Interim Commission to Meet in August with New Executive Director
The Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission postponed its July 22 meeting to August 17th. More than 6 months after the earthquake, the Commission is still trying to organize itself into an effective body for coordinating the rebuilding of Haiti. Gabriel Verret, an economic advisor to President Preval and a former USAID employee is the acting Executive Director of the Commission. At present, one of the Commission's biggest challenges is encouraging donors to honor their pledges to Haiti. In a March conference, 10 billion dollars was promised to Haiti, but so far the country has only received about 2% of what was promised.