New Figures on Aid Money

More on the aid money sent to Haiti.

Some key figures:


■International donors pledged $2.01 billion for Haiti reconstruction and recovery efforts in 2010, but only 63.6 percent of that sum, $1.28 billion, was dispersed last year, according to new figures from the office of the U.N. special envoy for Haiti.

■Fifty-five countries and international organizations made the pledges at a March 2010 international donors conference aimed at helping Haiti build back from the earthquake that devastated the country on January 12, 2010.

■A total of $4.46 billion was pledged over 2010 and 2011, excluding debt relief aid. About $3.18 billion would need to be dispersed by public sector donors in 2011 to meet the pledges fully.

"There is definitely a lot of pressure [to spend money]. Haitians have knowledge that a lot of money was raised on their behalf, they are wondering what's happening to all that money and the public puts pressure on aid groups to spend money quickly," said Preston.

"But people who work in this field said the rate of the spending was comparable to other international disasters and appropriate to the situation because you risk funding corruption or ill-thought-out projects if you spend too quickly."

Haiti Reconstruction Aid Falls Short, New Figures Show
Photo: PBS