21st January 2010
Emergency Appeal – HAITI

Dear Friends,
On 12 January a very violent earthquake, followed by a huge number of aftershocks, hit Haiti. This natural disaster has had a truly dramatic impact. In addition to the human losses, which are probably in dozens of thousands, reports have conveyed the drastic humanitarian and health situation, exacerbated by the fact that many buildings have been totally destroyed. The ITUC wishes to send its condolences to the Haitian people and the families of workers and trade unionists who lost their lives in the earthquake, including Denise, the Finance Officer of the CTH.
The information we have received indicates that a number of trade unionists have gone to the head office of INAFOS, the CTH’s training centre, to help the many people who have gathered there. The needs are immense (water, food, clothes and medicine). The CTH headquarters, in the very centre of Port-au-Prince, is reported to have been damaged.
On Friday 15 January, despite many attempts, we were unable to get news from trade unionists belonging to any other union organisations in the country, but we are pursuing these efforts.
In coordination with the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA), the ITUC has decided to launch this solidarity campaign with our Haitian friends. All of your contributions can therefore be paid into the ITUC-CSI bank account:
No. 375-1008200-61
ING Bank, Business Branch Institutionals, 1 Rue du Trône, B-1000 Brussels
Code IBAN: BE62375100820061
Code BIC/Swift: BBRUBEBB
You must include the following communication: « SOS Solidarité - HAITI ».