There is surely no more symbolic site in Haiti than Champs de Mars, Port-au-Prince's main park and place of political power. On the park's west side sits the now ruined Presidential Palace. To the north is the Dessalines barracks - which has been reduced to a façade - named after Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a leader of the Haitian independence movement. Looming over the park is an unfinished tower built to mark the bicentennial of the founding of the free Republic of Haiti but never completed because of political turmoil.

How tragic then that this square has now become a symbol of the grief and pain afflicting the Haitian people. Nearly two weeks after a massive earthquake struck this city the several thousand homeless people living in the park are still receiving almost no aid except water.

Conditions in the park are squalid: there is little privacy - unless a sheet draped on four sticks can be called private. Most families cook over small fires amid rows of towels or plastic used as screens. When people want to wash they strip off their clothes and soap themselves with water from a bucket - under the circumstances inhibitions about nudity drop away. When they need a toilet they walk to the edge of the park.

"There are no medical facilities at Champs de Mars for pregnant women, no post-natal care, and no care for newborns," said Sarah Spencer, the IRC emergency team's coordinator for gender based violence programmes. "Meanwhile, we know almost nothing about the extent of violence against women and the incidence of rape."

With so many people lacking access to sanitation and medical facilities it seems only a matter of time before disease and epidemics begin to run rampant.

On Saturday, hundreds of homeless Haitians gathered in Champs de Mars to sing and pray. "We are alive, we are happy," the people shouted, for the moment raising their spirits out of the wretched surroundings.

How long that moment will last no one knows. "It's obvious that the people here are incredibly frustrated with their living conditions," said Sarah Spencer.

How to help

Donate Now: Your support will go directly to the IRC's efforts helping survivors of the Haiti earthquake cope in its devastating aftermath.

The IRC and MSH previously worked together in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake and in Southern Sudan, to restore the health system following the end of the 20-year civil war there.

The joint IRC-MSH efforts in Haiti will focus on displaced people and on communities that were hit hard by the 12 January earthquake, as well as communities that are hosting homeless victims of the disaster. Programmes will be carried out in close collaboration with Haiti's Ministry of Health.

The IRC and MSH together plan to use their combined expertise to carry out a range of programmes including:

• "Cash for Work" programmes that will employ out-of-work Haitians to clear rubble.
• Rehabilitation of damaged health centres.
• Delivery of drugs and supplies to out-of-stock clinics and health facilities.
• Water and sanitation projects, with a focus on medical waste management.
• Community health network training and expansion of basic medical services.
• Transportation of women with obstetrical emergencies - and other patients needing urgent care - to health facilities

The IRC's Emergency Response Team in Haiti, led by Gillian Dunn, includes experts in water and sanitation, logistics, healthcare and programmes for women and children.

MSH has been working in Haiti for 30 years to help the country develop self-sufficient and comprehensive health services and will continue playing a lead role in rebuilding the health system following the earthquake. Its nearly 200 person staff in Haiti works with local partners and the Ministry of Health to implement three major projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to strengthen the country's health system at the national and local levels.

The SDSH (Santé pour le Développement et la Stabilité d’Haïti Project–Pwojé Djanm) project is focused on building the capacity of the Haitian ministry of health and strengthening the involvement of the community at the local level to deliver essential health services across a network of two dozen non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and 60 public sector sites that collectively reach 4.5 million people in Haiti.

The Leadership, Management and Sustainability Program (LMS-Haiti) is focused on building a unified commodity security system for condoms and other family planning commodities; improving the leadership and management and behaviour change communication capacity of the Ministry of Public Health and Population; and working with two local partners to strengthen the HIV programme capacity in Cité Soleil.

The Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) project, funded by the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief, is working with government partners in Haiti to deliver commodities to AIDS treatment sites and to improve storage and distribution practices at AIDS treatment and care sites. The goal is to provide healthcare workers with the assurance of a continuous supply of medicines.

About the International Rescue Committee: A global leader in humanitarian aid, the International Rescue Committee works in more than 40 countries offering help and hope to refugees and others uprooted by conflict and oppression. During crises, IRC teams provide healthcare, shelter, clean water, sanitation, learning and healing programmes for children and special aid for women. As emergencies subside, the IRC stays to revive livelihoods and help shattered communities recover and rebuild. The IRC also helps resettle refugees given sanctuary in the United States. A tireless advocate for the most vulnerable, the IRC is committed to restoring hope, dignity and opportunity. For more information, visit www.theIRC.org or www.IRCuk.org.

About MSH: MSH's mission is to save lives and improve the health of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health. It uses proven approaches developed over four decades to help leaders, health managers and communities in developing nations build stronger health systems for greater health impact. MSH has over 2,000 staff working in 74 countries. For more information on MSH's work in Haiti, please visit http://www.msh.org/global-presence/latin-america-and-the-caribbean/Haiti.cfm.

The email asks for donations to a joint appeal by the IRC with the United Nations World Food Programme. This is a fraudulent email and we do not have such an appeal with the WFP.

The email asks people to make wire transfers to an account and also includes a donation form branded as a third charity, the Human Relief Foundation. It includes text taken from official IRC materials.

Anyone receiving such an email should simply ignore and delete it.

The IRC will never ask you to make direct transfers to our account or for your personal bank details via email. You can make safe and secure donations through our website at www.ircuk.org.

The International Rescue Committee will be reporting the email to relevant authorities. Existing supporters can be reassured that their personal data is safe and that all donations made through our website – including to our Haiti appeal at www.ircuk.org/haitiappeal – will be received by the IRC.

If you have any concerns please email ircuk(at)ircuk.org.

The city of Port-au-Prince has always been a magnet for Haitians seeking a better life. So when a massive 7.0 earthquake struck the country on 12 January – the quake's epicentre was only 10 miles from the capital – it affected one third of the country's population.

Widespread destruction has rendered this overpopulated and under-serviced city even more so. So many buildings have been destroyed or made uninhabitable and so many services disrupted that the offices and ministries that would normally coordinate rescue and rebuilding operations and other government functions have vanished.

Finding themselves homeless in a city that is part ghost town and part displaced-persons camp, many residents are returning to their home villages in rural areas, which were not as heavily damaged as the capital or were spared entirely.

Some get there by taking the local "tap-taps" – collective taxis that pile a dozen passengers into the back of a covered pick-up. Others ride in trucks and buses provided for free by the Haitian government and local nongovernmental organisations.

Outside the St Louis Gonzague Catholic school, which has been turned into a makeshift homeless persons' camp, three trucks are taking on their last passengers. One is going to Jeremie, on the southwestern tip of Hispaniola, the island that Haiti shares with Dominican Republic. Another is heading to Gonaives, a port city north of the capital, while the third is destined for Cap Haitien on the north coast, Haiti's second largest city.

Eric le Guen, the safety and security adviser of the IRC emergency response team in Haiti, said that the destruction of Port-au-Prince is so complete that even buildings that look unscathed may have structural damage and will have to be torn down.

Some Haitians see a glimmer of hope in the aid that is now pouring into the country and that has given Haiti world attention. Immediate tasks such as water distribution and the repatriation of people who are planning to go back the countryside have been carried out in a surprisingly orderly way. By the end of this week, local aid and nongovernmental organisations will have finished their initial assessment of losses and needs and will be better able to determine how they can utilise international aid organisations for long-term reconstruction and development projects.