Athens
, 4 February 2010
Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis announced the shipment of humanitarian aid to Haiti in a press conference today.
The Foreign Ministry shipment, which departs at 22:00 on Sunday, 7 February 2010, on a direct flight to Port-au-Prince, will be accompanied by the Deputy Foreign Minister.
Mr. Kouvelis will meet with a representative of the Haitian government and will deliver a letter from Prime Minister Papandreou to the President of Haiti’s government. The letter stresses the historic ties between the two countries and underscores Greece’s resolve to continue providing aid to Haiti.
The Boeing 747 will carry 50 tons of pharmaceutical supplies and food. It will also transport members of the NGOs Doctors of the World, and Hellenic Rescue Team, who will remain there to help the Haitian people. On its return, the aircraft will carry Greek citizens leaving Haiti and teams of volunteers, and the Spanish EU Presidency will be consulted so that citizens from the EU and Schengen states can be transported to Athens.
Initially, the Foreign Ministry planned – following a relevant proposal from the Church of Greece – to host orphans from Haiti in Greece, but this will not be feasible due to the Haitian government’s decision to prohibit the departure of children from Haiti.
The Deputy Foreign Minister expressed his warm thanks to volunteer organizations and individual volunteers for their readiness to assist in staffing the mission, as well as the agencies that assisted the Foreign Ministry from the very outset. He also thanked Hellenic Imperial Airways, which is providing the aircraft and has agreed to cover over 50% of transport costs, with the Foreign Ministry providing the remaining sum.
Finally, he thanked the companies Goldair Cargo and Swiss Port, who agreed to assist – pro bono – in the gathering, transportation, storage and loading of the aid.
|
Material collected from state agencies |
|
|
Defense Ministry/Army General Staff |
3.5 tons of food and pharmaceutical supplies |
|
Defense Ministry/Air Force General Staff |
1 ton of pharmaceutical supplies |
|
Health Ministry/National Health Operations Center |
600 kilos of pharmaceutical supplies |
|
Citizens’ Protection Ministry/Greek Police |
20 tons of rice |
|
Church of Greece |
2.7 tons of raisins |
|
Greek Red Cross |
pharmaceutical supplies |
|
Material collected from NGOs |
|
|
Pharmacists of the World |
600 kilos of pharmaceutical supplies |
|
Medical Intervention |
250 kilos of pharmaceutical supplies |
|
Doctors of the World |
12 tons of pharmaceutical supplies |
|
Doctors of the Heart |
1.6 tons of pharmaceutical supplies & blankets |
|
Light of Africa |
1.6 tons of orthopaedic supplies |
|
Fair Planet |
130 kilos of powdered formula & baby food |
Moreover, the Greek Foreign Ministry’s decision – immediately after the disastrous earthquake struck – to send financial assistance in the amount of €200,000 to the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization was appreciated and valuable in assisting to confront the crisis.
The Foreign Ministry received a letter of thanks from the World Food Programme.