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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday officially named former U.S. President Bill Clinton as special envoy to Haiti.

The position calls for Clinton to work to create jobs and access to basic services for the people of Haiti.

"All I want to do is help the Haitians take over control of their own destiny," Clinton said.

Hillary Clinton pledged $57 million in U.S. aid to boost Haitian security, build roads, create jobs, fight drug trafficking and help Haiti with food shortages and debt.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the international community Tuesday to commit dollars and manpower to help Haiti recover from a year of hurricanes and food riots.

"It is our task to open the door of opportunity for Haitians and send a message of what could occur," she told a group of more than 40 nations and international organizations gathered for a donor's conference for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

Clinton spoke a day before leaving for Haiti, after which she will travel to the Dominican Republic and then join President Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americans in Trinidad and Tobago.

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week turns the spotlight on the poorest country in the Americas.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week turns the spotlight on the poorest country in the Americas: Haiti.

She will attend a Donors' Conference on Haiti tomorrow in Washington to discuss how the world can come to Haiti's aid. That high-level gathering that will include United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a variety of international organizations.

Clinton plans to visit Haiti Thursday, the State Department announced today. "While in Haiti Secretary Clinton will meet with President René Préval to discuss issues of common concern including stability, security and assistance," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Monday.

After visiting Haiti, and a stopover in next-door Dominican Republic, Clinton will join President Obama to attend the Summit of the Americas at the end of the week in Trinidad and Tobago.

Clinton-watchers are wondering if the Tuesday meeting in Washington will produce something that has become a recent rarity: a photo of both Clintons together. Secretary Clinton is expected at the gathering in the morning, and former President Clinton is giving the keynote speech after lunch at the conference.

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