UN envoy urges more aid for Haiti

By Simon Watts
BBC News

Haiti is still in dire need of aid

The new head of the United Nations peace mission in Haiti has said it is essential the international community keep helping the Caribbean nation.

Speaking from a donors' conference in Brazil, Edmond Mulet told the BBC that assistance was needed despite Haiti's new democratically elected government.

Top officials from the other countries leading the UN mission had the same message to give.

The conference comes only a week after Haiti's government finally took office.

Since the election of Rene Preval, the security situation in the capital, Port-au-Prince, has shown signs of improvement and the new president has reduced political tension by showing willingness to talk to all sides.

But as the main speakers in Brasilia stressed, Haiti is a desperately poor country and long-term stability is unlikely if foreign donors do not support programmes that make a real difference to the lives of ordinary Haitians.

Aid plan

The new head of the UN mission, Edmond Mulet, warned international donors against withdrawing.

"The international community must not slacken its pace now," he said.

"It must continue to be involved and donate money because the international community has been in Haiti five, six, seven, eight, nine times," he said.

"And as soon as there's a civilian government and things are going reasonably well, the international community withdraws and the government falls."

Mr Mulet mixed his warning with plenty of positive messages. He said Haiti was not only making political progress, internationally-funded reforms of the police and courts were starting to pay off too.

The delegates, who came from 16 countries and from international financial institutions, agreed to draw up a plan to extend aid to Haiti for another two years.

The plan will be discussed at a full-scale donors' conference in Haiti itself in July.