President Lula article on Haiti: Brazil's committed to the long haul!

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by H. E. LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA
www.brazilemb.gov | www.brazil.gov.br

In 2004, a major challenge brought us to Haiti.

Brazil, with a U.N. mandate and welcomed by the Haitian government, arrived to help establish security and stability.

Above all, our objective was to sow the seeds of a longstanding peace. 

The U.N. Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) sought to create a new paradigm for peacekeeping missions.

Our intent was to show that security can only be assured by achieving development and social justice.

The Jan. 12 earthquake struck a terrible blow: 220,000 lost their lives.

Much of the physical infrastructure of Port-au-Prince was destroyed. Houses, universities and hospitals vanished.

A nation that previously endured precarious conditions now faces the challenge of struggling to survive.

I will visit Haiti on Thursday. 

My presence in Port-au-Prince expresses Brazil's fraternal solidarity with the long-suffering people of Haiti.

Brazil shares the pain of those who lost family members and their possessions, but we will also help to rebuild lives and homes. 

I will reaffirm Brazil's commitment to cooperate in order to once again lift up a country that has already demonstrated its determination to find its way back to development, political stability and democratic participation.

Before the earthquake, the endemic violence in the Cité Soleil neighborhood had become a memory. 

Businesses were resuming production, agricultural recovery projects were advancing, schools were full of students with dreams for the future. 

No earthquake can shake our confidence in that promising future. 

Now we are taking in Haitian university students, so they can complete their studies in Brazil. 

They will return to Haiti fully prepared to work on rebuilding their nation.

Heroism and solidarity

Brazil and MINUSTAH must persevere because we know the Haitians themselves will not give up hope.

We are certain of that after witnessing the countless demonstrations of heroism and solidarity in the wake of the earthquake. 

The sacrifice of our heroic soldiers who lost their lives reinforces our commitment to Haiti.

We are inspired by the unyielding determination to survive by those who endured days, or even weeks, under the rubble. 

They never ceased to believe in being rescued, nor did the rescuers lose hope, as they relentlessly dug, even with their own hands, in search of signs of life.

With that same sense of urgency and dedication, Brazilian Air Force flights have been delivering humanitarian assistance to Haiti daily.

Brazilian ships weighed anchor immediately, transporting doctors, civilian volunteers and helicopters, as well as tons of food, medicine and water.

I dispatched three of my cabinet ministers to Port-au-Prince to oversee these actions.
 
The total funding allocated by Brazil in emergency assistance to Haiti has now reached $210 million. 

We are also ramping up our presence, sending an additional 1,300 soldiers to strengthen MINUSTAH and assist in reconstruction.

This is a joint national effort. Brazilian companies and representatives of civil society are also deeply engaged.

Their work is inspired by the example set by Dr. Zilda Arns, the founder of the ``Pastoral da Criança,'' who, along with hundreds of other Brazilians and foreigners who perished in Haiti, embody a model of love and devotion.

At the Haiti Donors' Conference in March, we will have the opportunity to mobilize this renewed solidarity internationally.

Brazil has redoubled its coordination with the world community to ensure that its assistance arrives promptly to those who are most in need.

Once the current emergency is behind us, Haiti will continue to confront the challenge of creating productive capacity adequate to sustain the country's development.

In order for Haiti to find new ways to develop its potential fully, we should avoid the proliferation of disconnected stand-alone projects that would fragment the country.

We need long-term responses that will enable Haiti to implement, with sovereign control, programs that are truly in its national interest.

Supplying water, energy

With this goal, Brazil conducted a viability study for a hydroelectric power plant project that will supply water and energy for the reconstruction of Haiti. We are prepared to contribute financially to this project. 

Toward the same end, an emergency meeting of the South American Union of Nations, held in Quito with the participation of Haitian President René Préval, decided to strengthen regional solidarity with Haiti.

We invite Haiti's principal trading partners to give privileged access to exports of Haitian manufactured products.

We call on the business community and investors to resume their investment plans for Haiti.

For this purpose, it is essential that we all grant access to our markets for Haitian goods.

I am not afraid to say that the destruction caused by the earthquake was exacerbated by the international community's longstanding lack of engagement in Haiti.

I am certain, however, that the international community also needs Haiti.

Our planet is undergoing an unprecedented crisis. We now face the imperative of finding genuinely global solutions to the threats we have in common.

The world yearns for examples from people -- such as the Haitians -- with a strong determination to live and the readiness to confront adversities with a spirit of serenity and generosity.

A popular Haitian saying captures this spirit perfectly: ``The victory belongs to those who perform miracles, not to those who wait for them to occur.''

We need to see Haiti return to being the nation that inspired generations and gave birth to heroes, such as Tousaint L'Ouverture, who led Haiti to independence and empowered peoples around the world. 

Haiti is now rising up to fulfill its destiny. Its people and government have already shown us that they will not succumb to powerlessness and fatalism.

The international community now has both the opportunity and the duty to assist them in performing this miracle. Without losing sight of what is truly essential, it is worth noting that the Haitian people continue to recognize their legitimately elected officials as the true leaders for the reconstruction of their country.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is president of Brazil

Haiti Earthquake: Bill Clinton Launches the UN's Largest-Ever Natural Disaster Appeal

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Mark Leon Goldberg - February 18, 2010 - 4:49 pm

At the UN moments ago, UN Special Envoy for Haiti Bill Clinton launched the a $1,441,547,920 humanitarian appeal for Haiti.  This is the UN's organization's largest ever appeal for humanitarian assistance following a natural disaster.

