Just over a month has passed since a massive earthquake rocked the impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti and, despite the many pledges made worldwide, the country has failed to receive the much required funding.

Late last month Foreign Minister Tonio Borg attended the meeting of the General Affairs Council, chaired by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, which discussed ways of enhancing coordination of EU contributions for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Malta provisionally contributed e140,000, including a direct financial allocation by the government and collections in kind coordinated by the Civil Protection Department.

However, the United Nations agencies voiced grave concern early this week at the lack of global support for Haiti’s immediate agricultural needs, such as seed and fertilisers to ensure food from the next planting season, while stressing the need for disaster mitigation techniques to figure fully in the country’s reconstruction after last month’s destructive earthquake.

The UN launched a $575-million appeal shortly after the 12 January quake, which killed some 200,000 people, injured many others and left over two million homeless, and also sought $23 million for immediate agricultural needs.

“However, only eight per cent of this sum has so far been funded. As things stand at the moment, it seems that it will take a minimum of 10 years for the country to fully recover from last month’s devastation,” UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director General Jacques Diouf said.

“The economic and social reconstruction of Haiti requires a revival of food production and massive investment in rural areas. At a time when most areas of the country are facing a major food crisis, the UN is alarmed at the lack of support to the agricultural sector.

“The immediate priority is support for the farm season that begins in March and accounts for more than 60 per cent of the country’s food production,” Mr Diouf added, noting that the FAO has already started to distribute seeds, fertilizer and tools to enable farmers to plant for the next harvest.

Mr Diouf also underlined the need for “massive sustained international assistance for a long period” to achieve sustainable growth that will dramatically reduce hunger and poverty.

On a brighter note, some Haitian schools in the worst hit areas are expected to re-open by the end of March. The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) is working with donors and partners to ensure that Haiti’s schools, hospitals and houses will be rebuilt in a manner that integrates strategic planning to mitigate these multi-hazard risks.

“It is important to start building safer schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure now,” UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlström said, noting that collapsed buildings and unstable land were the prime contributing factors to the high death toll during January’s quake.

Mrs Wahlström stressed the need to “ensure that corruption does not undermine reconstruction efforts, particularly as the building sector in Haiti has witnessed severe corruption cases in the past. Cutting corners and using sub-standard building practices contributed to the significant loss of life,” Ms. Wahlström said.

She also cited the “great urgency now to give particular attention to structural safety for temporary schools, hospitals and camp settlements” in view of the upcoming rainy and hurricane seasons, noting that camps must be built in safe locations with resistant materials and adequate drainage.

Nevertheless, with aid and services still not reaching a significant portion of quake victims and many people still lacking basic amenities such as shelter, food, water and medical assistance, the UN urged countries to donate whatever they can, as one month on, a large number of highly vulnerable people, which include many injured as well as orphaned children and those separated from their family, are still greatly at risk of death.