FACTBOX-Haiti's quake recovery needs run into billions

March 28 (Reuters) - Haiti's government, foreign donors and humanitarian groups will attend a pledging conference in New York on Wednesday aimed at securing funds and agreeing to a blueprint for the country's reconstruction after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

Here are some facts on the estimated scale of the damage inflicted by the quake, and the needs and strategies being considered to rebuild the Caribbean country.

DEATHS AND DAMAGE

- Haiti's government has reported 222,570 people killed in the quake, but President Rene Preval says the real final death toll could be over 300,000. A similar number were injured.

- Around 1.5 million people were left homeless and displaced by the disaster. Around 600,000 fled the wrecked capital Port-au-Prince.

- Haiti's government has estimated the economic damage and loss from the quake at close to $8 billion. Economists from the Inter-American Development Bank had previously given an estimated damage range of between $8 billion and nearly $14 billion.

- In Port-au-Prince, which concentrates 65 percent of Haiti's economic activity, more than 100,000 homes were destroyed and over 200,000 damaged. More than 1,300 education centers and more than 50 hospitals and clinics collapsed. The country's main port, presidential palace, parliament, justice palace and most ministries were destroyed.

- Leogane, a town southwest of Port-au-Prince, was 80 percent destroyed.

ESTIMATED NEEDS, RESPONSES

- In a report to donors and development experts preparing for the New York meeting, Haiti's government estimated that $11.5 billion would be needed for the country's reconstruction.

- A preliminary target amount of $3.8 billion was foreseen for an 18-month period starting October 1, 2010, to fulfill needs identified in the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment. World Bank officials have called this a "short-term target," and there is recognition that much more is needed over the longer term.

- Haiti's government is also asking for an immediate $350 million in direct budgetary support to help maintain essential state services and civil servant salaries and plug the gap caused by a drop-off in revenues following the quake.

- The European Union and a coalition of U.S.-based humanitarian groups have already indicated they are likely to pledge more than $2.7 billion in aid at the New York meeting.

- The governing board of the Inter-American Development Bank agreed last week to give $479 million in post-earthquake debt forgiveness and other relief to Haiti.

- U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress for $2.8 billion in funds for Haiti relief and reconstruction costs.

RECONSTRUCTION STRATEGIES

- The rebuilding plan being considered by donors foresees the creation of a Multi-Donors Trust Fund, to be managed by Haiti's government and representatives of donors.

- Also envisaged is the setting up of an Interim Reconstruction Commission, to be chaired by Haiti's prime minister and a United Nations representative, along with the establishment of a Reconstruction Agency for the longer term.

- Haiti's government and donor partners are insisting on a decentralization strategy to be at the heart of the reconstruction plan. This will seek to "decompress" and decongest the crowded and wrecked capital and set up economic development poles in the rest of the country, to create jobs and industries.

- President Rene Preval has told private investors he sees them as the "backbone" of the reconstruction effort. One Haitian private investor, the Mevs family's WIN Group, has already announced a major redevelopment and expansion project with a Florida-based company for the Varreux port terminal.

- The government and donors also foresee major reform and investment to revitalize Haiti's weak, peasant-based farm sector, aiming for increased domestic production to reduce dependency on imported rice, sugar and poultry. (Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Eric Beech)