Parliamentary question - E-008188/2016Parliamentary question
E-008188/2016

EU reconstruction aid to Haiti in the wake of Hurricane Matthew

Question for written answer E-008188-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Dita Charanzová (ALDE) , Ivo Vajgl (ALDE) , Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (ALDE) , Louis Michel (ALDE) , Petr Ježek (ALDE) , Valentinas Mazuronis (ALDE) , Nathalie Griesbeck (ALDE) , Urmas Paet (ALDE) , Petras Auštrevičius (ALDE) , Nedzhmi Ali (ALDE) , Enrique Calvet Chambon (ALDE) , Matthijs van Miltenburg (ALDE) , Jana Žitňanská (ECR) , Brian Hayes (PPE) , Pavel Svoboda (PPE) , Mariya Gabriel (PPE) , Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) , Afzal Khan (S&D) , Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D) , Alfred Sant (S&D) , Brando Benifei (S&D) , Momchil Nekov (S&D) , Ramón Jáuregui Atondo (S&D)

On 4 October 2016, Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti, leaving almost a thousand people dead, thousands more homeless and causing immense damage to infrastructure in significant parts of the country.

The UN estimates that 1.4 million people need immediate assistance and there is the risk of widespread famine. Moreover, the hurricane has created ideal conditions for the spread of disease, with access to clean water severely limited and a lack of sanitation and adequate shelter. There remains a severe threat of a cholera epidemic in the country.

Despite the long-term support already provided by the EU, progress in Haiti has been minimal since the 2010 earthquake. As the destruction from Hurricane Matthew has tragically demonstrated, infrastructure is still far too weak, making natural disasters all the more devastating and recovery a considerably more slow in what is Latin America’s poorest country.

1. Aside from the additional emergency funding provided for Haiti, how does the EU plan to support sustainable solutions to strengthen the resilience of a country that is prone to natural disasters?

2. Will there be a revision of the current Disaster Risk Reduction programmes in the Caribbean?

3. What is the exact nature of the short-term hurricane relief projects and activities being directly supporting by the EU on the ground?