has left 300,000 people homeless. The UN estimates that more than 3 million people have been affected.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has described the earthquake devastation as the worst humanitarian crisis for decades. Tens of thousands of people remain in the streets of Port au Prince, desperate for aid and terrified by aftershocks that continue to rattle the area.

Haiti is consistently ranked the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and is therefore wholly dependent on the support of the international community to recover from a crisis of this scale.

UNHCR's High Commissioner António Guterres has offered the full assistance of the agency to support the emergency relief effort.

To date UNHCR has deployed an emergency team of Protection Officers to the region as part of the joint UN response. The UN has launched an initial consolidated appeal for close to $600 million to help the victims of the earthquake.

We remain in discussion with our partner agencies regarding the scope of our involvement, and will update this page as soon as we have more details.

With a 7.0 magnitude earthquake having devastated Haiti, the world’s news agencies are providing daily reports on the unfolding situation in the country. Below is a selection of some of the recent articles in the media and from UNHCR’s news team which highlight the dire situation on the ground.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Haitian quake survivors, UNHCR News Stories, 10 Feb 2010

UNHCR reiterates strong commitment to help humanitarian effort in Haiti, UNHCR News Stories, 19 Jan 2010

UN refugee agency ready to assist in response to Haiti earthquake, UNHCR News, Stories 13 Jan 2010