UNITED NATIONS, May 19 (UPI) -- The U.N.'s outgoing special envoy to Haiti is calling for urgent international support for the government of newly-elected President Rene Preval.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy Juan Gabriel Valdes said Friday the support sought includes financial aid as the government lacks money to pay state workers in the near future.
"It is absolutely urgent that the international community give budget support to Preval for the first six months of his government. If he doesn't get that support he will face a very difficult situation because he has to pay police, he has to pay teachers, he has to pay health workers and the present situation doesn't permit him to do so," Valdes told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York.
The World Bank has approved a loan for Haiti which would only be released after October, he said, but he added that both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank have shown flexibility.
A team sent to Haiti two weeks ago led by economist Jeffrey Sachs recommended aid be sent in three phases: the first six months of the new government, the first two years, and then Preval's entire presidency.
A meeting in Brasilia next Tuesday would reunite donor representatives with the European Union, Canada, the United States and the Latin Americans, and would also confirm the commitment of troop contributing countries, he said.
A subsequent meeting in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, has been called by the World Bank and would reunite donor countries with key financial institutions.
Valdes expressed hope that new aid pledges would favor a program that included combating corruption, controlling seaports and ending all illicit traffic, particularly of weapons.
