The Coordinator of the UN Department for Humanitarian Affairs, Rashid Halikov, speaking in Moscow, has praised Russia for its role in the international efforts to deal with the aftermath of the Haiti devastating earthquake.
According to the UN, 3,800 natural disasters have occurred in the world in the last ten years, which have claimed the lives of 780 thousand people, injuring 2 billion others, and causing damage worth almost one trillion dollars. The figures relate only up to the end of 2009, before the destructive quake in Haiti. The figures help to paint the dark picture of the scale of the problems which the UN faces and must solve, said Rashid.
"People usually equate humanitarian operations with only the search and rescue work after an earthquake, but it is more complicated. The search and rescue aspect lasts for 7 to 10 days, perhaps a little longer. There is always the hope of finding survivors under the rubble much later. There is therefore the need to keep field hospitals functioning during this period of time", said Halikov.
The UN commissioner has revealed that the Russian humanitarian operations started with the sending of a search and rescue team to India following the earthquake there and later to the Indian Ocean after the tsunami.
"Many field hospitals were set up in different countries after the tsunami, for fear of the outbreak of epidemics; it was hot and humid and the people had no shelter", said Rashid.
The Russian experts rendered invaluable help in dealing with the consequences of the tragedies. Russian doctors demonstrated their professional skill afer the recent quake in Haiti, carrying out complicated surgical operations on many Haitians who suffered from the quake, inside the Emergency Situations Ministry's mobile hospital, said Halikov.
We have a system which enables us to get information about an earthquake or tsunami ten minutes after it has happened, after which a group of people is dispatched to the location to coordinate the search and rescue operation, said Rashid.
Russia's contribution to the renovation and upgrading of the Center for early warning and dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters, has been immense, said Halikov, disclosing also that last year, Moscow gave 2 million dollars to the UN Central Fund for emergency reaction and has become a permanent donor to the Fund. The UN is currently involved in 25 humanitarian assistance projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Columbia, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Haiti.
"The International Community hails the Russian role in humanitarian activities", said Rashid Halikov.
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