UN pledges to rebuild 'a safer Haiti,' as aid improves - Summary

Fri, 22 Jan 2010

Geneva - Haiti is to be rebuilt in a safer manner, to help prevent or contain future disasters, like the fallout from the earthquake that struck the poor nation last week, a United Nations agency said Friday. "We shall continue working with the Haitian government and other partners to help rebuild a safer Haiti," said Margareta Wahlstrom, the UN's special envoy for reducing disaster related risk.

Meanwhile, in regards to the short-term needs of the Haitian people, the UN said it was noting continued improvements in the delivery of aid.

"It may seem slow to some, but lessons have been learned. We are trying to get the most efficient and timely response. Things are improving daily and moving in the right direction," said Elizabeth Byrs of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The situation in Haiti was a "complex emergency," she told reporters in Geneva.

The UN was coordinating with the United States military, and increasingly the Haitian government, which was hard hit by the earthquake, in its efforts to deliver relief, official said.

For those in Port au Prince and other affected areas, however, the situation remained difficult, as survivors awaited the fruits of an estimated 1 billion dollars in funds given or pledged to Haiti.

"Things are tough for the people here," Ana Gerlin Hernandez, a food expert with the International Committee of the Red Cross said from Haiti.

According to the ICRC while those with means were fleeing the capital Port au Prince, hundreds of thousands of the country's poor were "camping out in squares, sports fields and other open areas transformed into makeshift camps."

Aid efforts have been hampered by the impact of the quake which struck the Caribbean nation on January 12 and the preexisting state of the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

"Haiti had no chance and could not have been prepared for a disaster of this magnitude," UNISDR, the agency for disaster reduction, said in a statement, noting the country's troubled history of natural disasters and conflicts.

Per capita gross domestic product in Haiti prior to the devastating earthquake was only 790 dollars annually, "or about 2 dollars per person per day," the UN said.

Literacy rates were estimated at just half of the population and an even smaller percentage of the people had access to health care.

According to the UN, the primary reason for the scale of the destruction in Haiti were "construction on unstable land and collapsing buildings."

At least 75,000 people died in the 7.0 magnitude quake, but estimates say the final toll could range from 100,000 to 200,000. Over 1 million people remain homeless.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305275,french-company-obtains-approval-for-airbus-maintenance-in-sudan.html.