NEWS ON 14 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

NEWS ON 14 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

 

German ARDtext: MORE THAN 900 DEATHS IN HAITI DUE TO CHOLERA / UN AND THE POPE APPEALS FOR HELP

 

According to the Health Ministry in Port-au-Prince the DEATH TOLL ROSE BY 120 TO MORE THAN 900 SINCE FRIDAY.

 

According to the information given MORE THAN 14,600 HAITIANS HAD TO BE TREATED IN THE HOSPITAL SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF THE SERIOUS DISEASE IN MID-OCTOBER.

 

The United Nations appeals to the world community to make $164m available for the containment of the cholera. Also the pope appealed for help.

HAITI CRISIS NEEDS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

 

Post II today contains an article sent via change.org in relation to HAITI - the text below is also the text in a HAITI petition addressed to the US secretary of state.

 

The petition site:

 

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/haiti_crisis_needs_an_immediate_response

 

 

HAITI CRISIS NEEDS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

 

Today marks TEN MONTHS SINCE the 7.0 EARTHQUAKE devastated Haiti and leveled much of the capital of Port-au-Prince and MORE THAN ONE AND A HALF MILLION people are still HOMELESS. They are living in makeshift camps of tarps and bed sheets, and exposed not only to the searing sun and pounding rain, but now extremely vulnerable to the rapidly spreading CHOLERA EPIDEMIC.

 

Despite billions of dollars raised during the urgent relief phase earlier this year, only 15% of the promised transitional shelters have been built as of today. The target number of less than 125,000 “t-shelters” has been criticized by many as a pathetic and underwhelming response to the desperate needs of homeless earthquake survivors.

 

The UNITED STATES PLEDGED TO HELP HAITI, but WHEN will we deliver? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton PROMISED $1.15 BILLION IN RECONSTRUCTION MONEY, but a recent investigation by the Associated Press found that NOT ONE CENT of these funds has ARRIVED IN HAITI “due to a combination of bureaucracy, disorganization and a lack of urgency in Washington.”

 

Now about 10% of the promised funds are en route to Haiti, but it is not enough. These funds were supposed to build homes and assist in resolving long-term issues like rubble removal and sustainable water and sanitation solutions.

 

Instead Haitians are living in an environment that is perfect for the spread of cholera. Nearly all the euphemistically named “camps” of earthquake survivors continue to rely on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide water which is often not potable and inadequate sanitary conditions characterized by drastically small numbers of available latrines have not been ameliorated. More than a million people are stranded in standing water as CHOLERA is tearing through the country, and even those who know how to prevent cholera are powerless to take the necessary steps to protect their families.

 

During a briefing hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus on November 10, Paul Weisenfeld of USAID stated that although USAID’s partners had been asked to focus on the cholera outbreak, no new funds are being used and additional stockpiled supplies are not yet needed. However, Stefano Zannini, the Head of Mission for Médecins Sans Frontières in Haiti shared this prognosis for the escalating cholera epidemic:

 

“If the number of cases continues to increase at the same rate, then we’re going to have to adopt some drastic measures to be able to treat people. We’re going to have to use public spaces and even streets. I can easily see this situation deteriorating to the point where patients are lying in the street, waiting for treatment. At the moment, we just don’t have that many options.”

 

Do the streets of Haiti need to be strewn with bodies again for Washington to sense the urgency? Denial equals death and in light of the terrifying specter raised by those treating cholera patients on the ground, WE MUST ACT NOW.

 

Today the United Nations appealed for additional funds to fight cholera and the spokesman of the World Health Organization is predicting 200,000 cases in the six to twelve months.

 

These are the immediate, urgent life-saving steps that the U.S. State Department and USAID must take on behalf of the vulnerable earthquake survivors in Haiti:

 

1. Make money available NOW. Despite the fact that USAID and the State Department publicly commend the Government of Haiti for leading the response to the cholera epidemic, less than 1% of funds have gone directly to Haiti’s government to date. The U.S. CONGRESS recently SLOWED FUNDINg FOR HAITI again by applying an appalling double standard for funds that would go through the Government of Haiti versus those that are channeled through NGOs and for profit organizations that are accountable to no one. While asking for proof that funds won’t be misused or stolen by Haitian authorities, Chemonics, a for-profit company, has received $172 million in U.S. money.

