Some 7,500 Haitians have been given jobs under programmes
carried out by the UN Development Programme since the country was devastated by
four consecutive hurricanes in recent months, UNDP said Wednesday, dpa reported.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, was hardest hit in August
and September by hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike, leaving tens of
thousands of people homeless.
The UNDP helped provide jobs for 7,500 people in Gonaives constructing dikes
and water walls, and planting trees to prevent landslides. The employment
programmes were financed by France and Japan and were also implemented by the
Food and Agriculture Organization and International Labour Organization.
"Employment is the key precondition for social stability" in Haiti,
said Jean Marie Vander, an adviser to UNDP and the ILO in Gonaives, one of the
hardest hit places in the island nation. "With donor support, we are ready
to immediately scale-up the programme by another 2,500 people."
UNDP said it plans to ultimately provide employment to 400,000 Haitians, a
long-term programme to help the country that has been battered by food riots
and destruction by hurricanes.
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