UN chief to visit Haiti as funding appeal falls short

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Haiti to visit areas devastated by Hurricane Matthew as a UN funding appeal for the Caribbean nation drew few donors.

Ban will tomorrow visit Les Cayes on Haiti's southern coast -- one of the cities hardest-hit by Matthew — and meet with Haitian leaders, his office said.

The United Nations has launched a flash appeal for $120 million to help Haiti cope with its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake.

Only $6.1 million has been raised so far, equal to 5 per cent of the total appeal, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

At least 473 people were killed when Matthew crashed ashore on October 4 as a monster Category 4 storm, packing winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour.

Ban said Monday that a "massive response" was needed to cope with the destruction, with 1.4 million people in need of urgent assistance after towns and villages were almost wiped off the map.

Separately, the UN Security Council decided to extend the mandate of the MINUSTAH peacekeeping mission in Haiti for another six months, until April 2017.

UN mission chief Sandra Honore told the council this week that the extension would help Haiti deal with the humanitarian crisis and ensure political stability after elections were postponed.

Ban will also travel to Ecuador to attend the Habitat III conference on housing and sustainable urban development.