The World Summit for the Future of Haiti was held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic on June 2, 2010   It was hosted by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez who opened summit along with Haitian President Rene Preval,  U.N. special envoy to Haiti former president Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.  This was a follow up to the summit held in New York on March 31 in which a total of almost 10 billion dollars was pledged by the various countries and international organizations that attended.

The June 2 summit was organized in effort to begin to review the funds that had already been pledged in the months following the New York summit. The day was spent discussing ways to create and implement initiatives aimed at rebuilding the Haitian infrastructure after the devastating earthquake of January 12. The focus was on projects that would restore some of Haiti’s most basic systems such as water, sewage and electricity, as well as building housing for the many displaced Haitians.

Fifty-four donor countries and 35 international organizations attended the summit. According to President Fernandez, by its close, a total of 7.81 billion was promised to help aid in the reconstruction of Haiti- still short of the 10 billion originally pledged in New York.  Most of these funds have not yet been delivered.

“ All this leads to the figure of US$6.71 billion. If we add the US$1.30 billion offered by the United States in the Summit in New York to that, we’ve already identified US$ 7.81 billion in pledges for Haiti’s reconstruction” (President Fernandez) .

 Former President Clinton and Prime Minister Bellerive are charged with using $ 5.3 billion of those dollars to fund various reconstruction projects over the next 18 months. The new Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (ICRH), will have their first meeting on June 14th to discuss further details.

Another concern was the safety of the million or so Haitians who are now homeless and susceptible to the 2010 Hurricane season which began June 1. Efforts are being made to ensure their protection and secure housing for the refugees in order to shield them from the effects of the harsh season and prevent further tragedy.

“We have more than one million people that are currently living in very precarious conditions, in camping tents,” stated Clinton, who is the United Nation’s Special Envoy to Haiti. “We can not allow for people to die during this Hurricane Season because they inhabit temporary dwellings.”