CATHOLIC AID FOR OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT RESPONSE TO THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE

That this House supports and commends the unstinting commitment and dedication of Catholic Aid for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and its partner Caritas Haiti in helping to meet the desperate humanitarian needs to those whose lives have been devastated by the earthquake in Haiti; notes that for many years the Catholic church has been one of the main providers of healthcare in Haiti and that this role and presence has helped in the initial response; welcomes the re-opening of the Catholic hospital in Port-au-Prince and as well as many other church local health clinics and the distribution of aid through priests and religious groups working in 32 parishes; pays particular tribute to the kind generosity of the many Catholic schools, parishes and the Catholic community as a whole across the country who have helped provide the much-needed and continued financial support to enable CAFOD to help the people of Haiti in their time of need; and calls on the Government to continue and to increase its support to enhance the unique and valuable contribution that faith-based organisations make as part of the response to humanitarian disasters.