Information for IDB employees on Haiti

On behalf of the entire IDB staff, I would like to express our deepest condolences and solidarity with the people of Haiti. As we work closely with other donors and member nations to assist in emergency relief efforts, we are also moving quickly to ensure the safety and security of our country staff.

Communications with Haiti are still sporadic and difficult, but all accounted IDB staff and their dependents are reported safe so far. Our Country Representative, Eduardo Almeida, gathered Bank staff immediately after the earthquake and many of them spent the night in the Bank’s parking lot. All 18 international staff and dependents in Haiti were reported in country at the time of the earthquake.

The building housing our Country Office is severely damaged and unusable. Of immediate concern are the continuing strong aftershocks. The MINUSTAH headquarters building, adjacent to the IDB, collapsed and many persons are buried or trapped in the rubble and feared dead. The U.S. Embassy sent out motorcycle reconnaissance teams just before dark that were unable to traverse most of the major roads due to the level of destruction. The Haitian Presidential Palace is partially collapsed as well as most of the basic infrastructure in the affected area.

Given the dangerous conditions, we approved the evacuation of all international staff and their dependents to the Dominican Republic. We arranged for a plane to fly them to Santo Domingo, where they arrived Wednesday evening and will be lodged at the Hotel Ambassador. The plane carried medical personnel from the International Medical Corp. to assist in the emergency in Port-au-Prince. At the same time, preparations are being made to arrange secure temporary lodging outside of Port-au-Prince for all national staff and dependents in Haiti.

Representative Almeida and Security Manager Taylor will remain in Port-au-Prince to maintain the IDB presence in Haiti during our member nation’s hour of need. We will keep the plane on standby over the next few days and also establish an alternate base of operations with minimum staff to maintain our support to Haiti.

We have established an emergency relief fund for employee contributions at the IDB-IIC Federal Credit Union. As in similar situations in the past, the IDB will contribute matching donations. You can contribute to the fund at Account Number 9418915.

I salute all of our colleagues in Haiti and here at Headquarters for your dedication and professionalism and I want to thank the entire IDB team, including many retirees, for your tremendous outpouring of concern, support, and offers of assistance.

We will continually update staff information on the IDB Web Site and communicate all new developments as they occur.

Luis Alberto Moreno