UN seeks 98 million dollar assistance for Haiti

GENEVA, Jan 8 (Reuters) The United Nations today asked for 98 million dollars to help Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, achieve stability in the wake of its first election since the 2004 ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The money would be used to help meet humanitarian and development needs and improve governance standards up to the end of 2007, the UN said in a statement released in Geneva.

''The appeal also aims to reduce vulnerability among the population, ensuring that authorities are better prepared in the event of natural disasters,'' said Joel Boutroue, deputy special representative of the Secretary-General for the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti.

Despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping force, Haiti has struggled to shake off decades of political violence that peaked with the bloody rebellion ending Aristide's rule two years ago.

The Caribbean country remains plagued by brutal armed gangs, corruption and poor infrastructure.

Agronomist Rene Preval, who was Haiti's president from 1996 to 2001, was voted back into power in February.

But many Haitians complain that the man elected to bring change has not built roads, freed political prisoners or rooted out corrupt officials.

More than half of Haitians live below the extreme poverty line of 1 dollar per day, less than 40 per cent of those in the capital Port-au-Prince and other cities have running water, and four to five per cent of the million population is infected with HIV/AIDS, according to UN figures.

REUTERS AB VV1628