The European Union, the United States and the United Nations are going to divide up the workload in order to provide shelter for more than one million Haitians before the rains, which have already started in the Caribbean country, get any worse.
 
Soraya Rodríguez, Spanish secretary of state for international co-operation, chairing an informal meeting of development ministers in La Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia) in the name of the Spanish Presidency of the EU, warned that "immediate action must be taken (...) to relocate these people as soon as possible".
 
In order to achieve this objective, Rajiv Shah, Administrator of USAID, Edmond Mulet, UN Special Representative in Haiti and the organisation's Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, together with the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, attended the meeting, the Spanish EU presidency said in a statement.
 
The ministers, secretaries of state and heads of humanitarian aid meeting in La Granja are also keen to accelerate the clear-up work to demolish buildings on the island to prevent any more structures collapsing during the current weather conditions, the statement said.
 
Rodríguez told journalists that Spain will continue to head reconstruction projects, both through it being the current holder of the EU Presidency and as the third largest donor of humanitarian aid to Haiti before the earthquake (behind the US and Canada, and ahead of France and Japan).
 
Spain is also making the provisional headquarters of the Spanish Cooperation technical office available to EU members.
 
The commander of US military relief efforts in Haiti said on February 17 that the operation is becoming more civilian and more Haitian, but that there is still an important role for his troops in the earthquake-ravaged country.
 
Speaking via satellite from Port-au-Prince, army Lieutenant-General Ken Keen said the number of US troops in Haiti and on ships nearby is down from a peak of 20 000 to 13 000 today, about half of them on shore, the Voice of America reported.
 
Keen said that he had been able to release thousands of troops because the Haitian government and foreign civilian aid organizations were now able to do more.
 
"As we see this transition occurring, we see our civilian partners increase their capabilities - both the government here in Haiti as well as the non-government organisations - we see the need for our military assistance dwindling," Keen was quoted by VOA as saying.
 
"However, at the present time, there is still great need across the board. And we still remain decisively engaged providing critical assistance," he said.
 
Keen said that the need for medical services is less than had been expected. 
 
He said that US troops were continuing to help with food distribution, and provide engineering and logistical support to Haitian and international efforts. 
 
Priorities were shifting to providing shelter for Haitians who were made homeless by last month's earthquake, and removing the rubble that blocks reconstruction, according to Keen.
 
Meanwhile, the aid promised by French president Nicolas Sarkozy during his visit to Haiti comes in addition to France's decision to cancel the $77 million debt Haiti owes to France.
 
The $400 million in French aid will include reconstruction and emergency assistance along with money to help the Haitian government's budget. France will also dispatch experts to help the Haitian government in its recovery efforts over the coming months, VOA reported.
 
In a speech in the Haitian capital Porte-au-Prince, Sarkozy said that France would support the impoverished country, still reeling from January's earthquake.
 
Sarkozy said that he had come to tell Haiti's people and their leaders that France would remain at their side to help them back on their feet and open a happier page in history.
 
He recalled France's colonial history with Haiti and the scars it left.
 
Sarkozy also held talks with his counterpart Rene Preval, who hosted Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper earlier this week.
 
A donors conference for Haiti takes place in New York in March. Experts estimate the cost of rebuilding the nation could reach $14 billion, VOA said.
 
The focus of relief efforts in Haiti has shifted to post-operative care as the recovery process enters its second month, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said on February 17, according to the UN News Service.

Current health priorities, according to WHO, include following up with patients who have undergone surgery, rehabilitative services for people with disabilities, and providing primary health-care services in overcrowded situations.

The agency said that outbreak control and environmental health interventions are also essential to prevent and control epidemics.
On February 16, WHO reported that there has been no rise in infectious diseases one month on from the disaster, with the finding based on epidemiological surveillance carried out by 52 sites across the Caribbean island nation.

On top of the more than 50 WHO/Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) staff on the ground in Haiti, dozens more experts in fields ranging from disaster management to water and sanitation were deployed to the Caribbean nation, already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

"Haiti’s entire health system, from its infrastructure to the very staff and system that operated it, has been deeply affected by the earthquake," WHO said in its latest update.

More than 200 staff members died when the health ministry building collapsed, while many doctors and nurses were also killed or injured.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on February 17 that the humanitarian situation in Haiti is on the upswing, with the port, airport and other essential infrastructure gradually coming back online.

The Office warned, however, that shelter and sanitation needs, as well as rubble removal, are among those that remain unmet.

On February 18, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expected to launch a revised flash appeal for Haiti, along with his Special Envoy for Haiti, Bill Clinton, and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes.

Just three days after the quake, the UN called for $575 million, with the bulk of the funds intended to be directed to urgent needs, including food, water and shelter.