United Nations, Jan 11 (IANS) On the occasion to mark 4th anniversary of a devastating earthquake that struck Haiti, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon Friday called on the international community to provide more aid for the impoverished Caribbean country.
In a message, Ban told the UN staff working in the Haitian capital, Port au Prince, that more was needed to be done though progress has already been made in health and education, Xinhua reported
"Health systems are being strengthened, more children are in school, close to 90 percent of the displaced population have left the camps and economic activities have resumed allowing Haiti to start moving from crisis to long-term development," he said.
Four years on, however, 145,000 people are still living in make-shift camps, Ban said, noting that Haiti remains extremely vulnerable on many fronts.
"Haiti has the lowest level of water and sanitation coverage in the Americas," he said. "The country is structurally exposed to recurrent food crisis."
The UN chief called on the international community to stand with Haiti at its time of dire need.
"We must intensify our efforts to help Haiti build a more stable and prosperous future for the all its people," said Ban.
According to UN figures, the massive quake, which struck Haiti Jan 12, 2010, killed some 220,000 people, including 102 UN staff, and left 1.5 million homeless.
-Indo-Asian News Service
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