The United Nations has appealed for $562 million from the international community to help victims of the devastating Haiti earthquake, according to the United Press International (UPI). The U.N. said Friday the money is to provide help during the next six months to 3 million people affected by the quake. Half of the funds are to go toward emergency food aid and the rest to health, water, sanitation, nutrition, emergency education and other needs. The 7-magnitude earthquake Tuesday left an estimated 300,000 people homeless and destroyed 10 percent of the buildings in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, the United Nations said Friday. "There is not a moment to lose -- lives are on the line," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said in New York. "The coming days can make a critical difference in caring for the acutely injured, preventing the spread of disease and providing essential food, water and shelter to tens of thousands of families who have been left with little but the clothes on their back." The U.N. Children"s Fund, UNICEF, underscored the importance of identifying and reuniting children who have been separated from their parents and finding extended families of orphaned children. Nearly half of Haiti"s population is under 18. The U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund is putting up $25 million toward the appeal. The top U.N. official in Haiti, Hedi Annabi, remains unaccounted for, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent Edmond Mulet, former special representative to Haiti and current assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, to take command of the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti and coordinate the relief effort. The U.N. Office for the Coordination Affairs is coordinating some 27 search-and-rescue teams and the World Health Organization is coordinating medical assistance. The World Food Program is continuing food distributions and officials said they hope to reach 2 million people affected by the quake.