At a meeting at the UN, Clinton delivered an impassioned appeal for international support for Haiti relief.  He said the appeal was important for long term rebuilding, but the most immediate concern was to meet Haitians' basic needs.  "You can't build a country back when a third of the people are living day-to-day...when people are worried about things like their children dying of dysentery in a camp," said Clinton.  "We need to move them from living day-to-day to living month to month."  He repeated that refrain a number of times, at one point banging the table for emphasis.

His job now is to help convince donors that their donations will be used effectively.  To that end, he announced the launch of a website, Haitispecialenvoy.org, that will allow donors to track their funds.  He also expressed his confidence in the Haitian government, which is an important thing considering that much of the funding will be used to support Haiti's crippled governing infrastructure.  Clinton even cited a conversation he had with Haiti President Rene Preval in which Preval refused to lament the loss of his presidential palace, saying "everything from this day forward should be about the country we wish to become, not the country we used to be."

The report (pdf) that has accompanied the appeal contains some new facts and figures that give some perspective to the immense scale of the disaster.  According to the  document, 217,366 people are were killed in the earthquake and over 300,000 wounded.  The amount of displacement is also staggering.  Nearly 2 million people are living in "spontaneous settlements," both in Port au Prince and in the rural environs.  The $1.44 billion appeal is intended to provide relief to the affected population and set the stage for Haiti's long term recovery.

The full explanation and justification for that figure can be found in the 130 page report.  Two things to keep in mind, though. First, about one-third of the appeal, or  $480 million, is for food aid.

Before the earthquake Haiti was dependent on food aid. Now, even more so. (Again, this gets to Clinton's point about the need for moving people beyond living day-to-day).  Second, this appeal will fold in the emergency $577 million "flash appeal" that was launched in the week following the earthquake.  That appeal exceeded its overall funding mark earlier this week, meaning that the international community and donors now need to come up with an additional $760 million or so to meet Haiti's needs in areas ranging from food aid, to shelter, schooling, sanitation, etc for the next year.

This is an unprecedented undertaking. Fortunately, it is also unprecedented for someone as high profile as Bill Clinton to be leading the charge.  As I've said before, one thing that Haiti has going for it is that Bill Clinton is in their corner. And if there is something in which President Clinton truly excels, it is fundraising.  I must say, having just watched Bill Clinton brief the UN on the appeal, it is clear that despite his recent health scare, he is eager to put these talents to use on behalf of the Haitian people.

Cuba's aid ignored by the media?

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By Tom Fawthrop in Havana 

After the quake struck, Haiti's first medical aid came from Cuba

Among the many donor nations helping Haiti, Cuba and its medical teams have played a major role in treating earthquake victims.

Public health experts say the Cubans were the first to set up medical facilities among the debris and to revamp hospitals immediately after the earthquake struck.

However, their pivotal work in the health sector has received scant media coverage.

"It is striking that there has been virtually no mention in the media of the fact that Cuba had several hundred health personnel on the ground before any other country," said David Sanders, a professor of public health from Western Cape University in South Africa.

The Cuban team coordinator in Haiti, Dr Carlos Alberto Garcia, says the Cuban doctors, nurses and other health personnel have been working non-stop, day and night, with operating rooms open 18 hours a day.

During a visit to La Paz hospital in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Dr Mirta Roses, the director of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) which is in charge of medical coordination between the Cuban doctors, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and a host of health sector NGOs, described the aid provided by Cuban doctors as "excellent and marvellous".

La Paz is one of five hospitals in Haiti that is largely staffed by health professionals from Havana. 

History of cooperation

Haiti and Cuba signed a medical cooperation agreement in 1998.

Before the earthquake struck, 344 Cuban health professionals were already present in Haiti, providing primary care and obstetrical services as well as operating to restore the sight of Haitians blinded by eye diseases.

More doctors were flown in shortly after the earthquake, as part of the rapid response Henry Reeve Medical Brigade of disaster specialists. The brigade has extensive experience in dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes, having responded to such disasters in China, Indonesia and Pakistan.

"In the case of Cuban doctors, they are rapid responders to disasters, because disaster management is an integral part of their training," explains Maria a Hamlin Zúniga, a public health specialist from Nicaragua.

"They are fully aware of the need to reduce risks by having people prepared to act in any disaster situation."

Cuban doctors have been organising medical facilities in three revamped and five field hospitals, five diagnostic centres, with a total of 22 different care posts aided by financial support from Venezuela.

They are also operating nine rehabilitation centres staffed by nearly 70 Cuban physical therapists and rehab specialists, in addition to the Haitian medical personnel.

The Cuban team has been assisted by 100 specialists from Venezuela, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Canada and 17 nuns.

Havana has also sent 400,000 tetanus vaccines for the wounded.

Eduardo Nuñez Valdes, a Cuban epidemiologist who is currently in Port-au-Prince, has stressed that the current unsanitary conditions could lead to an epidemic of parasitic and infectious diseases if not acted upon quickly. 

Media silence

However, in reporting on the international aid effort, Western media have generally not ranked Cuba high on the list of donor nations.

One major international news agency's list of donor nations credited Cuba with sending over 30 doctors to Haiti, whereas the real figure stands at more than 350, including 280 young Haitian doctors who graduated from Cuba. The final figure accounts for a combined total of 930 health professionals in all Cuban medical teams making it the largest medical contingent on the ground.

