Bulgaria is ready to send doctors, a field hospital and medicines to Haiti, Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Dimitrov said as European Union ministers gathered, with the EU pledging more than 420 million euro in aid to Haiti, while elsewhere in the world private donations ran into millions of dollars.
 
At the EU meeting in Brussels on January 18 2010, ministers discussed ways to improve co-ordination of aid in the short- and long-term, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said. The ministers also agreed to organise an international conference on rebuilding Haiti after the devastation of the January 12 earthquake.
 
The European Union said on January 18 that it was promising more than 420 million euro in aid to Haiti, of which 229 million euro will consist of humanitarian aid and immediate restoration after the earthquake, and showed a "positive" attitude to the dispatch of gendarmerie and police forces at the request of the United Nations to ensure safety during distribution of aid to the population.
 
Urgent humanitarian aid from the EU will total 122 million euro, with a further 107 million euro for immediate restoration. In addition, 200 million euro will be set aside for medium- and long-term rebuilding.
 
Although a "formal" request has not yet been received from the UN, the question of deploying up to 150 members of the European Gendarmerie Force to strengthen security during the distribution of aid was discussed, a media statement issued in Brussels said.
 
About 2200 US Marines arrived in Haiti on January 18, joining thousands more American forces who are on the ground or just off shore to assist with the country's growing relief needs after the earthquake, the Voice of America said. 
 
The troop deployments come as concerns over security grow and reports of looting and scuffles on the streets of Port-au-Prince continue.
 
Marine Major General Cornell Wilson says Monday's deployment boosts the total number of American forces in Haiti to more than 7000. US commanders say more than 10 000 military personnel will be in the disaster zone in the coming weeks.
 
"The Marines and sailors will be supporting the interagency relief efforts led by USAID [the United States Agency for International Development]," Wilson said. The Marines would stay as long as they were needed and would work with UN forces and the government of Haiti to handle security issues, he said.
 
He says the US military's key mission will be to provide water, food and medical care, but that it is prepared to help with evacuations or other operations.
 
In addition to the Marines, the US navy hospital ship USNS Comfort is expected to arrive in Haiti on January 19 2010 to help care for the thousands of wounded.
 
US defence secretary Robert Gates said that maintaining security remained a high priority in Haiti, but he ruled out the US taking on a broader policing mission.
 
Gates said that there is a risk of violence erupting in Haiti.
 
"Until we can get ample supplies of food and water to people, there is a worry that in their desperation some will turn to violence," he said.
 
US troops had been authorised to use force to defend innocent Haitians and international relief workers, if necessary, Gates said.
 
However, on January 19 the BBC reported that UN humanitarian chief John Holmes had played down worries over security, saying that despite incidents of violence, the overall situation was calm.
 
Several agencies complained at the weekend about not being able to get aid through the heavily congested airport, which is being run by the US military.
 
Holmes said that initial issues were being resolved, with the introduction through the UN World Food Programme - which is currently feeding 100 000 Haitians - of a system to prioritise humanitarian flights.
 
As hopes of finding survivors fade, Holmes told reporters that there were now 43 search and rescue teams on the ground, with 1700 people involved, the BBC reported.
 
CNNMoney.com said that nearly a week after earthquake, donations for relief efforts are still pouring in and added up to more than $200 million.
 
Charities, companies, individuals and celebrities across the US had been rallying together after the earthquake, "and their efforts are paying off," the website said.

The Bulgarian Red Cross said that by January 19 its campaign to raise funds via SMS and donations to a special bank account to assist people in Haiti had raised 20 000 leva (about 10 000 euro).
 
On January 18, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an additional 3500 UN military personnel and police officers to be deployed to Haiti, to ensure that aid reaches the victims of the disaster as quickly as possible.
Ban, who on January 17 visited Port-au-Prince asked the Security Council for an additional 1500 police officers and 2000 troops to reinforce the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, to augment its 9000 uniformed personnel already there.
 
The "heartbreaking" scenes he witnessed yesterday "compel us to act swiftly and generously," Ban told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
 
"The Haitian people need to see that today is better than yesterday. They need to believe that the future will be better than the past."
 
Ban identified two main challenges, the UN News Service said.
 
First, he said, any bottlenecks in the aid operation must be resolved to ensure that the relief reaches people in need as quickly as possible.
 
The second and "most important" challenge is co-ordination of that effort, Ban said.
 
MINUSTAH and others taking part in the operation had agreed on a clear division of responsibilities regarding the provision of security and humanitarian support, he said.
 
Surmounting these obstacles will require increasing the number of the mission’s personnel, Ban told the Security Council.
 
UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said the additional military personnel are needed to escort humanitarian convoys, which are increasing daily; to secure humanitarian corridors that are being set up between Port-au-Prince and the Dominican Republic, as well as between Port-au-Prince and the northern ports of Haiti; and to constitute a reserve force "in case the situation unravels and security deteriorates."
 
Meanwhile, the main tasks for the additional police officers will include securing the delivery of humanitarian aid at various distribution points, and augmenting the Haitian National Police.