In Haiti, U.S. Works to Improve Lives, Livelihoods
Washington - For the United States, the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti is a long-term commitment in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake that destroyed sizeable sections of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding countryside, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says.
"Over the last six months, the Haitian people have again shown their resilience and strength," Clinton said July 12 ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/July/20100712141513su0.1359217.html ). The United States remains committed to aligning its support with the needs of the people and their government, she said.
"We are committed to helping them realize the Haitian vision for a better nation," Clinton said.
Cheryl Mills, the secretary's counselor and chief of staff, said Haiti and the international community ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/July/20100712170809su0.8700678.html ) have moved past the immediate crisis and are beginning to look toward the longer-term process of reconstruction and the challenges that this transition generates. She said that even at this early stage in the transition, there are successes: no major disease outbreak, the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) has met and will oversee the more than $5.27 billion pledged by nearly 40 countries and international institutions over the next two years for reconstruction, construction has begun on temporary shelters for the homeless, and there has been little or no local inflation as aid assistance pours into the country.
World Bank economists have forecast that complete reconstruction of Port-au-Prince and the immediate surrounding area could take more than a decade with adequate international support and financial assistance.
Haitian authorities have said that approximately 230,000 people were killed in the magnitude 7.0 earthquake and many more were injured. More than 1.5 million people were displaced by the devastation. Authorities also have reported that approximately 30 percent of the country's civil servants were killed in the earthquake and 28 of 29 government ministries collapsed, making recovery and reconstruction even more challenging.
The United States spent more than a half billion dollars in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and sent more than 20,000 U.S. civilian and military personnel to Haiti to carry out activities including search-and-rescue operations, restoring air and sea ports, and providing lifesaving medical care, food, water and shelter.
Mills said that since March the United States has spent another $178 million for Haitian assistance.
The U.S. Congress still has to act on legislation that would provide an additional $1.15 billion for Haiti relief over two years.
Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the international community, working in partnership with the Haitian government, effectively met the food needs of more than 3.5 million vulnerable people. In addition, the international community has effectively vaccinated more than a million Haitians and has averted any large-scale epidemics that might have arisen.
The international community is in the process of providing emergency shelter to more than a million Haitians, and is also working on transition strategies to get people into transitional housing and to rehabilitate existing, but damaged, homes, Shah said.
Shah pointed out some unique successes, including the use of mobile telephones and mobile banking platforms when more than 90 percent of Haitians did not have access to formal banking services.
One of the challenges confronting Haitians is what to do with 25 million cubic meters of debris in an environment that is congested and where infrastructure was already challenging, Shah said.
