Canada pledges $2M in emergency aid for hurricane-ravaged Haiti
United Nations estimates 1.4 million people across region need help
Canada is committing another $2 million to help the desperate people of Haiti in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
Liberal MP Emmanuel Dubourg, parliamentary secretary to the minister of national revenue, delivered the announcement Friday morning in one of Montreal's Haitian cultural centres, The Perle Retrouvée.
He said the assistance will go to four non-governmental organizations: Médecins du Monde, Oxfam Quebec, Action against hunger Canada and Centre d'étude et de coopération internationale.
"The ravages of Hurricane Matthew aren't just material," Dubourg said.
"They touch directly on the pride and dignity of the Haitian people, and after the earthquake six years ago, they find themselves again facing the devastation of their country, of my country."
Dubourg was born in Haiti and came to Canada in 1974. He said these funds will directly address concerns of a public health crisis in Haiti, such as the spread of cholera through rural communities that lack clean water, food and shelter.
This new funding brings Canada's total humanitarian aid to $6.08 million to date. Urgent pleas for aid have been growing in the wake of the recent disastrous storm that killed 1,000 people and devastated much of the country.
- Haitians anxiously await help
- Health conditions worsen in Haiti
- Cholera rampant in rural communities
UN officials have estimated at least 1.4 million people across the region need help and that 2.1 million overall have been affected by the Category 4 hurricane.
The UN humanitarian agency in Geneva has made an emergency appeal for nearly $120 million in aid, saying about 750,000 people in southwest Haiti alone will need "life-saving assistance and protection" in the next three months.