Secretary-General, Briefing General Assembly on Haiti Disaster, Announces

Release of $10 Million in Emergency Funds to Kick-Start Response

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s briefing to the General Assembly on the emergency in Haiti, in New York today, 13 January:

Our hearts and minds today are with the people of Haiti.

We are still struggling to learn the full extent of the devastation from yesterday’s earthquake, but you have all seen the images on television -- collapsed hospitals and schools, public buildings in ruins, including the Parliament, presidential palace, cathedral, the Ministry of Justice and many Government offices.

Tens of thousands of people are in the streets, without shelter.  Uncounted numbers remain trapped in the rubble.  Casualties cannot yet be estimated but they are certain to be heavy.  Of Haiti’s 9 million people, initial reports suggest roughly a third may be affected by the disaster.

Large portions of the capital, Port-au-Prince, have been badly damaged.  Basic services such as water and electricity have collapsed almost entirely.  Some major transportation routes have been severely disrupted by surface cracks or blocked by rocks, fallen trees or collapsed buildings.

Medical facilities are besieged; many are simply not functioning.  The main port has been heavily damaged.  The control tower at the Port-au-Prince airport has been destroyed; however, the airport continues to function.

The United Nations counts among the victims.  Peacekeepers and civilian staff from many Member States are in Haiti and remain unaccounted for.  As you know, the United Nations Headquarters building in the Christopher Hotel has collapsed.  We estimate that approximately 100 staff were still at work when the earthquake struck.  Many continue to be trapped inside, including Special Representative Hédi Annabi and his deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa.

To take control of the situation and direct our immediate emergency response efforts, I am dispatching Assistant Secretary General Edmond Mulet, our former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti(MINUSTAH), to Haiti this evening.  He will be on the ground tomorrow morning to assume full command of the United Nations Mission at this juncture.  He will begin his work by seeking a meeting with the top leadership of the country.

Other United Nations offices have also been damaged, and 10 people are missing from a building adjacent to the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) compound that houses the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS), United Nations Development Fund for Women(UNIFEM),World Food Programme(WFP), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA) and the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP).

At least 11 Brazilian pea