New York: The global community on Wednesday pledged nearly USD 10 billion for Haiti over more than three years to put the quake-ravaged nation back on its feet.
As part of the USD 9.9 billion total, UN member states and international organisations participating in a donors' conference here pledged USD 5.3 billion for the 2010-2011 period, far exceeding the USD 3.8 billion that was sought by conference organisers for that period.
That target was meant to fund a USD 4.0 billion action plan put forward by the Haitian government to fund reconstruction projects over the next two years in the poorest country in the Americas.
"The member states and international partners have pledged USD 5.3 billion for the next two years and USD 9.9 billion in total for the next three years and beyond," Ban told a press conference wrapping up the meeting.
"Friends of Haiti have acted far beyond expectations."
The aim of the meeting was to help the battered Caribbean country "build back better" after the 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12 levelled parts of its capital Port-au-Prince, killing at least 220,000 people and leaving 1.3 million homeless.
Wednesday's biggest contributions came from the United States and the 27-member European Union.
Several dignitaries emphasised the need to follow through on the pledges, which Ban said "will be published and tracked by a Web-based system" established by the UN and Haiti.
"Reconstruction will be Haitian-led, inclusive, accountable, transparent, coordinated and results oriented," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the press conference. "Aid has never saved a country. Our goal must be the empowerment of the Haitian people."
The US chief diplomat, co-hosting the conference with Ban, offered USD 1.15 billion, saying the funds would go toward supporting Haiti's plan "to strengthen agriculture, energy, health, and security and governance."
The EU, meanwhile, pledged an additional USD 1.6 billion, with France offering to disburse EUR 180 million (USD 243 million) in 2010-2011 for food and the restoration of government authority.
"This is only the beginning," Catherine Ashton said in comments addressed to Haitian President Rene Preval. "But I think everyone here is committed to supporting you to the end of the process."
Earlier she told the meeting that EU contribution was on top of EUR 295 million already pledged, bringing total EU public and private contributions "close to USD 3 billion”.
Some 138 countries, international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, non-governmental organisations and Haitian expatriates took part in the one-day conference.
Officials have estimated Haiti needs USD 11.5 billion in aid for reconstruction over the next 10 years.
The World Bank said it would provide USD 479 million in aid through June 2011, of which 250 million was new funding.
Canada, a major provider of aid to Port-au-Prince, said it would also chip in with 400 million Canadian dollars (USD 390 million).
Brazil, the main contributor of troops to the UN stabilisation mission in Haiti, pledged USD 172 million, mainly for health projects, while Japan offered USD 30 million in addition to 70 million already announced.
Stressing the need not to repeat past errors in helping impoverished Haiti, Hillary appealed to the world to "do things differently" this time.
"We cannot retreat to failed strategies," she added. "We need Haiti to succeed."
Her husband, US special envoy to Haiti and former US president Bill Clinton, meanwhile, said that he and the Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive would lead an Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) tasked with overseeing the pledges.
The IHRC, which will have an 18-month mandate, is meant to give the Haitian government "influence over how and where aid is spent and will ensure that the reconstruction is well coordinated" and addresses the needs of all Haitians.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, April 01, 2010, 09:44