US Ambassador to UN Announces $60M in Aid for Haiti – NEWSnet

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (NEWSnet/AP) — Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to United Nations, announced $60 million in additional humanitarian assistance to Haiti during a trip Monday to the troubled Caribbean nation.

Thomas-Greenfield also said U.S. Department of Defense will provide a “substantial increase” in mine-resistant vehicles to a U.N.-backed, multinational security mission led by Kenya, to help Haiti’s national police combat gang violence.

The announcement came nearly a week after a second Kenyan contingent of 200 police officers arrived in Haiti, following the first contingent of 200 in late June.

“We know that progress isn’t lineal,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “There will be inevitable setbacks and stumbling blocks, and yet this mission has opened a door to progress.”

The USAID assistance, which now totals more than $165 million this fiscal year, would fill gaps in nutrition, food security and shelter; improve water and sanitation services; and provide Haitians with cash to buy basic goods, she said.

Earlier Monday, Thomas-Greenfield met with Kenya police and leaders of Haiti’s new transitional government as part of a visit to encourage action on Haiti’s humanitarian crisis and political reform leading to democratic elections that have not been scheduled.

There has been international support for a transitional government led by Prime Minister, a former U.N. development specialist who assumed the post in early June.

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