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Gathering aid for Haiti | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The United Nations has appealed for more than US$100 million in aid for up to 800,000 evacuated people in Haiti. Haiti has been battered by four storms since mid-August including direct hits by tropical storm Fay and hurricane Gustav. The UN said hundreds of people have been killed and the storms have destroyed homes. The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs is calling for donors to pledge almost $108 million to support relief efforts over the next six months. Nearly one third of it is for food, and the rest for shelter, agriculture, health, water and sanitation, education and other requirements. French aid France is now offering four million euros to help rebuild and feed the country. Hundreds have died and most of the country is flooded, following the passage of four major storms. But the UN development programme representative in Haiti, Joel Boutroue, says the country now needs 100 million euros in aid. He also said the storms will cause the country to lose three or four years growth. The new prime minister, Michele Pierre Louis, has already stated the hurricanes have compounded an already difficult situation in the country. Wyclef Jean Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean has launched a Haiti storm relief fund to help his home country. Jean's Yele Haiti foundation boasts a list of supporters and donators which reads like a who's who of Hollywood. His foundation is asking for tents, food, water purification tablets, and medical supplies for Haiti. Money raised will also go to help non profit organisations who are already working on the ground. The former Fugees singer said his foundation is also working closely with the The Foundation has started sponsoring food and water supplies to victims in south-east Haiti which had been first hit during the hurricane season. Jean said that containers with emergency supplies would be shipped in over the next few weeks as donations started to come in. Also his foundation's teams would start with emergency food distribution in Haiti St Vincent sends cash St Vincent and the Grenadines has joined other countries in providing hurricane aid to Cuba and Haiti. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said that US$100,000 in relief funds was earmarked for Cuba. A further $60,000 is being sent to Haiti. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hear Neil Nunes' interview with the Haitian prime minister
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