Haiti’s $36 million debt was canceled by The World Bank thanks to the contribution of 12 European countries and Canada. This credit was allocated by The World Bank for the poorest countries before January 12. That is when a devastating earthquake generated multiple tragedies on Haiti and destroyed large areas of Port-au-Prince which is Haiti’s capital.

Robert B. Zoellick, the President of World Bank Group, said that his institution will make more efforts to reduce the debt of Haiti. They will also pursue every opportunity available to help their reconstruction efforts. This includes working in close cooperation with their international partners as well as the Haitian government. He underlined the importance of supporting not only the recovery but also the longer-term development process in this country.

According to CNN, over the last months, the World Bank has created $479 million available for recovery and development in Haiti through June 2011. Furthermore, in March during a conference at UN headquarters, different international donors pledged almost $10 billion in long-term assistance.

Prior to the earthquake, in 2009 Haiti obtained $1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other creditors in debt relief. January’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed more than 200,000 people.

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