Nations Pledge 5.3 Billion To Haiti Fund

New York — Governments from around the world exceeded expectations in their pledges to support the Haitian post-earthquake reconstructions today, as 5.3 billion dollars were promised over the next 2 years, and 9.9 billion earmarked for the next 10 years.The Haitian government was hoping to raise 3.9 billion dollars in order to begin the initial rebuilding process slated for the next 18 months.

“This signals a new level of global commitment, coordination and cooperation” said Co-chair of the conference Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her closing remarks at the conference. “We have the chance not only to contribute to Haiti’s progress but to demonstrate that the international community can achieve a new level of effectiveness and impact to test new approaches, use new technologies , engage one another to build stronger ties between our countries and people.”

Earlier in the day, the Secretary of State announced that the US would pledge 1.15 billion dollars over the next two years, the largest single contribution by any donor country. “This money will go towards supporting the government of Haiti’s plan to strengthen agriculture, energy,health, security and governance.” said the Secretary of State.

The 27 member states of the European Union also pledged approximately 1.5 Billion over the same period of time.

“This is extraordinarily significant, we have all done this together, Brazilians and Argentines leading MINUSTAH (United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti ), the US and Canada and Mexico , all the Caribbean and Venezuela and Cuba. The only thing we all agree on is Haiti”, joked former President Bill Clinton, the United Nations Special Envoy to the country and co-chair of the Interim Haitian Reconstruction Committee.

But Haiti’s history of endemic corruption has raised doubts about whether or not the Haitian government will be able to ensure the money is well spent. Several NGO’s and members of civil society have recently criticized the Haitian government’s proposed plan for not having enough safeguards against corruption, accusations President Clinton tried to downplay.

“The Haitian government have not objected to transparency they just dont want it to interfere with their empowerment.So what we have done is settle on a model that is more or less like what we did during the tsunami.” said Clinton “It will be an open process and one I think will work very well.”