Another batch if 200 Cuban-trained doctors from 24 countries in Africa and Latin American, and a dozen American doctors who graduated from Havana are currently en route to Haiti and will provide reinforcement to existing Cuban medical teams.

By comparison the internationally-renowned Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without Borders) has approximately 269 health professionals working in Haiti. MSF is much better funded and has far more extensive medical supplies than the Cuban team. 

Left out

But while representatives from MSF and the ICRC are frequently in front of television cameras discussing health priorities and medical needs, the Cuban medical teams are missing in the media coverage.

Richard Gott, the Guardian newspaper's former foreign editor and a Latin America specialist, explains: "Western media are programmed to be indifferent to aid that comes from unexpected places. In the Haitian case, the media have ignored not just the Cuban contribution, but also the efforts made by other Latin American countries." 

Brazil is providing $70mn in funding for 10 urgent care units, 50 mobile units for emergency care, a laboratory and a hospital, among other health services.

Venezuela has cancelled all Haiti debt and has promised to supply oil free of charge until the country has recovered from the disaster.

Western NGOs employ media officers to ensure that the world knows what they are doing.

According to Gott, the Western media has grown accustomed to dealing with such NGOs, enabling a relationship of mutual assistance to develop.

Cuban medical teams, however, are outside this predominantly Western humanitarian-media loop and are therefore only likely to receive attention from Latin American media and Spanish language broadcasters and print media.

There have, however, been notable exceptions to this reporting syndrome. On January 19, a CNN reporter broke the silence on the Cuban role in Haiti with a report on Cuban doctors at La Paz hospital. 

Cuba/US cooperation

When the US requested that their military planes be allowed to fly through Cuban airspace for the purpose of evacuating Haitians to hospitals in Florida, Cuba immediately agreed despite almost 50 years of animosity between the two countries.

Josefina Vidal, the director of the Cuban foreign ministry's North America department, issued a statement declaring that: "Cuba is ready to cooperate with all the nations on the ground, including the US, to help the Haitian people and save more lives."

This deal cut the flight time of medical evacuation flights from the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba's southern tip to Miami by 90 minutes.

According to Darby Holladay, the US state department's spokesperson, the US has also communicated its readiness to make medical relief supplies available to Cuban doctors in Haiti.

"Potential US-Cuban cooperation could go a long way toward meeting Haiti's needs," says Dr Julie Feinsilver, the author of Healing the Masses - a book about Cuban health diplomacy, who argues that maximum cooperation is urgently needed.

Rich in human resources
 
Although Cuba is a poor developing country, their wealth of human resources - doctors, engineers and disaster management experts - has enabled this small Caribbean nation to play a global role in health care and humanitarian aid alongside the far richer nations of the west.

Cuban medical teams played a key role in the wake of the Indian Ocean Tsunami and provided the largest contingent of doctors after the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

They also stayed the longest among international medical teams treating the victims of the 2006 Indonesian earthquake.

In the Pakistan relief operation the US and Europe dispatched medical teams. Each had a base camp with most doctors deployed for a month.

The Cubans, however, deployed seven major base camps, operated 32 field hospitals and stayed for six months.

Bruno Rodriguez, who is now Cuba's foreign minister, headed the mission - living in the mountains of Pakistan for more than six months.

Just after the Indonesian earthquake a year later, I met with Indonesia's then regional health co-coordinator, Dr Ronny Rockito.

Cuba had sent 135 health workers and two field hospitals. Rockito said that while the medical teams from other countries departed after just one month, he asked the Cuban medical team to extend their stay.

"I appreciate the Cuban medical team. Their style is very friendly."

Their medical standard is very high," he told me.

"The Cuban [field] hospitals are fully complete and it's free, with no financial support from our government."

Rockito says he never expected to see Cuban doctors coming to his country's rescue."We felt very surprised about doctors coming from a poor country, a country so far away that we know little about.

"We can learn from the Cuban health system. They are very fast to handle injuries and fractures. They x-ray, then they operate straight away." 

A 'new dawn'?

The Montreal summit, the first gathering of 20 donor nations, agreed to hold a major conference on Haiti's future at the United Nations in March.

Some analysts see Haiti's rehabilitation as a potential opportunity for the US and Cuba to bypass their ideological differences and combine their resources - the US has the logistics while Cuba has the human resources - to help Haiti.

Feinsilver is convinced that "Cuba should be given a seat at the table with all other nations and multilateral organisations and agencies in any and all meetings to discuss, plan and coordinate aid efforts for Haiti's reconstruction".

"This would be in recognition of Cuba's long-standing policy and practise of medical diplomacy, as well as its general development aid to Haiti," she says.

But, will Haiti offer the US administration, which has Cuba on its list of nations that allegedly "support terrorism", a "new dawn" in its relations with Cuba?

In late January, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, thanked Cuba for its efforts in Haiti and welcomed further assistance and co-operation.

In Haiti's grand reconstruction plan, Feinsilver argues, "there can be no imposition of systems from any country, agency or institution.

The Haitian people themselves, through what remains of their government and NGOs, must provide the policy direction, and Cuba has been and should continue to be a key player in the health sector in Haiti".

