Cáritas Española has mobilized a sum of 150,000 euros to address the humanitarian emergency caused by the earthquake that occurred on September 8 in Morocco. These funds, which are added to the 30,000 euros sent a few days after this natural disaster occurred, are the first response to the emergency appeal made by Cáritas Morocco to the entire global Cáritas network.
In addition to the contribution of funds, Cáritas Española – at the request of Caritas Internationalis – sent two technicians from its International Cooperation team to the area: Laura Salies y Yago Aparicio, representatives of Humanitarian Action. Both have collaborated with Cáritas Morocco in the identification of humanitarian needs and in the design of the international Confederation’s emergency response.
The activation of the first emergency response by Caritas Internationalis will have a total budget of half a million euros and an execution period of five months. According to Cáritas’ humanitarian principle of assisting the most vulnerable and least accessible populations, the intervention will focus in a first phase on the most isolated areas, where aid does not reach, that is, the center and south of the High Atlas (specifically the provinces of Ouarzazate and Taroudant).
The beneficiary populations of the emergency response will also be the most vulnerable, that is, the elderly, children, people with disabilities and migrants (found especially in Marrakech). These populations will primarily be provided with temporary shelters before the arrival of winter, cooking utensils, and sanitation and hygiene, with special emphasis on waste management.
56,000 homes damaged in the High Atlas
An estimated 56,000 homes have been damaged in the High Atlas region, 35% of them completely destroyed. People forced to leave their homes are now staying with relatives or in tents in makeshift camps on the outskirts of towns. The tents that house part of the affected population have been provided mainly by the Government, the Army, Civil Protection and, to a lesser extent, by civil society associations.
“These tents do not have the technical qualities of strength and insulation necessary to withstand the difficult climatic and environmental conditions of winter in the most affected mountain towns. In this sense, the arrival of the cold represents a high risk for the population that currently lives there,” explains Laure Salies.
The second phase of the emergency response is scheduled to begin in February next year and will focus on reconstruction and rehabilitation. The initial budget for this intervention will reach 1.5 million euros.
Cáritas Española has collaborated with Cáritas in Morocco since the 90s. In recent years, specifically, in human mobility projects. The programs launched in recent years aim to welcome migrants in vulnerable situations and offer them assistance and support so that they can exercise their fundamental rights in Morocco.
People who want to collaborate with the Cáritas campaign with Morocco can do so through the website www.caritas.es.
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