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Anyone know if the rainy season is upon Haiti yet?
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Pledges for Haiti surpass targets
Last Updated: Wednesday, 31 March 2010, 21:01 GMT-
Dignitaries attended the International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for HaitiCountries and international organisations have pledged nearly $10 billion to rebuild Haiti after January's devastating earthquake, going far beyond the government's expectations and providing new hope to the impoverished nation.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that nearly 50 donors pledged $9.9 billion (£6.5 billion) "for the next three years and beyond".
He said it demonstrated that the international community had come together "dramatically and in solidarity with the Haitian people" to help them recover from the quake.
Haiti had appealed for $3.8 billion (£2.5 billion) for the next two years. The UN chief said the $9.9 billion includes pledges of $5.3 billion (£3.5 billion) from governments and international partners for the first 24 months of reconstruction.
"We have made a good start," Mr Ban told a news conference at the end of the day-long conference. "We need now to deliver."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who co-chaired the conference, called the pledges "an impressive sum by any standard".
"To put this effort in perspective, after the 2005 (Indian Ocean) tsunami, more than 80 countries provided immediate humanitarian assistance and more than 20 countries pledged assistance for reconstruction," she said. "As of today, more than 140 countries have provided humanitarian assistance to Haiti and nearly 50 countries have made pledges of support for Haiti's rebuilding."
Haiti's president Rene Preval thanked donors and added: "This is a heartfelt effort that demonstrates that Haiti is not on its own."
The January 12 earthquake destroyed the government and commercial centre of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. Most of the estimated 1.3 million people left homeless are still sheltering on broken streets, hillsides and riverbeds.
Some officials praised the conference as a milestone for both Haiti and international aid efforts but others were sceptical that the aid pledges would be fulfilled. Oxfam spokesman Philippe Mathieu said that after 1998's Hurricane Mitch struck Central America, less than a third of the $9 billion promised materialised.
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I have been wondering how the people of Haiti are coping as it was supposed to be getting very wet and windy soon, there has been nothing on the news recently.
Lizx
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