Haiti, Forgive Us

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Posted on Feb 9, 2010

By Amy Goodman

The tragedy of the Haitian earthquake continues to unfold, with slow delivery of aid, the horrific number of amputations performed out of desperate medical necessity, more than a million homeless, perhaps 240,000 dead, hunger, dehydration, the emergence of infections and waterborne diseases, and the approach of the rainy season, which will be followed by the hurricane season.

Haiti has suffered a massive blow, an earthquake for which its infrastructure was not prepared, after decades—no, centuries—of military and economic manipulation by foreign governments, most notably the United States and France.

Haiti was a slave plantation controlled by France.

In 1804, inspired by Toussaint L’Ouverture (after whom the now barely functioning airport in Port-au-Prince is named), the slaves rebelled, founding the world’s first black republic.

Under military threat from France in 1825, Haiti agreed to pay reparations to France for lost “property,” including slaves that French owners lost in the rebellion.

It was either agree to pay the reparations or have France invade Haiti and reimpose slavery.

Many Haitians believe that original debt, which Haiti dutifully paid through World War II, committed Haiti to a future of poverty that it has never been able to escape.

(While France, as part of the deal, recognized Haiti’s sovereignty, slave-owning politicians in the United States, like Thomas Jefferson, refused to recognize the black republic, afraid it would inspire a slave revolt here. The U.S. withheld formal recognition until 1862.)

The U.S. Marines occupied Haiti from 1915 until 1934.

In 1956, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier took control in a military coup and declared himself president for life, initiating a period of brutal, bloody dictatorship, with U.S. support.

Papa Doc died in 1971, at which point his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, took over, maintaining the same violent dictatorial control until he was driven into exile by popular revolt in 1986.

Jubilee USA, a network calling for elimination of debt owed by poor countries, estimates that Baby Doc alone diverted at least $500 million in public funds to his private accounts, and that 45 percent of Haiti’s debt in recent decades was accumulated during the corrupt reign of the Duvaliers.

Loans from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) imposed “structural adjustment” conditions on Haiti, opening its economy to cheap U.S. agricultural products.

Farmers, unable to compete, stopped growing rice and moved to the cities to earn low wages, if they were lucky enough to get one of the scarce sweatshop jobs.

People in the highlands were driven to deforest the hills, converting wood into salable charcoal, which created an ecological crisis—destabilizing hillsides, increasing the destructiveness of earthquakes and causing landslides during the rainy season.

Haiti’s first democratically elected president was Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Catholic priest committed to the poor.

He was elected in 1990, then ousted in a military coup in 1991.

In 1994, with Haitian refugees flooding into Florida, the Clinton administration was forced to restore Aristide to power, but only with additional structural-adjustment demands.

Aristide was re-elected in 2000, only to be deposed again in a U.S.-backed coup in 2004, Haiti’s bicentennial.

The destruction of Haiti’s rice industry, which was replaced with U.S. government-subsidized rice that Haitians refer to as “Miami rice,” as well as the sale of critical state-owned enterprises, like Haiti’s sole flour mill and cement factory, have left the country dependent on foreign trade and aid, keeping Haiti at a permanent disadvantage.

It is critical now to cancel Haiti’s ongoing foreign debt, so that the country can devote its scant resources to rebuilding and not to repaying debt.

The G-7 finance ministers met in Canada this week and announced the forgiveness of the bilateral debt between member states and Haiti.

But the World Bank, IMF and IDB debts remain (the IMF controversially promised a $100 million loan after the earthquake, eliciting condemnation, and has since pledged to convert it to a grant).

Earthquakes alone do not create disasters of the scale now experienced in Haiti.

The wealthy nations have for too long exploited Haiti, denying it the right to develop in a secure, sovereign, sustainable way.

The global outpouring of support for Haitians must be matched by long-term, unrestricted grants of aid, and immediate forgiveness of all that country’s debt.

Given their role in Haiti’s plight, the United States, France and other industrialized nations should be the ones seeking forgiveness.

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
 
Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 800 stations in North America. She is the author of “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.

UNASUR Solidarity with Haiti - Declaration of Quito, February 9, 2010

Press Release No. 50
February 10, 2010

UNASUR Solidarity with Haiti - Declaration of Quito, February 9, 2010

The Heads of State and Government of UNASUR meeting at the Presidential Palace in Quito, on 9 February 2010, in light of the aftermath of the earthquake happened in Haiti on 12 January, by the bonds of solidarity and friendship;

WE EXPRESS our solidarity with the people and Government of Haiti in this time of grief and tragedy, and our deep regret at the death of thousands of Haitian and international officials and countries cooperating with Haiti;

WE REITERATE our commitment in supporting the provision of comprehensive care to the wounded and for the reconstruction of the country, taking into account the needs and priorities expressed by the authorities of Haiti;

WE SUPPORT the efforts of the Government of Haiti so that under his leadership, and coordination with international and regional organizations, it can perform the activities of humanitarian assistance for the Haitian people and promote social, economic and institutional development of Haiti;

WE EXPRESS our gratitude for the work of the Mission of the United Nations Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH).


WE DECIDE:

1. Reiterate our expressions of solidarity with the government of President René Préval and the people of Haiti, as well as condolences for the loss of human lives.

2. To contribute to international cooperation coming to Haiti to respond to the demands, needs and priorities of the country, within the framework of full respect for national sovereignty and the principle of nonintervention in internal affairs. Along the same lines, support the strengthening of state institutions in Haiti, in order to promote effective cooperation, social development and economic growth, greater democracy and maintaining peace and security.

