UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is asking the international community to provide 550 million U.S. dollars for quake relief efforts in Haiti, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.

    "Most of this money will go to urgent needs -- food and water are in critically short supply," Ban told reporters at UN Headquarters.

    "Given the number of people in the streets without homes, we must provide shelter. We need tents and more tents," he said. "We also need more medical supplies and even more medical personnel."

    The secretary-general said "a high proportion of 3 million people" in the capital area of Port au Prince are without access to food, water, shelter and electricity."

    The UN chief touted the international community's "generous and robust" response.

    "A major humanitarian effort is well underway. We are mobilizing resources as fast as we possibly can," he said.

    He noted that a UN operations center has been established in Port au Prince Airport, coordinating the efforts of "two dozen" rescue teams that have arrived from around the world.

    Due to the lack of heavy lifting equipment and "extremely difficult logistics," search and rescue remains a "monumental effort", he said.

    Preliminary estimates show "widespread damage" to infrastructure in Port au Prince and other affected areas, with as many as 50 percent of buildings in the worst-hit areas damaged or destroyed, he said.

    Ban said he is sending Assistant Secretary-General Tony Banbury of the Department of Field Support to Haiti to serve as his deputy special representative to Haiti.

    Edmond Mulet, Ban's acting special representative to Haiti and assistant-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, has arrived in Port au Prince and assumed full command of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

    "I myself will go to Haiti very soon, both to show solidarity with the people of Haiti and our UN staff and to assess the situation for myself," Ban announced, adding that there is still no "exact timing" for this upcoming visit.

UN seeks $562 mln to help Haiti earthquake victims

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and its partners Friday appealed for 562 million U.S. dollars to help the victims of the devastating earthquake that jolted Haiti earlier this week, as the world body scales up its assistance in the wake of the disaster.

    The 7.0-magnitude tremor which struck the Western Hemisphere's poorest country on Tuesday is estimated to have affected one third of the nation's 9 million people. Full story

UN chief to travel to Haiti to show solidarity with quake victims

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, the United States, Jan. 15, 2010. The United Nations on Friday issued a flash appeal of 550 million U.S. dollars to provide emergency care to thousands of Haitians suffering from the fallout of Tuesday's earthquake that has devastated the country and created an epic humanitarian challenge.(Xinhua/Shen Hong) Photo Gallery>>>

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced here Friday that he will soon travel to Haiti, which was devastated by a massive earthquake earlier this week, to show solidarity with the people of the impoverished Caribbean nation. Full story

Earthquake crushes thousands of buildings in Haiti

    SANTO DOMINGO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A major earthquake rocked Haiti on Tuesday, crushing thousands of buildings, including the presidential palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters, and trapping untold numbers of people in the rubble of the capital city.

    The devastation from the magnitude-7.3 quake, the strongest ever recorded on the poor Caribbean island, was so complete that it seemed likely the death toll would run into the thousands, according to reports monitored here. Full story

"Scale of catastrophe in Haiti is very high," says UN peacekeeping chief   

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations deals with humanitarian crises all the time but the devastating earthquake in Haiti has stricken especially close to home, said the head of UN peacekeeping forces Alain Le Roy here Wednesday.

    With the number of fatalities among UN staff members rising, LeRoy said the emotion is "extremely high." Full story

Over 100 UN personnel trapped in collapsed headquarters in Haiti earthquake

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 100 to 150 UN personnel were trapped under the rubble of the main building of the UN mission in Port au Prince, Haiti, which collapsed in a powerful earthquake, UN officials said Wednesday.

    The UN staff members were still working at the headquarters of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) when the earthquake struck, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at UN Headquarters. Full story