 

2. Construct and relocate Haitians into transitional shelters. USAID/OFDA reported that the Camp Coordination (CCCM) Cluster has begun documenting the distribution of replacement emergency materials and that “NGOs have noted the high quality of USAID/OFDA plastic sheeting, which has not deteriorated and does not require replacement.” Ten months after the quake, it is inconceivable that Haitians are being provided short-term, unsafe shelter constructed from tarps. The construction of transitional shelters must also incentivize movement from the capital to regional departments through the guarantee of additional job and educational opportunities.

 

3. Require partners funded by USAID to move quickly to provide long-term sustainable solutions for development. These include the construction of secure and sustainable water, sanitation and housing facilities. Pit latrines and water deliveries for water and sanitation and tarps and tents for housing are not adequate solutions for Haitians. The current cholera outbreak dramatically highlights how the response to date has fallen far short of what is needed on the ground. With a history of temporary fixes becoming permanent realities, prompt action must be taken to remedy the current situation.

 

Visit these sites for more information:

 

http://lethaitilive.org

 

http://www.transafricaforum.org

 

http://brikourinouvelgaye.com

 

http://www.ijdh.org

 

http://www.haitiresponsecoalition.org

NEWS ON 15 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

NEWS ON 15 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

 

Danish TV2 News live and DR1, Swedish SVT and German ZDFtext:

 

CHOLERA DEATH TOLL RISES TO 917 IN HAITI

 

The updated cholera death toll is 917.

 

Cholera is spreading to large areas in the poor country. Cholera has broken out in 6 out of 10 districts.

 

According to the authorities, so far 14,642 cholera infected Haitians have been treated in hospital since the epidemic is known to have broken out on 19 October.

 

There is a growing fear that the cholera will spread in the enormous tent camps around Port-au-Prince where hundreds of thousands earthquake-hit Haitians are living under unhealthy / poor conditions.

CAN YOU SPARE A BAR OF SOAP FOR HAITI ?

 

http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/can-you-spare-a-bar-of-soap-for-haiti/

 

 

CAN YOU SPARE A BAR OF SOAP FOR HAITI ?

posted by: Ann Pietrangelo

 

 

When can a 50 cent bar of soap save a life? During a cholera outbreak in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

 

From The Washington Post:

 

 

Soap could slow the terrifying cholera outbreak that is quickly spreading and has just in the past week entered the ravaged capital, according to health care specialists and international aid groups.

 

But in the squalid slums of Port au Prince and the river towns where the cholera outbreak began three weeks ago, many Haitians held up their hands and shook their heads, saying they had no soap to stop an infection that is spread by contaminated food and water, and where a vigorous hand-washing, especially after using the toilet, is the number-one way to save lives.

 

Almost half a million water tablets, soap, and oral rehydration salts are being distributed by United Nations agencies and their partners.

 

Reuters reports that as of November 12, there have been more than 900 deaths and over 14,600 hospitalizations since the outbreak began several weeks ago. It is estimated that 200,000 could contract cholera as the outbreak spreads across the country.

 

From UNICEF:

 

UNICEF and partners are responding to a cholera outbreak in six of the country's 10 departments...

 

The disease can kill within hours and can spread rapidly through the overcrowded camps where more than one million people still are housed following the January earthquake. Even outside the camps, sanitation conditions in most of the country are substandard, allowing disease to spread quickly.

 

Nearly half of all children in Haiti still have no access to sanitation facilities and approximately one in five children lack access to a safe drinking water source.

 

UNICEF is on the ground supplying soap, aquatabs and rehydration salts to prevent and treat cholera and is supporting hygiene awareness campaigns to prevent the spread of the disease.

 

Clean the World, a not-for-profit whose mission is to collect and recycle soap and shampoo products discarded by the hospitality industry, distributes these donated products to impoverished people in an effort to prevent hygiene-related illnesses and death. The group has already distributed 100,000 bars of soap and is stepping up efforts to provide more during Haiti’s time of need.

 

Oxfam International is rushing aid in the form of oral rehydration salts, soap, buckets, and aquatabs to the site of a new outbreak in the northern city of Cap Haitien.