3. Continue with humanitarian aid undertaken by the Member States, in agreement with the Haitian government.

4. Implement a new South-South cooperation, by following the medium and long-term restructuring process, respecting the sovereignty of Haiti, which include the strengthening of state institutions and the development of local capacity.

5. Answer as a priority and immediately to the three axis presented at this meeting by the President of Haiti, René Préval, to the Member States of UNASUR:

• infrastructure and energy: a) road construction, resources for acquisition of equipment, machinery and allocation of engineering personel to contribute to the infrastructure of Haiti, in particular through the construction of roads which will be determined by the Haitian government, b) energy: to regain the power grid and to study the impact, as alternative energy, of the uses of gas in the situation in Haiti;
  
• agriculture: to contribute to the reconstruction of the agriculture sector and food production through the donation of seeds, inputs, fertilizers, and experts allocation. On this theme will be taken into account the so-called models 'Pro-huerta' and the 'Food Security Program'.
  
• health: increasing the actions already implemented by the South American Health Council.

6. To promote joint actions in order to channel humanitarian aid, and boost reconstruction efforts through a plan of action coordinated with representatives of the constitutional government of Haiti. This action plan should include, among others, the following action on a voluntary basis and according to the capacities of each Member State:

        - Create a fund of UNASUR, to finance the equipment by industry sector that will boost actions in three axis expressed by President René Préval in item number 5. In principle, the Fund would be on the amount of 100 million U.S. dollars, from contributions of the countries.

        - Request the IDB a credit of up to 200 million U.S. dollars, in long-term, with the lowest interest rate, which will be assumed by the countries of UNASUR.

        - Send immediately tents, appropriate to current needs, and proceed with the construction of hostels, which meet the urgent need for housing in Haiti.

        - Send a delegation to Haiti of planning bodies of UNASUR, to support, in this context, the actions that the Haitian government requires.

        - Encourage the donation to the Haitian government of the machinery required for the physical reconstruction of Haiti, in a planned way.

        - Explore commitments of Member States to contribute in accordance with their capabilities and voluntarily, for the reconstruction of an area in Haiti.

        - To contribute to the reforestation of Haiti by developing a specific program, involving, among others, universities, research centers, civilian population and other social actors.

        - Encourage the diversification of energy sources used in Haiti to reduce the traditional dependence on wood and increase the use of renewable energy and sources of low impact on the local environment.

        - Collaborate in the reconstruction of government headquarters.

        - To urge the Member States that have not yet done so to apply special procedures to regularize migration in favor of Haitian citizens.

        - Supporting the initiatives of Member States to aid in the education sector by, among others, the reconstruction of education systems at all levels, designation entities for cooperation, establishment of camps, schools resistant to earthquakes and grants for Haitian students.

7. To urge the Member States to eliminate temporarily the import tariffs to South American countries for Haitians exportable products and encourage investment from South American companies in sectors with high potential for use of local labor force.

8. To support the call of the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on External Debt in favor of debt relief for Haiti and welcome the decision of several countries in that line. By the way, we call on all creditors, particularly multilateral organizations, to forgive that debt.

9. To recognize the commitments of the Fourth Special Meeting of South American Ministers of Health, on 27 January 2010. Likewise, note the contents of the resolution on Haiti, adopted by the South American Defense Council, in Manta, on January 28, 2010.

10. To study the establishment of an autonomous office within the South American Defense Council, for risk management to coordinate prevention and mitigation of emergencies caused by disasters.

11. Have a committee of the South American Council of Defense, in coordination with the Council of Delegates, to travel to Haiti to make a study of the conditions, needs and offers of aid, according to the geographical areas of operation, in full agreement with the Haitian authorities to achieve better use of resources contributed by the countries of UNASUR for the tasks assigned.

12. Establish cooperation between the Member States of UNASUR to send by air and sea the contributions made to suit the situation in Haiti as well as taking note of the offer of some member states - Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela - to establish corridors through both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

13. Recognize the importance of the proposal of the Republic of Paraguay, on the creation of a Brigade of South American Solidarity and Cooperation ", and instruct the Council of Delegates to start its study.


The original of this note is available at (Portuguese, and Spanish):
http://www.mre.gov.br/portugues/imprensa/nota_detalhe3.asp?ID_RELEASE=7833

Why Investing NOW in Haiti is Good Bussiness for You (Excerpts & Videos)

It is a good idea to read the excerpts, watch the videos, and listen (and spread the word) to the Very Special Speakers at the "Haiti Special Session" at Davos’ World Economic Forum:

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> Dr. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman,
World Economic Forum; 
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> William J. Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation;
President of the United States (1993-2001); 
UN Special Envoy to Haiti;
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> Denis O’Brien, Executive Chairman, Digicel, Ireland; 
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> Celso Amorim, Foreign Minister, Brazil;
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> Helen E. Clark, Administrator, 
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); 
Former New Zealand's Prime-Minister;  
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> Robert Greenhill, 
Managing Director and Chief Business Officer, 
World Economic Forum; 
Former President of Canada’s International Development Agency. 
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PART 01: "...Disasters of this magnitude serve as a harsh reminder of how fragile life can sometimes be, but it is also during these moments that we are reminded of the common humanity which we all share..."

> Dr. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.

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PART 02: "...The World Economic Forum has agreed, Klaus has, to work with us in partnership to work between now and the Clinton Global Initiative in September and then for the next couple of years to increase private sector involvement in Haiti...." 

