United Nations for Haiti

United Nations for Haiti

The United Nations made a call for Haiti on Wednesday and more than 130 countries and international organisations responded.

At a conference at UN HQ in New York City, international donors pledged more than $5bn over two years and a total of $9.9bn over three years and beyond, far exceeding expectations.

But there's scepticism in Haiti that the money will actually reach those who need it most. The conditions in the squalid, over-crowded camps in the capital have been made even worse by rains.

The tone at the UN donors conference, however, was more optimistic, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling the effort a "wholesale national renewal" for Haiti.

Today the United Nations are united for Haiti. The international community has acted unanimously and for the long-term. This is the down payment Haiti needs for wholesale national renewal.

The president of Haiti, Rene Preval, was emotional as he thanked the more than one hundred nations and organisations in attendance for doing what they could to help.

This is a heartfelt effort and it demonstrates that Haiti is not on its own and we express, on behalf of the Haitian people, thank you.

Two thirds of the hoped-for total of $3.8bn poured in within the opening minutes of the conference, pledged by the EU and US alone. The rest was pledged throughout the day.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:

To put this effort in perspective, after the 2004 [Indian ocean] tsunami, more than 80 countries provided immediate humanitarian assistance and more than 20 countries pledged assistance for reconstruction. 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.

Earlier, Bill Clinton, the UN special envoy to Haiti who will co-chair a committee supervising how the aid pledged will be distributed, said there would be "a reporting and tracking system" implemented to monitor the "pledges, commitments and disbursements both from governments and multi-nationals and the private sector and the NGOs".

He warned international donors that their commitments would be closely tracked.

Let me remind you all that transparency and accountability is a two way street. It will also show the commitments made and the money disbursed to the government of Haiti. But it will be an open process and one I think will work very well.

Fine words but Haiti is a country the world has habitually ignored until disaster strikes.

The hope is cash from this conference can be distributed efficiently and effectively enough to make a real difference in the lives of the people.