International Monetary Fund Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn called today for a "Marshall Plan" style effort to help rebuild Haiti, which was shattered by an earthquake last week, according to dpa. Strauss-Kahn noted that Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, had already suffered massively before the quake from food and fuel shortages and a 2008 series of hurricanes. Haiti needs "not only a piecemeal approach, but something which is much bigger to deal with the reconstruction of the country: some kind of a Marshall Plan that we need now to implement for Haiti," Strauss- Kahn said during a visit to Hong Kong. The original Marshall Plan was a massive aid initiative organized by the United States to rebuild Western Europe after World War II. The United Nations has said that 550 million dollars are needed in emergency funds to help the victims in Haiti, where as many as 200,000 are believed killed by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on January 12. The IMF itself has pledged 100 million dollars to the aid effort.
