UN launches $98m Haiti aid appeal

More than half of Haiti's population live below the poverty line

The UN has made an appeal for $98m (£50.26m) to help Haiti's transition.

The appeal, for the period 2006-2007, aims to strengthen Haiti's government and to help it meet humanitarian needs.

It is also aimed at "ensuring that authorities are better prepared in the event of natural disasters", said Joel Boutroue of the UN's Haiti mission.

"All indicators show that Haiti continues to be the poorest country in the northern hemisphere," Mr Boutroue told journalists.

Mr Boutroue, who is the UN's deputy special representative in Haiti, launched the appeal in Geneva.

He said the appeal had three main goals:

• to address insecurity in Haiti's shanty towns

• to improve the situation in rural areas and thus stem the exodus to the cities

• to strengthen the capacity of the government.

More than half of Haiti's 8.4 million population live below the extreme poverty line of $1 a day, according to the UN.

A Brazilian-led UN peacekeeping force has been deployed in the country since 2004, after a revolt that ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.