Port-au Prince, July 16 (PL-RHC) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ended a two-day visit to Haiti, where he launched an initiative to promote hygiene and sanitation in rural areas, before traveling to Dominican Republic.

Before leaving Port-au-Prince, the secretary-general inaugurated the "Sports for Hope" Center with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach.

While in Haiti, Ban launched the country's "Total Sanitation Campaign" which aims at scaling up sanitation and hygiene interventions in rural areas. The campaign includes about 20 communities affected by cholera and intends to benefit three million people in the next five years. He also called on all of Haiti's international partners to support this campaign and help take it to all communities.

An outbreak of the disease that followed Haiti's devastating earthquake in 2010 has killed more than 8,500 people and about 700,000 are suffering.

Ban also said the UN is working with the Haitian government to ensure stability, promote economic growth and generate jobs.