   

> William J. Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation; President of the United States (1993-2001); UN Special Envoy to Haiti.

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PART 03:

"...the Haitian government had a commitment to modernize the country and the UN said – the UN Secretary General said, ‘We want you to go in there and help them by making sure that the donor nations and international organizations honor their commitment and we get more private investment’. And I said that I would do it, but only if I were helping the Haitians to implement their own plan, that our goal this time should not be helping the country, but helping the country to stand on its own, to determine its own destiny, to be sustainable in a different and fundamentally positive way... Don’t tell me they can’t do this... Here’s the most important thing those of you who are on the outside of this need to know: 97% of the people who came to the investment conference agreed with Denis O’Brien. They said they were surprised by the positive opportunities available there for them. I want ‘them’ to become you..." 

 

> William J. Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation; President of the United States (1993-2001); UN Special Envoy to Haiti.

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PART 04:  

"...We’ve invested about $370 million over the last four years. It’s a terrific place to do business, believe it or not. The government policies are very favourably disposed towards foreign direct investors. But more importantly, Haiti has a very young population and, you know, we have 900 staff, they’re a hugely talented people. They’re very committed, they’re very hard-working and, you know, there are 10 million consumers in the marketplace (...) By way of example, just to give you an example of how committed people are, I met a man the other day. He came back to work. He lost five of his family and he still showed up for work. So, you know, I think Haitian workers, Haitian staff, Haitian managers – and most of our business is now run by Haitian managers – are, you know, some of the best people in the world. And, you know, you probably will ask yourselves this morning ‘where are the opportunities for me and my business?’ And, first of all, there’s opportunities in tourism, particularly in the northern part around Cape Haitian, there’s some wonderful beaches, already the cruise liners are coming in there. There’s hotel groups like Choice Hotels, Best Western are coming in there and investing money. But also in the area of light manufacturing, particularly in textiles and apparel, because there is a thing called the ‘HOPE II Agreement’, which allows manufacturers of these goods to have very favorable tariff treatments in the United States and I know the President has been involved in pushing that. There’s also opportunities for food production. In food production, a Taiwanese group are putting 16 million into rice production. But also for people who are in the rebuilding, reconstruction, construction business, property development, I think there’s an enormous opportunity for those people to come in now and make very solid investments. Also, in infrastructure, electricity generation as well. And, you know, we, in the space of four or five years since we been there we’ve never had any problem with our business. We’ve never had any difficulties with the government. And that’s why I actually think that this market is at the doorstep of the wealthiest consumer market in the United States and most of us in this room have investments all over the world, but they’re generally pretty boring, if you like, you know, because they’re all, you know, they’re doing – they’re making money, creating jobs in other countries and that, but Haiti is not boring. It’s challenging, but it’s also a way where you can actually strengthen your management team by actually sending them there and blood them in this new market. And I’d have to say, you know, Haiti is wide open for business and for those of you who are looking for a low-cost manufacturing location right close to the US, please go and register today at the Haiti desk or get in touch with the Clinton Global Initiative, because within the CGI we are really trying to push investment. I will personally go and make a presentation to you, even though I’m not the foreign direct investment agency for Haiti. But, you know, I just can’t strongly, you know, urge you enough to actually do something. And, you know, do it for the right reasons. Not just do it for altruistic reasons, but to do it for economic reasons, because Haiti is a great country and tomorrow it’s going to be even a better country..."

 

> Denis O’Brien, Executive Chairman, Digicel, Ireland.  

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PART 05: 

"...The markets are reviving, even the street markets and certainly it’s not boring. And actually, what I would say, just as an aside, I didn’t think to say that, but even in the aspect of art, painting and music, that’s also an area which can bring money and which can be used (...) I always came to this Forum only to speak about trade and WTO and so on. This is the time to show the WTO is not only about profit and greed. This is the time for all the countries to offer – all the countries – all developed countries and all developing countries that can do so to offer duty-free quota-free to all Haitian products which facilitated rules of origin. That is what would really make a difference."  

   

> Celso Amorim, Foreign Minister, Brazil.

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PART 06:  

"...As President Clinton said, there was an economic recovery plan driven by the government of Haiti in place before this catastrophe. That plan must not stop. That plan must be accelerated. There are large parts of Haiti which were not directly physically impacted where, as President Clinton said, the work can go on now. So, I’ve come today representing the Secretary General to be extraordinarily supportive of the initiative that President Clinton and the World Economic Forum are putting to you and to say that the role of the private sector, the role of the foundations, the role of the NGOs, this is just so important, alongside the role that governments can play and alongside the role of the development banks and the multilateral institutions. It’s about unique partnerships where everybody plays a role in supporting Haiti at this hour of need to build back better and to actually renew..." 

 

> Helen E. Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Former New Zealand's Prime-Minister.

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PART 07: 

"...I’m very proud of the leadership role of Canada, together with Brazil and the United States and others on this issue. Well, what we’re calling for now goes beyond that. We’re calling for a global partnership and we’re actually calling upon people to go beyond engaging – beyond giving, to engaging. To actually, after the TV cameras have gone, to continue with the hard work of creating work, sustainable work through sustainable jobs for Haitians. And we actually think the power of the international business community could be a major force behind that. So how do we hope to do that? Well, as President Clinton mentioned, we’ll be working under the Haitian leadership with a Haitian economic development plan. What we’ll be doing, together with the Clinton Foundation, is we’ll be working in collaboration gathering together those business leaders here who are interested in engaging and actually committing to procuring, potentially looking at investing, partnering to help build Haitian jobs and Haitian businesses. (...) the theme of this year’s Davos is ‘Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild’ and we’re saying we should rethink how we engage in these challenging situations. We should redesign how we work together and we’re going to be a model of that and together we can rebuild Haiti..."

