U.N.: Haiti help falling short

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

UNITED NATIONS – A donors conference for Haiti reconstruction at United Nations headquarters this week will show that despite the massive relief effort by the international community, much remains undone.

The U.N. effort is led by the United Nations Development Program, UNDP.

"The horrific earthquake in January did evoke tremendous international solidarity. The key message this week is that we need that solidarity to continue,"

said UNDP Executive Director Helen Clark.

More than 100 ministerial-level delegations are expected at the day-long conference to be jointly hosted by the U.N., the U.S. and the Haitian government.

The conference will also present a venue for a rare joint appearance by both Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, will represent the White House. Former President Bill Clinton, as the U.N.'s "special Haiti envoy," together with Ban Ki-moon, will outline the U.N.'s current and future Haitian projects.

The aim, says UNDP's Clark, is to raise $3.9 billion in relief and reconstruction funds to be used over the next 18 months.

The U.N. says the earthquake caused more than $7 billion in actual damage.

However, estimates by the U.N. and the World Bank puts the Haitian reconstruction cost at $12 billion.

The U.S., which is expected to foot a substantial cost of the Haitian rebuilding, reportedly has targeted $2 billion of public and private funds for the effort.

Since the massive earthquake on Jan. 12, more than 220,000 have been killed with 1.3 million either homeless or living in tent cities. The U.N. says more than 500,000 have fled the environs of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to the countryside.

Of the relief efforts, only 50 percent of the funds needed have actually been received by the U.N.

On recovery and reconstruction, just 21 percent of the money needed has arrived.

Ironically, UNDP says priority for reconstruction will be to rebuild a government that has widely been considered corrupt.

The Presidential Palace, the Haitian Parliament Building and the main courthouse, all of which were severely damaged in January, will be among the first rebuilt, even as most Haitians remain in squalid tent enclaves.

This comes as the spring hurricane season approaches, which is expected to bring significant flooding in the country.

The floods, compounded with an expanding crime rate, are expected to present enormous challenges for the government of President Rene Preval.

Of more than 5,000 convicts who escaped during the earthquake, only about 200 have been recaptured.

The controversial Preval is best known for his four-day disappearing act shortly after the earthquake.

The embattled president has also deflected numerous requests for press interviews during his visit to New York, expected to last less than half a day.

Other than a short joint press briefing, shared with Hillary Clinton and Ban Ki-moon after the donor conference, Preval will spend most of his time in private meetings behind closed doors.

"He just doesn't [have] much time for [the press]," grumbled Haiti's U.N. ambassador Leo Merores.

The U.S./U.N. mission had no comment.