28731: (news) Chamberlain: Donor nations pledge $750 million (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, July 25 (Reuters) - International donors
pledged $750 million on Tuesday to help fund impoverished Haiti's economic
recovery efforts for the next fiscal year.
     Delegates from about 40 nations and financial institutions gathered in
Port-au-Prince for a conference aimed at helping the turbulent and
destitute Caribbean nation build social and economic stability.
     Haiti's government had asked for $540 million in immediate donations
as part of an overall request for $7 billion to pay for long-term efforts
to improve security, build roads, improve health and agriculture and
promote institutional reform in the poorest nation in the Americas.
     The pledges for short-term funding were expected to clear the way for
the newly elected government of President Rene Preval to submit a budget to
parliament.
     The donor community pledged $1.3 billion in 2004 to help Haiti rebuild
after an armed rebellion toppled the government of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, but the interim government that replaced Aristide complained that
less than half that amount had actually been disbursed.
      Participants in this week's meeting included delegates from the World
Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Union and the U.S.
Agency for International Development. They planned to meet again in
November in Madrid to consider long-term funding for Haiti.