To participate promptly in the Haitian relief efforts, the Italian Government has declared a state of emergency following the earthquake there. The Italian intervention is divided in the two following main components: an interforce military contingent, that will operate in close coordination with the United Nations, and several humanitarian flights and financial assistance and debts relief initiatives.
Operation White Crane On the military side, Operation White Crane, departed on board the Cavour aircraft carrier on January 20 from Civitavecchia (near Rome), carrying food and medical supplies. A stop is scheduled in Brazil, where a local contingent will board the ship. The estimated arrival in Port-au-Prince is in ten days. The military contingent on board the Cavour has a series of interforce units. In addition to a Light Maneuver interforce military hospital, the following components are included:
Navy: - San Marco Regiment: 15 units with force protection duties - Flight Group: 85 units and six helicopters (two EH-101s and four SH-3Ds) - Underwater Operative Group: eight units and a hyperbaric chamber.
Italian Army: - Engineering Task Force, consisting of 185 units from the Julia Brigade equipped with: trucks, heavy tow trucks, containers, cranes, tank trucks, illuminated tower trailers, and a kitchen trailer.
Carabinieri: - Six men with two Discovery SUVs assigned to military policing
Air Force: - Fourteen men assigned to force protection and aircraft activity coordination at the Haiti airport
Medical Personnel: - 37 doctors and nurses (Interforce) to staff Role 2; - 12 nurses from the Italian Red Cross.
There are a total of 922 units on board the Cavour.
Following the United Nations flash appeal in the framework of the MINUSTAH mission for police units to provide law and order, Italy is planning to send a Carabinieri contingent. The Carabinieri have made available a 120-unit company. The contingent has a logistical and medical component for staff support. The Carabinieri Company, sent initially for reasons dictated by the urgent need for a national contribution to the MINUSTAH mission, could eventually wear the insignia of Eurogendfor (EGF), following the talks underway with other Member Countries (France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Romania).

Specifications on the Cavour Aircraft Carrier
The Cavour was launched on November 15, 2004, and delivered to the Italian Navy on March 27, 2008. On June 10, 2009, in the presence of the President of the Republic, the Hon. Giorgio Napolitano, the ceremony was held for the Handing-Over of the Combat Flag.
The Cavour is the product of 100% Italian technological and industrial power. Its main technical characteristics are: Overall Length:                         244 m Maximum Width:                      40 m Maximum Load:                       27,500 t approximately Maximum Speed                      > 30 knots Total Beds                                1,208 The Cavour is equipped with a hospital facility, occupying an area of approximately 400 square meters, provided with: - Two operating rooms - One intensive care unit - One radiology unit - One burns room - Twenty cots for patients
Its elevated flexibility, mobility and logistics together with its outstanding command, control and communications capacities make it both a ship and a command center that can contribute effectively, also with nonmilitary forces, to disaster relief operations. The regular crew of the Cavour consists of 560 units.

Italy contributed 6.2 million Euros in aid and announced the cancellation of the Haitian debt to Italy (40.43 million Euros). 
In order to coordinate Italian relief efforts and meet with Haitian and UN Authorities in Port au Prince, Prime Minister Berlusconi asked the Head of the Italian Civil Protection Department Dr. Guido Bertolaso to visit Haiti. Secretary of State Bertolaso has a vast experience in large scale disasters like the Tsunami and the earthquake that hit the Italian city of L’Aquila in 2009. He will arrive this afternoon. 
Financial contributions:
- 500.000 Euros to the International Federation of Red Cross for emergency healthcare programs and essential goods; - 80.000 Euros to the World Health Organization by offering ten “trauma- kits; - 500.000 Euros to the World Food Programme to meet emergency food needs of the population affected (UN flash appeal); - 500.000 Euros to OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) to ensure United Nations aid coordination on the ground (UN flash appeal); - 500.000 Euros to the World Health Organization to ensure emergency supplies (UN flash appeal); - 500.000 Euros to the United Nations Development Programme to the early recovery component (“cah for work”) of the UN flash appeal.  
Humanitarian flights:
-         a first flight carrying an advanced medical post (with medical staff) arrived in Port-au-Prince on January 16th; -         a second flight carrying 80 tons of essential goods arrived on January 19th; -         a third flight carrying 47 tons of humanitarian aid arrived on January 20th. This flight also contains 20 tons of food rations (K rations) donated to WFP. 
Cancellation of debt: The Italian government is about to sign a bilateral agreement on the total cancellation of that country’s debt to Italy, its second largest creditor. The agreement concerns a residual 40.43 million Euros, which is to be added to the 12 million already cancelled in July 2008. The Italian government also cancelled its quota of interest on loans granted to Haiti in 1987 by the European Economic Community (approximately 157,000 Euros). Italy decided to implement the Paris Club accords on reducing Haitian debt using the most favorable formula, i.e. its total cancellation. A complete absence of debt would allow the various international cooperation institutions to resume approval of new assistance loans to Haiti, thereby making a concrete contribution to the country’s reconstruction. Italy is also working within the framework of the Paris Club to reach out to non-member Haiti creditors urging them to follow its example.