IFRC director describes earthquake aid challenges in Morocco
Caroline Holt, disaster management director at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, joins DW from Geneva to discuss the challenges that aid organizations are facing in Morocco.
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00:00 Let's now bring in Caroline Holtz.
00:01 She's the Director of Disaster, Climate and Crisis
00:05 at International Federation of Red Cross
00:07 and Red Crescent Societies.
00:09 She joins me from Geneva in Switzerland.
00:11 Hello, Caroline.
00:12 How challenging is it for aid organizations
00:15 responding to this earthquake?
00:17 - Well, thank you for inviting me to speak to you today.
00:22 Your pictures tell a story, of course.
00:24 We can see for ourselves how complicated it is.
00:28 This is still very much a search and rescue operation.
00:31 And those stories of hope,
00:33 of people being pulled out from the rubble, still alive,
00:36 is what keeps us going at this time.
00:38 But we know that the window is small,
00:40 and we know that this really is a race against time.
00:43 Accessing these people, both in the cities,
00:45 but also in those more remote locations,
00:48 is proving extremely challenging.
00:50 Road and transportation routes,
00:51 communication routes, electricity,
00:54 all of those are disrupted
00:55 in an event the size of this earthquake.
00:58 And that is creating frustration,
01:01 and chaos, and confusion on the ground
01:04 with regard to the response.
01:06 - I mean, you mentioned yourself,
01:08 the epicenter of this quake was in a very remote area.
01:11 So how can help get through to the people living there?
01:14 - It's a case of bringing in heavy machinery
01:19 in order that we can clear those roads,
01:21 or we can clear the rubble,
01:22 to be able to access those people.
01:24 But of course, the communities themselves
01:26 will be the first responders.
01:28 We can see there, hundreds of people,
01:30 dozens of people at least,
01:31 with putting their hands to the rock
01:34 and really starting to shift it.
01:35 The challenge is here, of course,
01:36 it's an extremely dangerous time.
01:38 The aftershocks will continue,
01:40 and many buildings that were destabilized,
01:43 but didn't necessarily fall in the original shock,
01:46 may well destabilize further.
01:48 And it's still an extremely dangerous environment
01:50 for those people to be working in.
01:52 - As rescue efforts continue,
01:55 what are the coming weeks and months
01:57 going to look like for people in Morocco?
01:59 Because it looks like this is the start
02:01 of a very long process of recovery, isn't it?
02:04 - Yes, as I say, for the next few days,
02:08 we can expect that the search and rescue window
02:11 will continue, but unfortunately,
02:13 that does start to draw to a close,
02:14 probably middle of the week.
02:16 It's also important that we look after those that survived.
02:20 There are many people living outside now,
02:22 exposed to the elements, many of them with injuries,
02:25 be that severe injuries, severe head wounds, broken bones,
02:30 and we're trying to triage and make sure
02:32 that those cases are prioritized
02:34 so that the worst cases are receiving medical attention.
02:38 But again, as we saw, there's a lot of makeshift first aid
02:42 that is very necessary just to cope with the volume here.
02:45 We will also then see that people need shelter,
02:48 as I say, to keep them from the elements,
02:50 to they'll need water, they'll need food.
02:54 And also, we shouldn't underestimate the need
02:57 for psycho-social support here.
02:59 The mental trauma of an event such as this one is huge,
03:03 and really, the Moroccan Red Crescent,
03:05 who's our partner on the ground,
03:06 is really supporting the Moroccan government
03:08 with many of these elements.
03:10 Then we will move, of course, into longer-term recovery,
03:13 but that's further down the road at this point.
03:15 - Caroline Holt from the International Federation
03:18 of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
03:21 Thank you very much.