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Haiti

Haiti Earthquake Relief and Recovery

Posted: 18 January, 2010

Haiti’s devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010, leveled homes, schools, and public buildings, affecting millions of people. (Credit: Concern Worldwide)

President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation Haiti Fund in the days after the earthquake to deliver relief supplies to those in need.

On January 18, thanks to our supporters, the Clinton Foundation delivered water, food, medical supplies, generators, and solar lights.

President Clinton has visited Haiti numerous times since the earthquake to meet with Haitian President René Préval, local leaders, and workers on the ground.

During his visits, President Clinton has met with the leaders of camps for those who lost their homes.

President Clinton has met with the leaders of camps for those displaced by the earthquake and UN representatives in order to assess needs and help the reconstruction effort.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, President Clinton urgently called for donations of large trucks to help NGOs and the government of Haiti deliver supplies to those in need. (Credit: Remy Steinegger)

In response to President Clinton’s call for trucks at Davos, Penske donated 40 trucks, which the Clinton Foundation delivered to Port-au-Prince. (Credit: Penske)

At the request of the Haitian government, the Clinton Foundation shipped to Haiti four portable classrooms that were donated by Broward County School District. Each school can serve up to 30 students and is equipped with white boards, furniture, and supplies. The schools are part of First Lady Préval’s Plas Ti Moun project.

As part of the William J. Clinton Foundation’s focus on worldwide issues that demand urgent action, solutions, and measurable results, and reflecting President Clinton’s decades-long connection to Haiti, the Clinton Foundation is turning the donations by individuals and organizations of money and supplies into direct assistance for the people and government of Haiti.

Clinton Foundation Haiti Fund

Since the January 2010 earthquake, the Clinton Foundation has been turning the donations of money and supplies made by individuals and organizations into direct assistance for the people and government of Haiti. More than 100,000 individuals have donated more than $16 million to the Clinton Foundation Haiti Fund.

The Foundation issued $3 million in emergency relief grants to 12 organizations, and recently allocated $1 million for communal hurricane emergency shelters and $1 million for operational support of the IHRC. The Foundation also directly purchased emergency relief, education, and agricultural supplies as well as supported the shipment and delivery to Haiti of more than $16 million worth of goods, including 14 pieces of heavy equipment, 32,680 solar flashlights and lanterns, 58 solar-powered streetlights, and 390,000 articles of clothing.

Thanks to supporters and partners, the total value of assistance to Haiti provided through the Foundation’s efforts has been nearly $23 million to date. The Foundation also provided pro bono staffing, administration, and fundraising support for all Haiti relief efforts.

Click here to read the latest Clinton Foundation Haiti Fund fact sheet.

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

One week after the January earthquake, President Barack Obama asked President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush to raise funds for immediate, high-impact relief and long-term recovery efforts to help Haitians who are most in need of assistance. In response, the two Presidents established the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF) to respond to unmet needs in the country, foster economic opportunity, improve the quality of life over the long term for those affected, and assist the people of Haiti as they rebuild their lives and build back better. The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund works primarily through partnerships and collaborations with other nonprofit and for-profit entities – particularly Haiti’s own. In all activities, CBHF will work with the Interim Haitian Reconstruction Commission to ensure consistency with the Haitian Development Plan.

Click here to read the latest Clinton Bush Haiti Fund fact sheet.

Long-term Rebuilding

Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (IHRC)

President Clinton was invited by the Government of Haiti to serve, along with Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive, as the International Co-Chair of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC). Established in April 2010 by the Haitian government, the IHRC reflects a shared vision for the future of Haiti that is rooted in the priorities of the Haitian people, marked by transparency, implemented in partnership with friends of Haiti, focused on quickly providing improvements in the lives of Haitians, and informed by reconstruction experiences in other countries.

The mandate of the IHRC is to conduct strategic planning and coordination and implement resources from bilateral and multilateral donors, non-governmental organizations, and the business sector, with all necessary transparency and accountability. In order to ensure that all activities are aligned with the Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti and Ministry plans, not duplicative, and implemented effectively. Learn more about the IHRC at www.cirh.ht.

United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti

In May 2009, building on President Clinton’s leadership as UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Haitian President René Préval asked President Clinton to become the UN Special Envoy for Haiti. In this role, President Clinton has worked with UN agencies, NGOs, government and multilateral donors, the international business community, philanthropists, the Haitian Diaspora around the world, and the Haitian people to help implement the Haitian government’s plan to develop a more modern economy.

In addition, since the January earthquake, President Clinton has worked to enhance and expedite the humanitarian response by mobilizing the international private sector, civil society, and donors to advance the Government of Haiti’s priorities and their plans for reconstruction. He also is bringing any gaps in the response to the attention of the Secretary-General and international community, while advancing the principle of building Haiti back better than it was before the disaster.

Learn more about the Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti.

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