 

> Robert Greenhill, Managing Director and Chief Business Officer, World Economic Forum, Former President of Canada’s International Development Agency. 

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Related Links:

1. Full Video (ENG|FRA|DEU)
2. Full Transcript (ENG)
3. World Economic Forum
4. Clinton Global Initiative
5. Brazilian Government | Operação Haiti (POR)
6. UNDP - United Nations Development Program (ENG|ESP|FRA)
7. Canada's International Development Agency (ENG|FRA)
8. Embassy of Haiti, Washington D.C. - USA
9. Digicel Group
10. Google for Haiti
    
    

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The Road to Recovery - How Haiti can learn from Indonesia.

Go to Original (Newsweek) >

By Joshua Kurlantzick | NEWSWEEK

Published Feb 5, 2010

From the magazine issue dated Feb 15, 2010

As rescue workers frantically try to save Haiti's injured, comfort its newly orphaned children, and prevent full-scale riots over supplies of food and water, few have had time to ponder the country's long-term reconstruction.

Yet it is during the very early days of relief efforts that the foundations for a successful—or disastrous—long-term recovery are laid. Fortunately, there is a recent example of reconstruction success to build upon.

In December 2004 I was in southern Thailand when the tsunami hit, devastating not only Thailand but also Sri Lanka, India, and Indonesia.

With bodies piling up on beaches and shellshocked survivors searching for relatives, it seemed hard to imagine a return to anything like normalcy.

Yet within a year, most of southern Thailand looked as though nothing had happened, and five years after the tsunami, even Aceh, the place hit hardest, had rebuilt its infrastructure, integrated local people in the reconstruction, and ended a decades-old civil conflict that had killed at least 15,000 people. 

There are lessons here for Haiti.

First, the tsunami rebuilding demonstrated the importance of getting survivors involved immediately in their own recovery.

Many organizations operating in Aceh tasked survivors to handle home building, basic medical care, and other jobs.

This kind of strong leadership on the ground in Aceh (and by the government in Jakarta) allowed the reconstruction to be seen as an Indonesian process, and although people in Aceh might not have been thrilled by every element of the rebuilding, they did not see it as an alien process imposed upon them by outsiders.

A similar process will have to occur in Haiti.

Before the earthquake, there was a large coterie of NGOs there, with many of them led by Haitian senior staff.

Despite pleas by some Haitians for the U.S. to save their nation, in the long run these Haitian aid professionals will have to take charge.

Equally important is that the international community moves swiftly to ensure that speculators don't move in and buy up land, as they did in some of the hardest-hit parts of Thailand after the tsunami.

Like most developing nations, Thailand had a weak system of formal land title, which left survivors vulnerable to pressure from developers seeking to buy up coastal property.

Facing similar threats, Haiti should consider a short-term freeze on land sales in Port-au-Prince.

The ultimate success of the reconstruction will depend on effective collaboration among major donors.

In Indonesia, many large donors in Aceh combined their assistance in one pool, reducing waste and ensuring that funding went to needs identified by the Indonesian government, not by outsiders.

Backed by this coordinated donor effort, Jakarta then set up a centralized agency, based in the capital of Aceh, to oversee projects.

Yet in Haiti, lack of coordination has already become a problem.

European relief groups have chafed at what they see as America's dominance of the relief effort and, in particular, American control of Port-au-Prince airport.

Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Bolivia's Evo Morales have accused Washington of using the earthquake as a pretext for occupying Haiti, as it did in the early 20th century.

The bickering bodes poorly for a repeat of the successful post-tsunami effort.

In the long term, there is reason to hope for a political breakthrough.

In Aceh, the devastation damaged the fighting capacity of insurgents battling for an independent state and created an impetus for the government and the rebels to work together on rebuilding, since neither side wanted to add to the tragic death toll.

Within a year of the tsunami, rebels had given up their separatist demands and the Indonesian government had begun drawing down its forces in Aceh, paving the way for a peace deal.

Haiti might reap similar rewards in its relationship with the Dominican Republic, with which it shares the island of Hispaniola.

Far wealthier than Haiti, the Dominican Republic has long feared waves of Haitian immigration, and Haitians have reacted in fury to what they have perceived as the mistreatment of migrants from Haiti to the other side of the island.

But after the earthquake, crowds of Dominicans crossed into Haiti to help.

In the reconstruction, the two nations could cooperate to build Haiti's infrastructure, loosen restrictions on migration, and boost trade.

If they can, it might be another step in Haiti's long road to recovery.

