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March 17, 2010

Ban: Haiti in “Race Against Time” Before Rainy Season
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In Haiti, aid workers are rushing to move hundreds of thousands of
people displaced by the January earthquake from vulnerable areas before
the rainy season begins next month. The intensified rainfall could lead
to flooding and the spread of water-borne diseases. On Tuesday, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Haitians face a “race against time”
to move to safer locations.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “So far, we have distributed tents and
tarpaulins to nearly 700,000 people among 1.3 million displaced persons.
We will reach the rest by the end of next month. We have also identified
five alternative sites around the capital, where we can move IDPs and
where they will be safer and better cared for. But let me be clear, we
are in a race against time.”

Of the 700,000 Haitians believed to be displaced, around 250,000 are
estimated to be children.



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