UN seeks $39-M more in Haiti aid after Sandy

GENEVA, Switzerland – The United Nations on Monday, November 12, called for an extra $39 million (31 million euros) in aid to help Haiti recover from Hurricane Sandy’s passage across the Caribbean last month that left dozens in the country dead and thousands homeless.

The additional amount will bring the UN’s total aid request for the impoverished country to $151 million, according to Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

“An additional $39 million is required to address rising food insecurity and provide shelter, health services and potable water for over a million people,” OCHA said in a statement.

“Of this, $22 million is needed to meet the most urgent needs in 2012.”

Hurricane Sandy struck Haiti late last month, flooding the country and leaving 54 people dead and thousands of others homeless, according to OCHA.

Haitian health authorities have also recorded a resurgence of cholera following the hurricane, adding new woes to a country that is still rebuilding after a massive 2010 earthquake that leveled much of the capital, killed more than 200,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of others homeless. – Agence France-Presse