MANAGING HAITI EARTHQUAKE LOGISTICS

Only through pooling information from many relief sources can one start to understand what is happening on the ground in relation to the Haiti Earthquake, getting aid to Haiti, and the cross-border situation of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) of the United Nations is "the primary mechanism for interagency coordination of humanitarian assistance. It is a unique forum involving key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners." SEE http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/

The IASC committee is chaired by the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Sir John Holmes. The full members are the heads of the UN humanitarian agencies; standing invitees include Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, World Bank, International Organization for Migration, International Committee of the Red Cross, IFRC, Inter-Action, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (represented by World Vision International) and the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (represented by Oxfam). Nine Clusters were agreed, with a lead agency for each.

The Logistics Cluster of the IASC is an excellent source for daily news updates which give information on the logistics situation in Haiti and in the D.R. for Haiti, as well as other extensive information. See the http://www.logcluster.org website

The World Food Program is the lead agency for Logistics Cluster.