Kurlantzick is a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Yéle Haiti - Blog - Numbers tell stories of Horror, Heroism in Haiti

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Two weeks after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, the numbers have mounted. The numbers tell stories of death and destruction, as well as a global outpouring of aid. CNN has compiled the latest, most reliable figures available as the devastation continues to unfold:  

THE TOLL

> 230,000: Latest estimate of the death toll, from the Haitian Health Ministry. The European Union and the Pan American Health Organization, which are coordinating the health-sector response, have estimated the quake killed 200,000 people.
> 194,000: Number of injured
> 134: Estimated number of people rescued by international search teams since the quake  

THE EFFECT

> 9 million: Population of Haiti > 3 million: Estimated number of people affected by the quake
> 1 million: Estimated number of displaced people
> 800,000 to 1 million: People who need temporary shelter
> 235,000: People who have left Port-au-Prince using free transportation provided by the government. The number who left by private means is undetermined.
> At least 50: Aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or higher that have hit Haiti since the January 12 quake  

THE CHILDREN

> 300,000: Children younger than 2 who need nutritional support
> 90: Percentage of schools in Port-au-Prince that have been destroyed
> 363: Haitian orphans who have been evacuated  

THE RESPONSE IN DOLLARS

> $1.12 billion: International aid pledges
> $783 million: Funds received as of Tuesday
> $317 million: U.S. assistance as of Monday  

THE RESPONSE IN MANPOWER

> 17,000: U.S. military personnel in and around Haiti
> 8 million: Meals the World Food Programme has delivered to nearly 400,000 people
> 300: Aid distribution sites that are up and running
> 130 to 150: Flights arriving every day at the single-runway Port-au-Prince airport with aid Huge crowd of Haitians lines up for rice  

EFFECT ON FOREIGNERS

> 12,000: U.N. workers in the country at the time of the quake
> 53: U.N. workers still missing
> At least 82: U.N. workers dead
> 20: Brazilians dead
> 27: U.N. workers injured or hospitalized
> 11,500: Americans and family members who have been evacuated
> 4,800: Americans unaccounted for  

Sources: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Red Cross, the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. State Department and the World Food Programme"

H. E. Mr. President Lula da Silva sends to Parliament US$ 200M bill on aid to Haiti.

Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 18:29
Memorial to the Brazilian military dead in Haiti

The Bill sent to Congress on Thursday (Jan, 21st) provides financial assistance in more than R$ 350 million (approx. US$ 200M) for Haiti, according to the minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha.

The Bill adds for the R$ 15 million already announced by President Lula in the days following the disaster last week, more R$ 205 million from the Ministry of Defense for use in humanitarian aid and R$ 135 million from the Ministry of Health that aims to build and equip 10 Emergency Care Units (UPA) on Haitian soil.

Padilha also said that President Lula has recommended to the Health Minister that he immediately begin the process of construction of the UPAs, as the people of Haiti have urgent demand for primary health care. 

The government also wants to increase military peace forces in Haiti in more than 1.3 thousand military and another message will be sent to Congress. 

By now the Caribbean country will receive more than 900 men of the Brazilian Armed Forces to join the more than 1,200 yet there.

World Bank: We Are in Haiti for the Long Haul

Go to Original (The Huffington Post) > 

Yvonne Tsikata 

World Bank Haiti Country Director

Posted: January 21, 2010 06:11 PM

Today's announcement that we're waiving all payments from Haiti for the next 5 years while we continue to work to forgive its debt of US $38 million -- less than 4% of the country's external debt -- is only a small sliver of our much larger commitment to Haiti.

Since 2005, we have provided US $363 million in grants that have been used to further the country's reform agenda and improve its overall economic prospects.

Additionally, in June of 2009 Haiti received US $1.2 billion in debt relief after reaching the completion point under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), which allows creditors, including multilateral institutions, to provide debt relief to the world's poorest and most heavily indebted countries.

Haiti was already showing encouraging signs of improvement when the earthquake struck.

It had posted three successive years of economic growth since 2004 -- when the economy contracted by 3.5% -- and the government was making headway in improving governance and transparency, especially in the area of public financial management systems.

In spite of the global financial crisis and the fall of remittances, Haiti's economy grew more than 2% last year.

The earthquake has put the brakes on all that, but at the Bank we look to redouble our support to Haiti and its people by building back better and putting the reins of development in the hands of the Haitian communities.

A team of World Bank experts is on the ground in Haiti, to assess how our current projects can be best redeployed to support recovery and to prepare for an emergency operation in response to the earthquake. Bank specialists will join a multilateral team -- including staff from the UN, the European Union and the Inter American Development Bank -- that will be working in Haiti for the next few weeks to conduct damage and reconstruction assessments in every major sector, including health, education, water, sanitation, electricity, and roads.

Going forward, we would like to put special emphasis on the capacity generated by community-driven development projects, where people at the local level decide their priorities.

We have supported a number of such initiatives going on in Haiti at the moment that have proven to be particularly successful on the basis of community involvement. This will be critical in the reconstruction.

Just to give an example, by May 2009 our community-driven initiative had completed 549 projects, primarily for agricultural support and other infrastructure -- including grain mills, water pumps, and local roads -- as well as income-generating activities.

It provided technical support to 4,032 community-based organizations in rural areas, benefiting around 763,000 people in poor rural areas (or 57 percent of the population of the rural communities covered by the program).

We also want to build back better, making housing and infrastructure more resilient to natural hazards, such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

We want to work with the Haitian authorities to strengthen code enforcement and the institutions that supervise this, while continue building the government's capacity to ensure that this happens.

In a joint effort with the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) we have recently produced a Reconstruction handbook that I'd like to share here with anyone interested.

In sum, we will be focusing on ongoing projects that work quickly, effectively, and with the people.

The recent tragic events in Haiti have proven the resilience and determination of the Haitian people -- who have not given up on their country or their future or even their hope to still find survivors in the wreckage of their battered capital.

We want to join their determination to build a better future based on their own priorities and the help of the international community.