New York City.- Wednesday's United Nations donors conference to rebuild Haiti, after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, is being billed as a "turning point," the head of the UN mission in Haiti told reporters on Monday.

"This is not the first time, UN members states will meet to raise funds for Haiti," said Edmund Mulet, the acting UN special envoy for Haiti. "We hope that on this occasion we will get it right."

Organizers of a preparatory meeting held in March in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, declared that 3.8 billion U.S. dollars is needed over the next 18 months to start the recovery and reconstruction process.

Mulet stressed the importance of putting Haitians at the center of the reconstruction process, despite the nation's history of poor governance and a lack of accountability.

"For too long the international community has bypassed national and local government institutions because of their perceived and real weaknesses," said Mulet. "The government of Haiti will be in the driver's seat and work together with the international community in a single framework for quick delivery and mutual accountability."

Currently, the kitty for reconstruction is "pretty close to zero," said UN Development Program Administrator (UNDP) and Chair of the UN Development Group Helen Clark.

The 3.8 billion has not yet been pinned for specific projects, but Clark said the funds would likely rebuild roads, ports, government infrastructure, like the presidential palace and parliament, as well as repair some of the 1,300 educational facilities and 50 hospitals and clinics that were destroyed.

The donor's conference -- co-chaired by Brazil, Canada, the European Union, France, and Spain -- is expected to receive delegations from 100 other countries.

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Haitian President Rene Preval and the UN special envoy for Haiti, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, are all expected to attend and make opening remarks.

On Monday, Ban wrote in the Washington Post that Haiti needs "nothing less than a wholesale national renewal". He estimated that the impoverished Caribbean nation will need 11.5 billion U.S. dollars for reconstruction over the next decade.

The total value of damage and losses sustained has been calculated at approximately 7 billion dollars, more than 120 percent of Haiti's 2009 gross domestic product (GDP).

Mulet estimated that roughly 18,000 -- or 25 percent -- of Haiti's civil servants perished in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 220,000 people and left roughly 1.3 million homeless.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian flash appeals and the UNDP's cash-for-work program have been funded at 50 percent and 20 percent, respectively -- a major shortfall that threatens to upend Haiti's long-term recovery process, said Clark.

"If we don't get the humanitarian relief side right, you don't have the foundation for longer term rebuilding," she said.

Vulnerable Haitians still need adequate shelter to protect them from the approaching hurricane and rain season, said Mulet, who added that the humanitarian crisis is not over.