BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The international community has mobilized to send aid and rescue teams to Haiti in the aftermath of the magnitude-7.3 earthquake that devastated the Carribean country Tuesday.
Up to 40 rescue teams have registered for the relief effort and many countries have offered funds and materials.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday in a telephone conversation with Haitian President Rene Preval that all relevant UN agencies had moved to deploy rescue work and the World Food Program (WFP) had been distributing food to Haitian people affected by the quake.
Speaking from New York, Ban said the international body had launched an urgent appeal for 550 million U.S. dollars.
Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said among the 40 rescue teams registered at the On-Site Operations Coordination Center (OSOCC), 17 had started their mission in Haiti while six were going to arrive there soon.
She added the OCHA had opened a special aerial route between the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo and the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince to speed the delivery of aid.
Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said Friday the FAO would coordinate with the international community on the rescue and reconstruction work.
The Rome-based agency would also play its role in the rehabilitation and reconstruction work over the next weeks and months, Diouf said in a statement.
He added the agency would continue assisting with food production in Haiti, the western hemisphere's poorest country with highest level of malnutrition, "so that the devastating effects of the earthquake do not increase hunger in the capital and elsewhere."
Liu Zhenmin, Chinese deputy permanent representative to the UN, on Friday told a UN flash appeal meeting to raise funds for Haiti that "the Chinese government will closely follow the developments of the disaster in Haiti, and positively respond to the flash appeal of the United Nations."
"China will do what it can to provide assistance and contribute to the efforts of the Haitian people to triumph over the disaster and rebuild their homes at an early date," Liu said.
Liu said China reacted immediately after the earthquake. On Wednesday, China sent a 60-member rescue team to Haiti, which started disaster relief immediately after its arrival.
Following a one-million-U.S.-dollar donation by the Red Cross Society of China, the Chinese government announced Friday it would provide 30 million RMB (some 4.4 million dollars) worth of humanitarian emergency supplies to Haiti.
In addition, Chinese peacekeeping police working for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) were also fully engaged in the relief efforts on the ground, he said.
The Chinese working group in Haiti have been searching for their compatriots in the quake region and made arrangements for their needs.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would go to Haiti Saturday with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah to meet President Preval and inspect the U.S. rescue work there.
Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said in Brasilia after returning from a trip to Haiti early Friday that what the Haitian people lacked most was equipment for medical treatment and food.
He said the Brazilian air force had built a field hospital in Port-au-Prince and the navy was considering transporting a medical center to Haiti.
Cuba had sent its second 60-member medical team to Haiti with large amounts of medicine, blood plasma and food on Friday, two days after the first team reached there, Latin American News Agency reported.
Other countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Mexico, Finland, Lebanon and Poland have offered relief funds, goods and materials and sent rescue teams.
UN seeks $562 mln to help Haiti earthquake victims
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Seven-year-old Stepanie lies injures in a makeshift hospital on a street in Port-au-Prince January 15, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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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. Full story
UN chief to travel to Haiti Sunday: spokesman
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel on Sunday to Haiti, which was devastated by a massive earthquake on Tuesday, his spokesman Martin Nesirky told Xinhua here Friday.
Nesirky said that the Secretary-General made the announcement during his meeting with Haitian staff at United Nations headquarters Friday to comfort them and to offer his condolences. Full story
UN chief to travel to Haiti to show solidarity with quake victims
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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)
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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
World Bank to provide additional emergency aid to Haiti
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank said Wednesday it will provide an additional 100 million U.S. dollars in emergency grant funding to support recovery and reconstruction in Haiti in response to a magnitude-7.0 earthquake that caused extensive damage and casualties in the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.
"This is a shocking event and it is crucial that the international community supports the Haitian people at this critical time," a World Bank press release quoted bank group President Robert B. Zoellick as saying. Full story
16 UN staffers confirmed dead in Haiti: Ban
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Wednesday that 16 UN staffers were confirmed dead in Haiti in the wake of Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
The 16 include 11 Brazilians, one Argentine, three Jordanian police officers, and one Chadian officer, said Ban.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
Special Report: Strong Quake Rocks Haiti
