Welthungerhilfe Secretary General demands greater commitment to Haiti from Germany

Local Welthungerhilfe-Workers are repairing
a road, which was destroyed after the
earthquake in January. © Aberle(30.03.2010). In the run-up to the donor conference on 31st March 2010, Welthungerhilfe has called upon the German federal government to show more commitment to Haiti.

Secretary General Wolfgang Jamann comments as follows:

"Following the earthquake on the 12th of January, Haiti is facing a  
big challenge. The country should be given the chance to make a fresh start. The international community cannot remain indifferent to the fate of the people of one of the ten most hunger-stricken countries on earth."

Jamann called for action:

"Of crucial importance is not just what sums are quoted at the donor conference, because the danger is that the pledges made will subsequently not be honoured or that money will simply be shifted into development budgets. As well as combating the consequences of the earthquake, we must now combat the long-term causes of hunger and poverty, and that can't be done overnight. That's why Germany should pledge funds as part of a long-term undertaking. We now need the federal government to send a strong signal that it will support Haiti in making a fresh start and in creating functional government structures. There's a unique opportunity to get a country that was almost given up for lost back on its feet."

Welthungerhilfe has launched a five-year programme for Haiti that currently amounts to about 20 million Euros. This is being used to continue funding for emergency relief aid measures, as well as so-called "cash for work" programmes. In addition, funding is being provided for projects in the north of the country, which is where 600,000 people made homeless by the earthquake have fled.