The world's richest countries and the World Bank today pledged billions of dollars in response to Haiti's presentation of plans for the recovery and reconstruction of the earthquake-ravaged nation, according to dpa. The United States pledged 1.5 billion dollars, which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said will go towards "supporting the government of Haiti's plan to strengthen agriculture, energy, health, and security and governance." "The global community also must do things differently," she told the UN donors' conference in New York. "It will be tempting to fall back on old habits - to work around the government, rather than work with them as partners - or to fund a scattered array of projects, rather than making the deeper, long-term investments that Haiti needs. But we cannot retreat to failed strategies." The European Union pledged a total of 1.6 billion dollars from contributions from the group's 27 members and the European Commission. The World Bank would commit 250 million dollars in new funding for Haiti, bringing its total to 479 million dollars through June 2011. That includes a cancellation of all outstanding debt that Haiti owes the global lender. In addition to new funding, many governments promised to cancel Haiti's debt in order to help it recover from the January 12 earthquake, which levelled most of Port-au-Prince and some adjacent towns, causing losses and damage estimated at more than 7 billion dollars. Haiti, with the assistance of international experts from the UN and banking institutions, called for 3.9 billion dollars for activities in the next 18 months and a total of 11.5 billion dollars to cover a 10-year plan that would build a new society and government. The reconstruction involves using earthquake-resistant materials and architecture. The conference apparently had already met funds for the short- term, 18-month period. A decision was also taken to set up a Multi- Donor Trust Fund to manage the funds coming from governments and banks. The World Bank will also manage the global Haiti Reconstruction Fund for donor nations that was set up by the Caribbean country's government. "This is a chance to do things differently," said World Bank President Robert Zoellick. "It's not just about how much money is raised, it's about delivering real results on the ground for the Haitian people through good governance and effective cooperation by donors." But as pledges were coming in during the debate, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reminded participants that a flash appeal for 1.4 billion dollars in humanitarian assistance to Haiti, launched in February, had received only 49 per cent. The new pledges heard on Wednesday were directed at both the short- and long-term plans. Haitian President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive presented plans for rebuilding their country, agreeing to taking measures to disburse the new funds effectively and with discipline and transparency. "On territorial reconstruction, our objective is unequivocal," Bellerive said. "We must arrive at redeploying the population over the territory."
