USD 2.79 bn pledged toward Haiti released: UN

Haiti`s massive earthquake in January 2010 displaced more than a million people and killed an estimated 314,000 people.

Port-Au-Prince: The United Nations Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti said that more than half of the USD 5.33 billion pledged by donors to help the Caribbean nation rebuild after the 2010 earthquake has been released.

An analysis of pledges made at a donors` conference shortly after Haiti`s 2010 earthquake revealed that USD 2.79 billion, or 52.3 percent of the approximate USD 5.33 billion pledged by 55 donors for recovery activities between 2010 and 2012, has been disbursed. The bulk of that money, or almost three quarters, were grants awarded to the Haitian government, non-governmental groups and private contractors. Another 10 percent went toward grants that supported the UN, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank. The rest went toward loans and budget support to the Haitian government. The UN Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti is run by former US President Bill Clinton. The bureau has been tracking the pledges made at an international donors` conference in New York that came two months after Haiti`s massive earthquake in January 2010. The disaster displaced more than a million people, toppled thousands of buildings in the capital and other southern cities, and killed an estimated 314,000 people. PTI