Latin America/Caribbean.

Secretary-General Annan on 22 September called for international support for Haiti in the wake of tropical storm Jeanne, as the death toll reached some 1,500. The storm left a trail of floods and mudslides across the north of the impoverished Caribbean country. The United Nations was accelerating its efforts to provide food, clean water, shelter and health care to the estimated 300,000 people affected by the tropical storm, which struck Haiti and neighbouring Dominican Republic. WFP had dispatched food rations to Gonaives, one of the cities most affected. The UN Children's Fund sent maternal health kits, as well as thirty social workers to help traumatized children. The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the World Health Organization and NGOs are also stepping up their efforts to provide and distribute relief aid, especially clean drinking water. A seven-member UN disaster assessment and coordination team also went to Haiti to help local authorities organize their response.

The United Nations has been sending disaster teams and aid to other countries affected by Jeanne and hurricane Ivan, which had also inflicted heavy destruction across a number of Caribbean countries just over a week earlier.