 

Other activities of the organization include:

 

* Reinforcement of WASH facilities at all sites (chlorination of water, hygiene promotion, reinforcement/additional installations of sanitation facilities, increased cleaning of sanitation facilities)

 

* Hygiene promotion including trainings, distributions on preparation of oral rehydration salts/homemade rehydration liquids (sugar and salt solutions)

 

* Increased vigilance and training of staff and community members for disease surveillance, cooperation with health partners in sites of intervention

 

* Support to Petite Goave hospital (latrines) for cholera treatment center (CTC)

* 17,775 hygiene kits distributed so far in 47 villages

 

* Training of 88 community leaders in Léogâne on cholera

 

* Installation of messages in the sites to promote the drinking of chlorinated water

 

* Personal hygiene activities in schools and in the neighborhood of the sites where we work.

 

 

Soap and proper sanitation are things many of us take for granted. For Haitians it's a matter of life and death.

 

Can you spare a bar of soap for Haiti?

 

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

 

 

· Help UNICEF fight the spread of cholera in Haiti

 

https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=9001&9001.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=xeisf9zqo1.app227a

 

 

· Donate soap and shampoo to Clean the World

 

http://www.cleantheworld.org/donate-soap-and-shampoo.asp

 

· Donate to Oxfam

 

http://www.cleantheworld.org/donate-soap-and-shampoo.asp

 

RECENT HEADLINES:

 

· Cholera Spreading in Haiti: Death Toll Mounts

 

· Cholera Outbreak Continues to Devastate Haiti

 

 

COMMENTS:

 

Tony l: what we all need to do is to also send bars of soaps to the laboratories that released the cholera outbreak onto the haitian people because they burnt all the GMO stock waiting to be sent out to the innoscent farmers on the dockside,this total disaster of these people was orchestrated by the US government.

 

Jaine N: The poor Haitians! I know from personal experience that little things really can make a difference. I am putting a link on my site to this article http://www.tears2smiles.org.uk which is about the plight of displaced Haitian kids in the Dominican Republic.

ON 16 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

NEWS ON 16 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11767795

16 November 2010 Last updated at 21:08 GMT

 

HAITI OFFICIALS SAY CHOLERA DEATHS NOW ABOVE 1,000 (1,034)

 

More than 1,000 people – 1,034 - have died from cholera in Haiti, as the outbreak spreads there, health officials say.

 

The Haitian health ministry said the number of people who had received hospital treatment for the disease had risen to nearly 16,800.

 

Meanwhile, United Nations peacekeepers have stepped up security after violent protests on Monday left two Haitians dead.

 

At least one of the men was shot dead by the UN peacekeepers.

 

The ministry said the number of dead from cholera up to Sunday was 1,034, which was 117 higher than the last official figure announced two days ago.

 

The number of those who had received hospital treatment had risen by about 2,150 since the previous update.

 

Cholera is now present in all 10 of Haiti's provinces.

 

The ministry said the worst-affected area remains the central province of Artibonite, where at least 629 people have died.

 

In PORT-AU-PRINCE - which was badly damaged by the earthquake in January - 38 deaths have been recorded, most of them in the slum district of Cite Soleil.

 

Some of the demonstrators accused peacekeepers from NEPAL of introducing cholera to Haiti for the first time in a century.

 

A spokesman for the Nepalese army, Ramindra Chhettri, told AFP: "We are concerned. Our positions are being reinforced and Haitian police are helping the peacekeepers to protect themselves from attack."

 

The UN said one man was shot dead by peacekeepers in Haiti's second largest city, Cap Haitien, after he fired at a soldier.

 

But the AFP news agency quoted a local official as saying the young man had been shot in the back and the protesters had been armed with stones.

 

Another young man was killed by gunfire on a street in Cap Haitien during the clashes, police said. A number of locals and UN peacekeepers were injured in the clashes.

 

As well as calling for UN peacekeepers to leave Haiti, the demonstrators accused the government of leaving the people to die.

 

The UN says it has found no evidence to justify the accusation against the Nepalese troops, but the cholera strain matches a South Asian one. The Nepalese army said tests had proved that the allegation regarding its personnel was false.

 

INCREASE EXPECTED

 

The anger directed at UN peacekeepers was such that it required Haitian police to offer the UN troops protection, a police director in Cap Haitien told Reuters news agency.

 

"You cannot imagine how difficult it is," Joany Caneus said.

