20/01/10

By Andrew Holt

Nearly a week after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal total has increased to £25million, with social networking sites being highlighted as playing a major role

As part of the on-going work in Haiti, DEC member agencies work has included:

Christian Aid and its partners have set up tent hospitals and are providing medical equipment and supplies to the Haitian refugees injured by the earthquake at the Haitian border in Jimani. Hospitals in Jimaní are attending to hundreds of wounded and parishes and churches have also offered to attend to the wounded as "wings" of the hospital. Christian Aid is also buying food from local farmers to distribute.

Save the Children are establishing safe play areas. They are assessing water and sanitation needs and their response will include water tankering, latrine construction, bathing area construction, hygiene kit distribution and hygiene promotion.

The Red Cross are today distributing 700 tents and 6915 tarpaulins. A field hospital is operational in Port-au-Prince university hospital and 10 First aid posts have been set up. Two Red Cross mobile health clinics are also working in some of the worst affected areas outside the capital with capacity to help 30,000 people per day.

ActionAid are providing 2,000 people in Port au Prince with emergency food supplies, including flour and cooking oil. They are also distributing medicines and water purification tablets.

Disaster Emergency Committee Chief Executive Brendan Gormley said: "Almost a week on from the earthquake that hit Haiti, we have been staggered by the generosity of the UK public. The total raised now stands at an amazing £25m. As the full scale of the tragedy continues to unfold we rely on the generosity of donors."

The DEC's 13 member agencies in Haiti are closely monitoring the security situation but are not to date reporting that the isolated incidents seen so far are interfering with the arrival and distribution of aid.

Social networking sites have been noted for playing a crucial part in raising funds and awareness, especially in the 36 hours following the launch of the DEC's Haiti earthquake appeal.

Although the TV appeal was not broadcast until Friday evening, £8m was raised online following the first DEC announcement on Twitter at 7.41pm on Wednesday. It said simply: "You're the first to know - DEC #Haiti Earthquake Appeal now live, UK broadcast appeals to follow"

An SMS donation system was launched shortly afterwards and by Saturday morning a total of 148,000 people had donated online.

Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter drove the highest number of referrals to the DEC website after the BBC, with the DEC Facebook page counting 10,000 fans as of Sunday morning - a phenomenal rise up from 800 four days earlier. Bloggers showed their support by adding DEC banners and buttons to hundreds of UK blogs.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a tweet to the DEC's 2,000 followers during a visit to their offices on Friday, thanking donors for their support and reassuring the public that aid would successfully reach Haiti in a timely manner.

DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley said: "Social networking has proven itself as a valuable addition to the fundraising machine. I'm thrilled that we have been able to quickly communicate and engage the UK public, who have in turn responded with tremendous generosity to help the people of Haiti who so urgently need our help.

"Their donations mean our member agencies can continue to source and deliver the emergency supplies needed like safe water, shelter, medicine and food. We hope people will continue to give their support so that more emergency aid can be added to what will be a massive humanitarian effort."

Photograph sharing site Flickr has also been used to host images from the DEC's member agencies, with 34,000 views of the DEC account on Friday. A video of the DEC broadcast appeal attracted nearly 3,000 views on YouTube.

The ability to pool resources on sharing sites and follow the DEC's 13 member agencies through newly implemented Twitter 'lists' has also proved invaluable to the committee in updating the public on developments.

The appeal follows a magnitude 7.0 earthquake which levelled large parts of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.

To make a donation to the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk or call 0370 60 60 900, donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque made payable to 'DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal' to 'PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA'.

Anyone wanting to stay up to date with developments in Haiti, the emergency response and the fundraising efforts can follow the DEC on twitter at http://twitter.com/decappeal or become a fan of 'Disasters-Emergency-Committee-DEC' on Facebook.

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