Haiti should be rebuilt with provisions to migigate structural damage from earthquakes and other natural disasters, the UN said Friday, DPA reported.
"Hopefully, no new hospital, school or public structure will be built without integrating disaster risk reduction principles into its design and construction," said Margareta Wahlstrom, special representative of the UN secretary general for disaster risk reduction.
"Disaster risk reduction is the best investment that nations and communities can make to reduce future disaster impacts and protect their people and assets," she said.
The UN agency charged with mitigating the human impact of disasters, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), said Haiti had been weakened in recent years by political instability as well as natural disasters including cyclones, floods, and mudslides.
This had further inhibited Haiti's capacity to invest in the long-term safety of its citizens, the organization said.
Per capita GDP in Haiti is just 790 dollars annually, or about 2 dollars per person per day.
The primary reasons for the scale of the destruction in Haiti were "construction on unstable land and collapsing buildings," UNISDR said.