 

"We don't only have to protect the population, we have to protect UN troops."

 

The UN blamed the violence on political agitators it said were determined to disrupt presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 28 November.

 

In a statement, it urged the Haitian population "not to allow itself to be manipulated by the enemies of stability and democracy".

 

CHOLERA

 

• Intestinal infection caused by bacteria transmitted through contaminated water or food

• Source of contamination usually faeces of infected people

• Causes diarrhoea, vomiting, severe dehydration; can kill quickly

 

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah)

 

 

• The mission consists of 11,848 military and police personnel from 57 countries

• Its original mandate to restore and secure stability was extended after January's earthquake to support reconstruction and recovery

• Almost 100 peacekeepers were killed by the earthquake - the biggest single loss of life in UN peacekeeping history

• The cost of the mission for the six months to the end of December 2010 is $380m (£237m)

 

Source: Minustah

 

 

Danish DR1 + TV2 News: CHOLERA STRENGTHENS SUPERSTITION IN HAITI

 

Superstition has made the work in connection with the containment of the cholera epidemic in HAITI more difficult for the authorities as well as for the many aid agencies.

 

Almost half of Haiti's population practises voodoo.

 

Many Haitians believe that the cholera epidemic is caused by evil spirits having poisoned the water.

 

Others are convinced that UN's peacekeepers from NEPAL have brought the disease to the earthquake-stricken country.

 

 

Swedish SVT: CLASHES IN HAITI AFTER CHOLERA RUMOUR German ZDFtext: 2 DEATHS IN CONNECTION WITH PROTESTS AGAINST UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPERS

 

Angry and upset Haitians accuse the UN peacekeepers of being the cause of the fatal cholera epidemic.

 

At least 2 HAITIANS have been KILLED and 14 INJURED of which 6 UN PEACEKEEPERS in clashes in HAITI.

 

According to rumours the bacteria was brought to Haiti by UN peacekeepers from Nepal and spread from their latrines out into a river. UN repudiates the accusation.

 

The cholera epidemic has spread to Haiti's 10 districts and costs more than 50 new lives every day.

 

The epidemic has KILLED a TOTAL of more than 1,000 HAITIANS and INFECTED MORE THAN 15,000. 16.800 have been hospitalized after having been infected.

 

 

Swedish SVT: SWEDEN'S CONSUL GENERAL IN HAITI, GILBERT FOUCHARD CONFIRMS THAT THE CHOLERA INFECTION HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO HAITI BY UN PEACEKEEPERS FROM NEPAL

 

This confirmation was given to SVT RAPPORT. Fouchard refers to the HARVARD UNIVERSITY in the USA which has come to this conclusion. Even Sweden's ambassador to Haiti said so. In an interview with the paper "Svenska Dagbladet" Hammar said that a diplomatic source confirmed this information.

 

 

German ARDtext: MORE THAN 1,000 DEATHS IN HAITI / DEATH TOLL RISES FURTHER / UN PEACEKEEPERS SHOOT PROTESTERS

 

So far 1,034 have died according to official information. 16,800 have been treated due to the cholera infection.

 

UN confirms that UN peacekeepers had shot a man in connection with a demonstration in Northern Haiti. It was a case of self-defense. It is not clear how a second man died.

 

Thousands of Haitians had protested against the Haitian government’s crisis management of the epidemic.

 

They accused the UN peacekeepers from NEPAL of having brought cholera into HAITI.

NEWS ON 17 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

NEWS ON 17 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11772283

17 November 2010 Last updated at 11:44 GMT

 

UN APPEALS FOR CALM AFTER CHOLERA RIOTS IN HAITI

 

The UN has said attacks on relief workers battling the cholera outbreak in Haiti are seriously hampering the international response to the problem.

 

Aid flights had been cancelled, water purification and training projects curtailed, while food had been looted or burnt at a warehouse, it added.

 

UN troops have been blamed for bringing the disease into the country. So far, more than 1,000 people have died.

 

Earlier, the Dominican Republic said it had detected its first case of cholera.

 

Health Minister Bautista Rojas said the patient was a Haitian migrant who had returned from his homeland to the eastern Dominican Republic.

 

The Dominican authorities have stepped up border controls and health checks to try to stop the disease from spreading.

