Haiti Relief Project: Intercontinental Bank Staffs Donate N4.3M
Released on 09 Feb 2010
Members of staff of Intercontinental Bank Nigeria Plc today forwarded a draft donation worth N4.27 Million to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) towards the Haiti Relief Project. This is part of the staff’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiative in the wake of the catastrophic Earthquake that destroyed Port au Prince, capital of Haiti recently.
This was disclosed by Lamide Ijimakinwa, Head Customer Care/ Call Centre of the Bank, after delivering the draft to Mr. Jacques Adande, Chief of Field Office, Lagos, representing the UNICEF Country Representative, in Nigeria for onward transmission to Haiti.
Speaking during the event, Ijimakinwa said “this is a voluntary contribution by members of staff of the bank to support the global rescue effort to assist the Haitians to recover from the devastating destruction occasioned by the earthquake.”
She said, “We are concerned about the plight of millions Haitians in the aftermath of the tragedy, we hope this will go a long way to alleviate the suffering of the people. We are committed to supporting aids initiatives anywhere in the world. This is part of Intercontinental Bank Staff CSR initiative”.
Responding, Mr. Adande said, “This action truly makes Intercontinental Bank, really intercontinental by donating towards this initiative. This is the first financial institution in Nigeria to respond to the call for financial aid towards the Haiti Relief Project; I commend the management and members of staff of Intercontinental Bank Plc for this kind gesture towards providing the much needed aids material in Haiti.”
He used the occasion to call on other financial institutions in the country to take a cue from the Intercontinental Bank initiative.
It would be recalled that UNICEF appealed for emergency assistance to aid the victims of a devastating earthquake that rocked the Caribbean nation of Haiti early January 12, 2010.
Funds are urgently needed to provide safe water, temporary shelter systems, essential medical supplies etc. UNICEF's country office in Haiti and the regional office located in Panama deployed emergency teams to assess the situation and determine what the additional emergency needs are for the people of Haiti.
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has a population of 9.6 million inhabitants, of which more than half are under 21 years old. UNICEF has been working in Haiti since 1949 and works directly with Haiti's government on developing long term solutions to current problems caused by poverty and lack of basic health care, education and sanitation services.
The country has been suffering from long-term political strife and a severely depressed economy. In recent years, the effects of the global food crisis and particularly strong hurricane seasons have left the country dangerously vulnerable. This catastrophe will only exacerbate the already critical situation for the people of Haiti, especially women and children.
