Press Release
August 21, 2021 • 1 min read
GOAL teams are working against the clock to provide life-saving support to thousands of people affected by last Saturday’s earthquake in Haiti.
The earthquake has left over 700,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance. 2,189 have tragically died. Approximately 12,000 people have been injured and 130,000 homes have been destroyed in South-Western Haiti.
GOAL is mobilising its response from its regional office in Jeremie, one of the areas worst affected.
Teams on the ground are reporting huge damage in the urban areas of Jeremie and Les Cayes. Remote towns and villages across the southern peninsula have also been badly affected.
Bernard McCaul, GOAL’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, said: “It’s just an incredible tragedy. Already reeling from the impact of Covid-19, political instability, the threat of armed gangs and growing poverty, this could not have come at a worse time for the people of Haiti.”
Mr McCaul continued, “The situation on the ground is very challenging. Infrastructure has been decimated by the earthquake, subsequent flooding and landslides, leaving many roads and pipelines for aid impassable.”
Mary Van Lieshout, GOAL’s Deputy CEO and Director of External Affairs said: “Amid the threat of hurricane season GOAL teams are racing against the clock to support thousands of families who have been made homeless by this earthquake.”
Ms Van Lieshout concluded: “Hundreds of thousands of people are depending on the international community for food, clean water, shelter and urgent medical assistance. We need to do more to help them.”
To donate to GOAL’s emergency appeal visit goal.ie or phone 1800 832 100.