 

'Politically motivated'

 

On Tuesday, the UN mission in Haiti (Minustah) appealed for an end to violent demonstrations in the cities of Cap-Haitien and Hinche, which it said had seriously hampered its response to the outbreak.

 

On Monday, armed demonstrators also opened fire on peacekeepers at Quartier Morin in the Nord Department, a UN statement said.

 

At least two protesters were killed, including one hit by a bullet fired by a peacekeeper in Quartier Morin. Six UN personnel were injured in Hinche.

 

The protests continued on Tuesday in Cap-Haitien, with locals erecting barricades, throwing rocks at UN vehicles, and setting fire to a police station.

 

The UN said it was forced to cancel flights carrying soap, medical supplies and personnel to the north, where the outbreak is centred.

 

Demonstrators also looted and burnt a World Food Programme warehouse, destroying 500 tonnes of food aid, and other humanitarian organisations in the area had suspended projects, it added.

 

The violent demonstrations broke out after people started blaming UN peacekeepers from Nepal - where cholera is endemic - for introducing the disease, which officials said had killed 1,034 people and infected more than 16,700 others as of Sunday.

 

The UN said tests at the base used by the peacekeepers had all proved negative, and that the violence was instead intended to disrupt elections scheduled for 28 November.

 

"The way the events unfolded suggests that these incidents were politically motivated, aimed at creating a climate of insecurity on the eve of elections."

 

"Minustah calls the people to remain vigilant and not be manipulated by enemies of stability and democracy in the country."

 

The BBC's international development correspondent, Mark Doyle, says the UN force is unpopular because it is widely seen as the public face of the Haitian government.

 

Haiti's President, Rene Preval, also appealed for calm on Tuesday, saying the demonstrations were keeping people from getting treatment.

 

"Disorder and instability have never brought solutions to a country going through hard times," he said in a national address.

 

"You must be even more watchful of those who exploit the country's misfortunes for their own benefit."

 

"Gunshots, throwing bottles, barricades of burning tires will not help us eradicate cholera bacteria. On the contrary, it will prevent the sick from receiving care and to deliver medicine where it is needed."

 

The aid group, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned that its facilities are already overrun and that it will not have the capacity to treat the growing numbers of patients in the coming days.

 

Cholera is caused by bacteria transmitted through contaminated water or food. It causes diarrhoea and vomiting leading to severe dehydration, and can kill quickly if not treated through rehydration and antibiotics.

 

The Caribbean country is still reeling from January's earthquake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced about 1.3 million.

 

•The mission consists of 11,848 military and police personnel from 57 countries

•Its original mandate to restore and secure stability was extended after January's earthquake to support reconstruction and recovery

•Almost 100 peacekeepers were killed by the earthquake - the biggest single loss of life in UN peacekeeping history

•The cost of the mission for the six months to the end of December 2010 is $380m (£237m)

Source: Minustah

 

Mark Doyle BBC international development correspondent

________________________________________

 

The United Nations co-ordinates aid in Haiti, so the anti-UN demonstrations could be seen as Haitians biting the hand that feeds them.

 

But many Haitians say they are not getting any help from the UN. And quite apart from the controversy over how the cholera outbreak arrived in the country, the UN "stabilisation force" is unpopular because it is widely seen as the public face of the Haitian government. That government is perceived to have done little to help the population since January's devastating earthquake. On a wider level, the UN force is seen by many Haitians as a foreign occupation force, little different from previous operations by the US military.

 

Haiti has a long history of being either shunned or exploited by the outside world. For many ordinary Haitians the UN - even though it conducts humanitarian operations - is seen as representing that malevolent outside world.

 

 

 

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/haiti-needs-soap.html

 

HAITI NEEDS SOAP!

posted by Melissa Breyer Nov 16, 2010 9:01 am

 

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/haiti-needs-soap.html#ixzz15Ylb9Xd6

 

The solution is as simple as a bar of soap. As the situation in Haiti goes from bleak to bleaker, the recent cholera outbreak is quickly spreading through the country–and the easiest fix is out of reach for many. The Haitian health ministry is reporting an estimated 917 deaths and 14,600 hospitalizations since the cholera outbreak was confirmed in late October–though that number only accounts for people who have made it to clinics, the actual number is expected to be much higher.

