Haitian President René Préval, centre, former U.S. president George W. Bush, right, and former U.S. president Bill Clinton, foreground, assess damage at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince on Monday. (Jorge Saenz/Associated Press)

Former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush travelled to Haiti's devastated capital Monday to help raise awareness about the need for aid and investment after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The trip is the first joint visit to the island nation by the two former leaders, who were asked to lead the American fundraising effort by U.S. President Barack Obama.

The pair met with President René Préval on the grounds of the collapsed national palace. After the visit, they are expected to tour through the tarp-and-tent city adjacent Champ de Mars, the national mall filled with 60,000 homeless quake survivors.

Bush said the purpose of the trip was to see the devastation first-hand and "remind the American people there is still suffering and work to be done here."

He said he also wanted to encourage entrepreneurship in Haiti to create jobs and grow the economy.

"Our mission is to help fill the gaps of human needs and help create jobs," Bush said.

While the government and business leaders hail their appearance as a signal of America's commitment to help, the visit by two ex-presidents who have played major roles in Haiti's recent political trajectory is also reminding the country of its tumultuous past.

Supporters of ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide have scheduled protests for Monday — demanding the return of their exiled leader and pleading for more aid.

"We are going to bring our message to the presidents, that our situation here is no good. The way people are living in Haiti is no way for anyone to live," said Fanfan Fenelon, a 30-year-old resident of the Bel Air slum.

Risk of flooding

The 7.0-magnitude quake is believed to have killed at least 200,000 people and left another 1.3 million people homeless, with many living in makeshift camps at risk of flooding during the April rainy season.

Bush and Clinton's visit aims to spotlight the dramatic need ahead of a critical March 31 UN donors conference in New York, where Haitian officials will ask for $11.5 billion US in reconstruction help.

Bush's trip to Haiti on Monday is his first to the Caribbean country. Clinton, who is the UN special envoy to the country, has made two visits since the quake and five in the past two years. He also visited as president.

The non-profit Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has raised roughly $37 million from 220,000 individuals, including Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who gave $1 million, and Obama, who among other donations gave $200,000 of the $1.4 million he got with his Nobel Peace Prize.

About $4 million has gone to such organizations as Habitat for Humanity, the University of Miami/Project Medishare mobile hospital in Port-au-Prince and the U.S. branch of the Irish charity Concern Worldwide. The rest of the money has yet to be distributed.

The two former presidents have arguably shaped Haiti's history as much as anyone alive today.

Clinton presided over a refugee crisis born of the 1991 ouster of Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president. He returned Aristide to power in 1994 with a force of 20,000 U.S. troops.

Bush is remembered by many Haitians - especially the thousands in Port-au-Prince's teeming slums — as the U.S. leader whose administration chartered the plane that flew Aristide back into exile during a 2004 rebellion.

With files from The Associated Press