As Haiti reels from the devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the south of the island in the early hours of Saturday 14th August, CARE teams have begun carrying out rapid assessments in all of its operating areas and stands ready to respond with life-saving assistance as needed.
CARE currently runs food security programmes in Grand Anse department near to the earthquake's epicentre.
Lora Wuennenberg, CARE Haiti Interim Country Director:
“All CARE staff are safe and accounted for and we have already begun assessments of the impact to see how we can best respond. Even in Port-au-Prince – where I am based – we felt strong tremors this morning. Our thoughts are for all those who have lost lives and loved ones. This latest disaster comes on top of compounding crises, including a worsening food crisis that has left almost half the population (around 4 million people) facing severe hunger and in need of humanitarian assistance. This latest earthquake – which is actually recorded as higher than the 2010 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands - is likely to significantly worsen this situation for an already struggling nation.”
About CARE Haiti
CARE started operations in Haiti in 1954 with emergency response interventions. Since then, CARE has continuously grown its programming capacities across the humanitarian, recovery, and long-term development spectrum. Over the years, CARE Haiti has gained experience, local knowledge, and operational capabilities to deliver and shift programming between emergency response, recovery and long-term development programming, as the country context changes. For example, CARE was amongst the first organizations to engage in various aspects of the COVID-19 response.