 

Amid the squalid slums, hillside shanties and tent towns for displaced persons, the most tragic plot line of this story may simply be that Haitians need soap, yet bars of ordinary hand soap are few and far between. Cholera is spread by contaminated food and water, and a hearty hand-washing after using the toilet is the number one way to avoid the infection.

 

A bar of soap in Haiti costs about 50 cents, but many Haitians cannot afford it.

More than half of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day. More pressing in the minds of many is filling an empty stomach.

 

Experts at the Pan American Health Organization forecast 200,000 Haitians will show signs of the disease, while it is possible a million will be infected, but remain asymptomatic carriers still capable of spreading the potentially deadly bacteria. Although there are plans for water trucks, chlorination, new wells and water distribution points–the situation needs more immediate attention and soap is a quick fix.

 

UNICEF brought 100,000 pieces of soap in 500 of the country’s orphanages. Along the Artibonite River valley, the group distributed 82,000 bars. They will be heading into 5,000 schools in coming weeks.

 

I love the work of the awesome group, Clean the World, which collects barely-used soap from hotels in North America then recycles and redirects them to where they can be put to good use. So far they have delivered 100,000 bars of soap to Haiti, and promise 200,000 more soaps by the end of the month.

 

If YOU have soap you would like to donate, YOU can ship it to the Clean the World Recycling Operations Center in Orlando:

 

Clean The World

8026 Sunport Drive, Ste 306

Orlando, FL. 32809

USA

 

And after you’ve sent some soap to Haiti, see how washing your hands can make a small difference in your own life: The Single Best Way to Prevent Illness

 

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/haiti-needs-soap.html#ixzz15Ylq0hDy

 

 

 

Swedish SVT: HAITI CHOLERA HAS REACHED FLORIDA - AND ALSO SPREAD TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

 

A woman in Florida, USA who visited relatives in Haiti recently was infected there according to local US media. She is the first confirmed cholera case with a connection to Haiti.

 

The relatives of the woman live in the Arbonite Valley where the cholera outbreak started.

 

Several cases are being tested. Around 240,000 persons in Florida have been born in Haiti.

 

The cholera epidemic has spread to Haiti's neigbour, the Dominican Republic.

NEWS ON 18 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

NEWS ON 18 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

 

Swedish SVT: CLASHES IN HAITI CAUSED BY THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC

 

The clashes in Haiti have spread to the capital, Port-au-Prince according to AFP. Hundreds of Haitians are throwing stones at UN peacekeepers.

 

A man has been shot dead in Cap Haitien when demonstrators were in a clash with UN peacekeepers.

 

11 missionaries were attacked when fleeing the city in a bus. "We are fine", said one of the members of the group to CNN.

 

The cholera epidemic has so far cost more than 1,100 human lives and more than 18,000 have been hospitalized..

NEWS ON 20 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

NEWS ON 20 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO HAITI

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11802488

20 November 2010 Last updated at 05:26 GMT

 

HAITI CHOLERA OUTBREAK RESPONSE 'INADEQUATE', says MSF

 

The response to a CHOLERA outbreak in Haiti that has KILLED nearly 1,200 PEOPLE has been "inadequate", a major medical charity says.

 

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said despite the HUGE AID AGENCY PRESENCE IN HAITI, urgent needs were not being met.

 

It called for swift action to build latrines, provide safe water supplies, remove bodies and reassure frightened people that the disease is treatable.

 

The UN has called for an end to the riots which have followed the outbreak.

 

Edmond Mulet, the head of the UN mission in Haiti, said violent protests by people who blame peacekeepers for the spread of the disease were wasting time and costing lives.

 

The cholera outbreak began in Haiti last month; on Friday another 76 deaths were reported, bringing the total to 1,186, the health ministry said.

 

MSF's chief in Haiti, Stefano Zannini, said the charity had treated more than 16,500 people but that there had been "no real and efficient response from other organisations".

 

"This is alarming in the sense that we haven't reached the peak yet, that might take some time, and so the number of patients might still go up while we still don't see actions on behalf of other people," he said.

 

'Desperate need'

 

In a statement, Mr Zannini said more help was urgently needed to treat the sick and implement preventative measures.

 

"There is no time left for meetings and debate - the time for action is now," he said.

 

Cholera was previously unknown in Haiti, so MSF said much work had to be done to reassure the population, particularly of the low risk and positive benefits of having treatment centres close to areas where people live.

