(New York, 28 January 2010): The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has contributed US$50 million to support the United Nations humanitarian response to the earthquake in Haiti. This makes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia one of the main contributors to the Haiti Flash Appeal, which was launched on 15 January.

The funds from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be transferred to Haiti's Emergency Relief Response Fund (ERRF), which is a pooled fund managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on behalf of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti. The ERRF is included in the Flash Appeal's coordination section.

"This generous donation demonstrates that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands ready and prepared to support people in need of humanitarian assistance on the basis of core humanitarian principles and regardless of nationality, race or religion," said Abdulaziz bin Mohamed Arrukban, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Humanitarian Envoy.

According to the OCHA Financial Tracking Service, the largest donors to the Haiti Flash Appeal as of 27 January are the United States ($106,527,907); Canada ($57,080,926); Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ($50,000,000); Spain ($40,067,583); Sweden ($18,158,036); France ($16,883,114); Norway ($11,542,460) and Denmark ($10,664,564).

Several countries listed in the World Bank's low-income category have also chipped in with contributions to the Haiti relief effort. They include Ghana ($3 million); Democratic Republic of Congo ($2.5 million pledge); and Sierra Leone ($100,000). Others are Cambodia ($50,000); Liberia ($50,000) and Senegal ($1 million).

The Haiti Flash Appeal requested $575 million and is 77 percent funded, having received $443.6 million as of 28 January. Uncommitted pledges amount to $13.1 million.

The devastating earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale hit Haiti on 12 January, killing and injuring tens of thousands of people and reducing large sections of several cities, including the capital Port-au-Prince, to ruins. The disaster has left up to 1.1 million people homeless. Hundreds of thousands of people require food, medical care, water, shelter and other basic needs.

For further information, please call: OCHA-New York: Stephanie Bunker, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 347 244 2106, bunker@un.org; Nicholas Reader +1 212 963 4961, mobile +1 646 752 3117, reader@un.org; John Nyaga,+ 1 917 367 9262, mobile +1 917 318 8917, nyagaj@un.org;

OCHA-Geneva: Elisabeth Byrs,+41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570, byrs@un.org.

OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.