HAITI-UN-FAMINE-AID

Destroyed crops are seen on December 17, 2012 near Port-au- Prince. The UN and Haiti's government are calling for $144 million in aid to meet critical humanitarian needs of more than a million of the country's most vulnerable people. The 2013 Humanitarian Action Plan launched this week seeks in particular to address the problem of food insecurity in the Caribbean nation -- which was already the poorest in the Americas, even before the 2010 earthquake that devastated infrastructure and killed more than 250,000 people. This year was tough for Haiti, said Nigel Fisher, the UN's humanitarian representative in Haiti, citing a drought, Tropical Storm Isaac and Hurricane Sandy.These events "left millions of people across the country with less food, fewer jobs and fewer fields to work. We must help them re-establish themselves," he said. AFP PHOTO Thony BELIZAIRE (Photo credit should read THONY BELIZAIRE/AFP via Getty Images)