 

Chlorinated water, soap, latrines and suitable waste disposal sites were also URGENTLY NEEDED, it said.

 

Other aid groups have criticised the SLOW PACE OF INTERNATIONAL DONATIONS in response to the crisis.

 

Imogen Wall, a spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told Reuters that the UN had only received $5m (£3m) of the $164m it had appealed for a week ago to fight the epidemic.

 

But the UN agencies have also complained that their work has been hindered in recent days by protests and riots by people angry about the epidemic.

 

On Thursday police fired tear gas as demonstrators set up barricades and threw rocks at UN vehicles. Clashes on Monday in the north left two people dead.

 

"If this situation continues, more and more patients in desperate need of care are likely to die and more and more Haitians awaiting access to preventive care may be overtaken by the epidemic," said Mr Mulet.

 

AID SUSPENDED

 

Some Haitians blame UN peacekeepers from Nepal - where cholera is endemic - for bringing the disease to the country.

 

OXFAM says the violence has prevented it from carrying out relief work in the Cap-Haitien area, which has the highest fatality rate in the country.

 

The charity said it had been forced to stop distributing soap, water tablets and rehydration salts, and to suspend its public information campaign about good hygiene.

 

UN officials argue that the violence is being encouraged by forces that want to disrupt the presidential election, due on 28 November.

 

Cholera - a water-borne disease - is present in all 10 of Haiti's regions and has affected more than 20,000 people.

 

The first cases were reported near the Artibonite River north of Port-au-Prince, but medical experts have warned future outbreaks could be caused by contaminated food.

 

The disease causes diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to severe dehydration. It can kill quickly, but is treated easily through rehydration and antibiotics.

NEWS ON 21 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

NEWS ON 21 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11806520

 

HAITI's SECOND CITY CAP HAITIEN HIT BY CHOLERA

 

21 November 2010 Last updated at 14:07 GMT

 

Report by Wendy Urquhart:

 

Aid agencies in Haiti say an outbreak of cholera has now spread to all parts of the country's second city.

 

So far it has claimed nearly 1,200 lives - and medical teams are struggling to stop it spreading further.

We Donated to Haiti Relief and We're Angry / Petition

 

http://www.change.org/disasteraccountability/petitions/view/we_donated_to_haiti_relief_and_were_angry

 

We Donated to Haiti Relief and We're Angry

 

Targeting: Gail J. McGovern (President and CEO, American Red Cross), Neal Keny-Guyer (CEO, Mercy Corps), Raymond C. Offenheiser (President, Oxfam America)

 

Started by: DISASTER ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT

 

The leadership of the major disaster relief and aid organizations operating in Haiti allowed cholera to become a threat because they did not do their jobs.

 

The international community and Haitian government failed to sufficiently invest in clean water and sanitation after the quake. Now, living conditions are so deplorable and infrastructure so poor, the situation is ripe for a cholera epidemic. The cholera death toll is expected to soar into the thousands.

 

Cholera is caused by contamination of water or food with human feces containing the V. cholerae bacterium. Around 90% of cases produce mild or moderate diarrhea and dehydration. But among the severe cases, left untreated, as many as one out of every two people will die - some in a matter of hours. The World Health Organization reported that cholera outbreaks are "closely linked to inadequate environmental management" and that "typical at-risk areas include peri-urban slums, where basic infrastructure is not available, as well as camps for internally displaced people or refugees, where minimum requirements of clean water and sanitation are not met." See the WHO's fact sheet - http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en

 

As many as 1.5 million people in Haiti are living in camps like these that were set up by relief and aid organizations and the Haitian government. At the very least, the fact that these organizations' leadership did not see cholera coming or failed to thwart it demonstrates a Katrina-esque failure of initiative.

 

Each of these organizations stated that they worked on Water and Sanitation after the Haiti earthquake. As of July 2010 - six months after the Haiti earthquake, American Red Cross raised $464 million and spent $117 million; Catholic Relief Services raised $140.8 million and spent $30.6 million; Oxfam America raised $29 million and spent $11 million; Salvation Army raised $20.5 million and spent $6.8 million; Food for the Poor raised $20.5 million and spent $10.7 million; Mercy Corps raised $14.9 million and spent almost $2.9 million; International Medical Corps raised $13 million and spent $4.5 million. World Vision raised $192 million worldwide and spent $56 million worldwide and CARE raised $36.5 million worldwide and spent $9.6 million worldwide.

