Cablegate: Germany Increases Haiti Assistance to 7.5 Million

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OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHRL #0070 0200638
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O 200638Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6307
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
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RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF IMMEDIATE 0268
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT IMMEDIATE 8362
RUEHAG/AMCONSUL HAMBURG IMMEDIATE 0356
RUEHLZ/AMCONSUL LEIPZIG IMMEDIATE 0262
RUEHMZ/AMCONSUL MUNICH IMMEDIATE 2232
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
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UNCLAS BERLIN 000070

SIPDIS

STATE FOR HAITI EARTHQUAKE TASK FORCE (WILLIAMS, ROSSER),
USAID (O'NEILL), WHA/CAR (DI PERRO, MCCANTS, ROBINSON,
SMITH), PRM/PRP (SCHAAF), EEB/IFD/ODF (LEATHAM, ALEXANDER),
EUR/CE (HODGES, SCHROEDER)
TREASURY FOR ICN (NORTON)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN PGOV PHUM PREL UN GM HA
SUBJECT: GERMANY INCREASES HAITI ASSISTANCE TO 7.5 MILLION
EUROS

REF: A. STATE 04854
B. STATE 04909
C. BERLIN 50

1. (U) SUMMARY: Germany has increased humanitarian assistance
to Haiti following the January 12 earthquake to 7.5 million
euros. Of this total, the Development Ministry (BMZ) is
providing 2.5 million euros for food aid and the Foreign
Ministry is contributing the remainder for emergency
assistance, including search and rescue. Germany is
registering its contributions on the Financial Tracking
System (FTS) of the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). More assistance will be
forthcoming pending a UN needs assessment. END SUMMARY.

2. (U) Econoff conveyed REF A and REF B points to contacts at
the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Kerstin
Faehrmann, BMZ's Director for Emergency Aid and the World
Food Program, said the German government had increased its
humanitarian assistance for Haiti from the previously
announced 1.5 million euros to a new total of 7.5 million
euros. BMZ's share of the total, 2.5 million euros, will go
towards food aid, with 500,000 euros channeled via the German
development implementing agency GTZ and 2 million euros via
the World Food Program (WFP). According to Faehrmann,
Germany's 7.5 million euro contribution is part of the 400
million euros pledged by the EU.

3. (U) The Foreign Ministry is contributing the remaining 5
million of the 7.5 million euro total towards immediate
emergency aid. The funds will be disbursed via German NGOs
operating in Haiti and focus primarily on search and rescue,
food aid, medicine, temporary shelter, and drinking water.
The German Agency for Technical Relief (THW) has deployed a
team of 4 experts in the fields of logistics, water,
communications and construction. A separate THW team has
provided two water purification devices, which can supply
drinking water for 60,000 people. According to an MFA
statement, the German Red Cross sent a mobile hospital to
Port-au-Prince, and the German government will provide an
additional mobile hospital. The MFA is registering German
government assistance on OCHA's Financial Tracking System
(FTS). Pending a needs assessment by the UN, more assistance
will be forthcoming. (REF C)

4. (U) The MFA believes German citizens are among the dead
and injured in Haiti, with 16 Germans still missing. The
MFA's regional doctor has traveled to Haiti (presumably to
treat German victims). The MFA is also sending additional
personnel to staff the German Embassy in Port-au-Prince.
MURPHY

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