Cablegate: Germany's Emergency Assistance to Haiti Following

VZCZCXRO8316
OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHRL #0050 0141818
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 141818Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6275
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PRIORITY 0001
RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0001
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF PRIORITY 0265
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT PRIORITY 8355
RUEHAG/AMCONSUL HAMBURG PRIORITY 0354
RUEHLZ/AMCONSUL LEIPZIG PRIORITY 0259
RUEHMZ/AMCONSUL MUNICH PRIORITY 2226
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0913
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS BERLIN 000050

SIPDIS

STATE FOR HAITI EARTHQUAKE TASK FORCE, 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 PREL GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY'S EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO HAITI FOLLOWING
EARTHQUAKE

1. (U) SUMMARY: Germany's immediate response to the January
12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti includes the following: 500,000
euros for food aid, 1 million euros for search and rescue
operations, a trained search and rescue team, and two water
purification devices. More assistance should be forthcoming
once the UN has made a needs assessment. END SUMMARY.

2. (U) Contacts at the German Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ) told us BMZ would provide
500,000 euros in food aid for Haiti following the earthquake.
BMZ will channel this assistance via the German development
implementing agency GTZ, which is operating out of the
Dominican Republic. Germany does not want to go through the
World Food Program (WFP) at this point, having just donated
2.8 million euros specifically earmarked for similar crises
to the WFP at the beginning of the year.

3. (U) Contacts at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MFA) reported that the MFA would provide 1 million euros in
immediate emergency aid to be used for search and rescue
operations. A team from the Technical Assistance Service
(THW) trained for such operations is currently en route to
Haiti via Miami. It is bringing along two machines for water
purification. The team will be stationed near the German
Embassy, and is expected to operate for six weeks.

4. (U) BMZ and MFA contacts call these funds a first step,
with more aid to follow once the UN makes a needs assessment.
The German government is also in talks with several NGOs
(e.g., Welthungerhilfe, German Red Cross) regarding possible
additional emergency measures.

REGULAR GERMAN DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
-------------------------------------

5. (U) Germany ended bilateral aid to Haiti following the
Paris Declaration on Donor Coordination. The last bilateral
government negotiations took place in 1995. German
development cooperation with Haiti is now channeled via the
European Union, where Germany contributes 20.5 percent and is
the largest contributor. According to German government
contacts, EU development assistance for Haiti in 2008-2013 is
232.79 million euros. Germany still has funds totaling
nearly 20 million euros from previous years that have not
been disbursed due to weak government institutions in Haiti.
The German government has been in the process of negotiating
use of these funds for work on a hydroelectric power plant.
The German development bank KfW also runs a financing program
to combat rural poverty through improved administrative
structures. Germany contributes 8 million euros of the
program's total cost of 9.4 million euros, while the Haitian
government's share is 1.4 million euros.
MURPHY

© Scoop Media