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The UN Security Council will meet Monday to discuss the coordination of the huge international aid operation for quake-hit Haiti, the Mexican foreign ministry announced Saturday.
Mexico, a non-permanent member of the 15-member body, launched the initiative and the decision to discuss the matter early Monday was made in coordination with Security Council president China, it said.
"The Mexican government believes it is of the utmost importance that the UN Security Council contributes to aid efforts and supports the Haitian government," the ministry said in a statement.
"President Felipe Calderon has suggested that the Security Council, charged with maintaining peace and international security, plays a more active role and lives up to its responsibilities," it said.
The latest overall toll from the Haitian government is at least 50,000 people dead and 1.5 million homeless, but those figures could soar once the full extent of the tragedy is known. Early estimates had spoken of 100,000 dead.
The scale of the disaster "made it necessary for an increased international presence, under the coordination of the United Nations," the Mexican foreign ministry said.
"Mexico recognizes the range of actions carried out by all the agencies, funds and programs of the UN network, and welcomes the role of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who goes to Haiti in the coming hours."
Ban was expected to participate in Monday's meeting after touring the devastation and attempting to boost the shattered morale of the UN mission in Haiti, which suffered the world body's worst ever loss of life in the tragedy.
The crisis in Haiti "goes far beyond the dimension of other humanitarian emergencies," the Mexican foreign ministry said.
Saturday saw criticism of the massive relief effort, especially related to a lack of coordination at the US-controlled Port-au-Prince airport, the main destination for aid flights.
French Secretary of State for Cooperation Alain Joyandet said he had lodged an official complaint with the United States after a French plane carrying a field hospital was turned away. France's foreign ministry later denied a protest had been made.
