UN Security Council voices solidarity with Haiti (Roundup)

Feb 19, 2010, 19:00 GMT

New York - The UN Security Council on Friday declared its solidarity with Haiti and said it supported the international community's response to the humanitarian crisis triggered by the January 12 earthquake.

The council, which in January decided to add 3,500 military and police to the 7,000-strong existing UN mission in Haiti in response to the earthquake, said it looks forward to the March 31 international donor conference for the reconstruction of the Caribbean nation.

The council called the donor meeting at UN headquarters in New York of 'significant importance' for rebuilding Haiti.

Alain Le Roy, the UN undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations, told reporters governments have already agreed to meet most of the need for an additional 2,000 military and 1,500 police for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

Le Roy said 900 troops were coming from Brazil, which has already contributed the bulk of military forces in MINUSTAH, and Japan was sending about 350 personnel, including 190 engineers. Argentina, South Korea, Peru and many other nations were also sending troops and police.

The original mission and other UN offices in Haiti were hard hit by the quake, and the UN said 91 of its personnel died.

Le Roy said civil engineers and heavy equipment are needed in Haiti to clear an estimated 60 million tons of debris caused by the earthquake that destroyed large swaths of public and private buildings in Port-au-Prince.

Haiti's UN Ambassador Leo Merores told the council on Friday that more than 1 million people are living on the streets of Port-au- Prince and their conditions require urgent relief intervention before the Caribbean hurricane season begins this summer.

The council met one day after the United Nations launched a revised appeal for 1.44 billion dollars in response to the massive humanitarian crisis created by the magnitude-7 earthquake on January 12.

Merores said the earthquake killed 270,000 people, destroyed 250,000 public, commercial and residential buildings, and left more than 1 million Haitians living in the streets and public areas.

'The numbers speak for themselves,' Merores said. 'Until the situation stabilizes, and taking into account the urgency to prepare for the rainy and hurricane season, it is necessary to intensify relief activities and to spread them out in order to reach people and areas not yet accessible.'

Merores thanked the international community for its generosity and countries that contributed military and civilian personnel to the UN mission in Haiti.

He said the revised appeal for 1.44 billion dollars in humanitarian assistance will help an estimated 3 million Haitians affected by the quake, including 1.2 million people who urgently need shelter, sanitation and hygiene.

The UN plans to host an international donor conference on March 31 in New York for the reconstruction of Haiti, at which time a finalized plan for rebuilding and sustained development of the country will be presented to the participants.

UN officials and former US president Bill Clinton, who serves as the UN special envoy to the impoverished Caribbean nation, on Thursday asked the international community to fulfil financial commitments to help Haitians resume normal living conditions before the country is rebuilt.

The revised appeal for 1.44 billion dollars to cover relief activities in 2010 includes the 577-million-dollar appeal already launched by the UN in January following the earthquake. A large part of the first appeal had been met, but the UN still needs some 768 million dollars to fund relief projects to be implemented by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations.

John Holmes, the UN humanitarian coordinator who attended the council meeting on Haiti, said the money needed will help the early recovery in key areas like health, education and agriculture. Other urgent needs are to prepare for the rainy and hurricane season.

'In sum, the humanitarian situation in Haiti is undoubtedly improving day by day,' Holmes said. 'But we are under no illusion about the scale of the challenges still ahead for the next weeks and months.'