The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have highlighted the "numbers of Hope", sixteen months after the earthquake that struck Haiti.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) facilitated the schooling of 720,000 children, more than 800,000 people use the 11,300 latrines, nearly eleven tons of chlorine and more than 45 million tablets to purify water have been distributed and two million children have been vaccinated with the help of WHO.

"There is much to do, but what's done is very important and we did a great job with the effort of all, " has declared the actress Ana Duato, UNICEF-Spain Ambassador, who just returned from Haiti.

Last Friday, Soraya Rodriguez, Secretary of State for International Cooperation, who represented Spain in the acts of inauguration of the new Haitian head of state has had her first formal meeting with President-elect Michel Martelly, in which they have discussed of the work of clearing debris "It is necessary to put an end to the clearing operations, it is an important step to begin the work of the network of water supply and sanitation that will benefit more than a third of the population in Port-au-Prince" she precise, adding that in three months could open the first treatment plant of solid waste.

"In Haiti, there are many images of despair, but also of hope," said Soraya Rodriguez, who admitted that "it is very difficult to explain the real difficulties we face in the reconstruction of a city who has practically disappeared with the earthquake."

Consuelo Crespo, President of UNICEF-Spain recalled that more than half of those who work in UNICEF projects are Haitian, adding "I am proud of the progress," noting that 1,400 children which had been left alone after the earthquake have been reunited with their families.

S/ HaitiLibre