Together saving more lives

Haiti Earthquake 2010

Hait Earthquake; Humanitarian Crisis Haiti; aid agencies, humanitarian crises, international aid agencies, canadian aid agencies

Population affected:

3 million

Funds raised:

15.2 million

Beginning of the appeal

January 12, 2010

On January 12, 2010 a powerful earthquake 7.3 on Richter scale - struck Haiti near its capital Port-au-Prince. The earthquake caused catastrophic destruction throughout the city of 2 million inhabitants, capital of the poorest country in the northern hemisphere. In addition to countless deaths, the humanitariandisaster has claimed 3 million victims. 

The Canadian aid agencies of the Humanitarian Coalition have been present in Haiti for more than five decades and had more than 600 staff working in the country when the earthquake hit on January 12th, 2010. They, and other Canadian and international aid agencies, immediately responded to meet the urgent needs of survivors of the quake.

The Humanitarian Coalition and its members fundraised over $15.5 million for humanitarian response programs for disaster survivors.  Since the earthquake, the members of the Humanitarian Coalition have effectively contributed to rebuilding Haiti alongside the survivors of the earthquake. The members of the Humanitarian Coalition have reached hundreds of thousands of Haitians through its donor program with essential and urgently needed assistance, while also supporting recovery and reconstruction efforts.

To find out more about the efforts of these organizations in Haiti, please read below.

Our Member Agencies' Response

CARE Canada
Oxfam Canada & Oxfam Québec
Save the Children Canada

CARE’s Response to the Haiti Earthquake Crisis

CARE's assistance began the morning after the quake. Even though many of our staff in Haiti had lost their own homes and family, they immediately went to work surveying the damage and needs and mounting recovery and relief efforts. CARE has reached more than 290,000 beneficiaries through the distribution of tarps, tents, shelter kits, ropes, mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans, hygiene, clean delivery kits, newborn kits and food and is providing access to water through installation of water bladders and water tankers, in Port-au-Prince, Pétionville, Carrefour, Léogâne, and Jérémie.

Shipments of tents and shelter supplies have been delivered and CARE is mobilizing additional staff to assist in setting up temporary shelters in Leogane. The United Nations is also now supplying CARE with reproductive health kits and clean delivery kits for distribution. CARE is currently targeting 106,053 beneficiaries through latrine construction and 44,550 through water trucking in Carrefour and Léogâne. Additionally, CARE is creating 20 women's centres in Carrefour and Leogane to help prevent gender-based violence and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, and is helping improve health facilities for victims of gender-based violence.

Find out more about Care Canada's work in Haiti

Oxfam’s Response to the Haiti Earthquake

Oxfam Canada and Oxfam-Québec are distributing clean water, building water taps, installing latrines and setting up bladders of water to store clean water in temporary camps. After sending more than 60 tons of supplies from Canada, England, Panama and Spain, we have now helped more than 204,000 people with aid, and are hoping to reach more than 500,000. At the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, we’ve trucked in clean water and set up a massive bladder to keep the hospital supplied with water that’s crucial to cleaning, sterilizing equipment and cooking meals. We’ve distributed plastic sheeting for use as shelter and organized and distributed “family kits” consisting of feminine hygiene products, pots, buckets and kitchen utensils.

In Carrefour, the epicenter of the quake, Oxfam began paying community members to start cleaning up the area by removing rubbish and waste. Cash-for-work programs mean that individuals not only improve their living conditions, they also earn desperately-needed money to buy food and other necessities.

Find out more about Oxfam Canada's work in Haiti

Save The Children Canada's Response to the Haiti Earthquake

Children are always the most vulnerable when a disaster strikes, so Save the Children has been reaching out to families and children by providing medical support, food, water and other supplies such as blankets, plastic sheeting, water storage containers and hygiene kits. The agency has coordinated with Haitian authorities, the international community, local and international organizations and communities to reach an estimated 879,000 children and adults - with lifesaving and life-sustaining assistance. 

Save the Children is leading a number of child protection activities, such as reunifying separated and unaccompanied children with their families. As well, we set up child-friendly spaces to keep children safe while their parents engaged in relief activities. In these spaces they are provided with educational and creative programming to help them return to a sense of normalcy as well as feel a sense of security in a safe location. Save the Children has distributed medication to hospitals and clinics, set up mobile clinics to provide medical consultations and is supporting primary health care activities.

Find out more about Save the Children's work in Haiti
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