Wed, March 10, 2010
SANTO DOMINGO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on Tuesday started her two-day visit to Haiti for talks on the rebuilding of Haiti's historical cultural sites, damaged by the Jan. 12 earthquake.
In Haiti, Bokova will meet with Haitian President Rene Preval to discuss the plans to rehabilitate the cultural sites wrecked by the catastrophic earthquake.
Bokova will also meet with Haitian Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive and Michaelle Jean, governor general of Canada, who arrived in Haiti on Monday.
According to the reports, in Haiti she will also attend some meetings with officials of non-governmental organizations.
Bokova will also attend a forum to discuss the rebuilding of the institutes of higher education in Haiti.
In Jacmel, southeast of Haiti, Bokova will launch a program to construct anti-earthquakes buildings.
On Thursday, she will end her Haiti visit and travel to the Dominican Republic to meet with President Leonel Fernandez.
Following the Jan. 12 earthquake that shattered the Western Hemisphere's poorest state, Haiti's government and its foreign aid partners are now turning their attention from emergency humanitarian relief to recovery and rebuilding strategies.
Up to 300,000 people may have been killed in the quake, Haiti's President Rene Preval has said, and some experts have called it the deadliest natural disaster of modern times.
