Haiti making moves toward stability

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A top U.N. official in Haiti says that despite crippling damage from recent hurricanes, there are signs the country is taking steps toward stability.

Hedi Annabi, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Haiti, says that the immense obstacles facing Haiti have actually prompted a once embattled government to begin a new political direction. Annabi says the massive destruction from a series of recent hurricanes has forced leaders in Haiti to take action to stabilize the country, the United Nations reported.

Over a two-month period between August and September, hurricanes displaced an estimated 800,000 people in Haiti. Annabi says the actual devastation is much worse.

"These figures cannot truly convey the level of devastation that is involved, or the depth of suffering that it has entailed for an already desperately poor population," Annabi said in a statement.

Annabi says that government leaders are moving past longstanding disagreements and are working on emergency laws to provide relief funds. Officials say the moves could mark a positive change toward stability in a country where transnational criminal organizations have based their drug-trafficking operations.