The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has announced a $10 million emergency relief package to people affected by the Haiti earthquake.
A release by the department stated that Australia’s emergency humanitarian funding will be provided to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the United Nations, Australian NGOs and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to supply urgently needed medical assistance, shelter, water and food.
The package comes in response to the damage a 7.3 magnitude earthquake wrought on Haiti capital Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.
According to DFAT, initial assessments report a large number of casualties and widespread damage with up to 5 million people adversely affected. The earthquake destroyed buildings including the main hospital; electricity, water and communications have been cut.
The emergency package comes on top of a $60 million development package Australia pledged after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the 15 member countries of the Caribbean community (CARICOM) in November last year.
The DFAT Smartraveller website has more information on travel advice to Haiti.
