U.N., relief bodies, urge world keep up Haiti aid

1 of 2.

Credit: Reuters

Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:37pm BST


* Funding pledges not being fulfilled

* 1.5 million people still in makeshift camps

* Long-term infrastructure vital

By Robert Evans

GENEVA, July 12 (Reuters) - United Nations and other aid agencies appealed to the world on Monday not to forget earthquake-devastated Haiti and to keep financial support coming in for its long-term reconstruction.

The call came at a news conference to mark six months since the quake hit the poverty-wracked Caribbean republic and killed about 225,000 people, all but destroyed its capital Port-au-Prince and left 1.5 million people homeless.

"We hope that donors continue efforts to carry out the pledges they have made on financing relief and reconstruction, despite the current world economic problems," said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. humanitarian coordination body OCHA.

The committee overseeing coordination of the aid effort says only 62 percent of the funding sought in an emergency U.N. appeal in February has yet been received.

"There is some lagtime now in the funds pledged reaching Haiti," said Adam Rogers of the U.N. Development Programme, UNDP, while the refugee agency UNHCR said there was an urgent need for long-term housing to be built.

The original appeal was for $1.4 billion but that was revised upwards in May to $1.5 billion as the scale of the disaster and the needs of Haiti's nearly 10 million people became more apparent.



$907 MILLION RECEIVED

As of now, only $907 million have been received, says an advance copy of the report seen by Reuters.

Around the world, there was a huge public response right after the disaster as tragic scenes of death and suffering were recorded by television teams that rushed into Haiti, and donations flooded in to independent aid agencies.

But both U.N. relief bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) warned at the time that it might be difficult to keep the interest up after the television reporters had gone and other disasters occurred elsewhere.

"I am afraid that this is what may be happening," OCHA's Byrs said.

The report says limited donor response to the revised appeal raised the question of whether humanitarian agencies would be able to maintain operational capacity.

This will apply particularly, the report said, if the new hurricane season brings more death and destruction to the country, which declared its independence in 1804 after a black slave revolt against French colonial rule.

The United Nations says some 1.5 million people are still living in improvised camps -- mainly in Port-au-Prince but many outside -- six months after their homes were destroyed.

Relief officials have been seeking to set up better shelter but a major obstacle is what they call Haiti's "complicated land tenure" system.

Land ownership in the country is largely in the hands of already rich people who are driving hard bargains on the sale of plots for better serviced camps for the homeless, officials say. (Editing by Jonathan Lynn) (robert.j.evans@thomsonreuters.com; tel.: +41 22 733 38 31))

Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.