 

See the Chronicle of Philanthropy's accounting of how much was raised and how much was spent: http://philanthropy.com/article/How-Charities-Are-Helping/66243/

 

It is the individual aid workers on the ground that deserve our gratitude for doing the back-breaking work to help those in need. Meanwhile, the headquarters of these major relief/aid organizations raised billions of dollars using emotional, heart-wrenching and urgent appeals, prioritized how they spent that money, and apparently chose to spend less than half. Potentially billions of post-earthquake relief dollars, intended for the Haitian people, are just sitting in U.S. and foreign banks.

 

The question remains: Why are conditions so poor, after all that has been donated, that cholera is still such a threat?

 

If you donated, or you are a U.S. taxpayer and your tax dollars supported Haiti relief efforts, join with us to demand more transparency and public accountability in the Haiti relief efforts.

 

These stories by the BBC, CBS News, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal are also particularly compelling.

 

Petition Text

 

The Cholera Epidemic In Haiti Should Not Be Happening

 

Dear Executives of Major Aid/Relief Organizations:

 

We Donated and We're Angry.

 

Earthquake survivors in Haiti should not be dying from cholera.

 

The survivors of the devastating January '10 earthquake in Haiti should be the beneficiaries of billions of disaster relief dollars. That was our intention when we donated. Billions of dollars should have been able to improve conditions enough to provide clean water and sanitation services. That was our intention when we donated.

 

Your organization raised over one million dollars for Haiti relief. Some relief/aid organizations raised nearly half a billion dollars.

 

• We want a detailed, public accounting of how you spent the money you raised.

 

• We want more transparency.

 

• We want regular, factual information about what large relief organizations are doing, how much they're spending, and where they're operating. We want specifics - not just aggregate figures, anecdotes, blog stories, and Facebook and Twitter updates.

 

We'd like to know why conditions are so poor that cholera is such a threat, despite all that has been donated, 10 months after the earthquake.

 

We donated and we're angry.[Your name]

NEWS ON 24 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

NEWS ON 24 NOVEMBER 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11826323

24 November 2010 Last updated at 02:27 GMT

 

HAITI CHOLERA SPREADING FASTER THAN PREDICTED, UN SAYS

 

The cholera epidemic in Haiti is spreading twice as fast as had been estimated and is likely to result in hundreds of thousands of cases in the coming months, the UN says.

 

The UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for Haiti, Nigel Fisher, said aid agencies would have to "ratchet up" their response and send more medical staff.

 

The Haitian government says 1415 PEOPLE ARE CONFIRMED TO HAVE DIED.

 

The epidemic has complicated preparations for elections next Sunday.

 

Mr Fisher said more than 200,000 cases of infection could be recorded in the first three months instead of six months as first estimated.

 

"This epidemic is moving faster and we are in unknown territory in Haiti just because this is moving so fast. There is no immunity to it", he said.

 

Mr Fisher added that the Haitian government would have to increase pressure on local authorities to find places for more treatment centres and to dispose of bodies.

 

There has been some opposition to the placing of treatment centres from residents who fear they could bring the infection into their neighbourhoods.

The UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, who is visiting Haiti, told the BBC there was an urgent need to train Haitian health workers, who have no previous experience of dealing with cholera.

 

"We need to get the message out there to the people that this is something that can be dealt with. We need to make sure they know about hand-washing and proper sanitation, and we need to get supplies in", she said.

 

Election challenge

 

Campaigning is meanwhile in full swing for Sunday's elections, when Haitians will elect a new president and legislative members.

 

Some human rights groups and four of the 19 presidential candidates have called for the elections to be postponed because of the cholera epidemic.

 

But the UN mission in Haiti, Minustah, says the conditions for a successful vote are good.

 

"The government and the vast majority of candidates are really determined that these elections be held as planned," said the head of Minustah, Edmond Mulet.

 

"As in the past we might see some intimidation or burning of ballots or polling stations, but we are prepared on the security side to face those challenges".

There have been outbreaks of violence between rival political factions in the run-up to the vote.

 

On Tuesday two people were shot dead in a clash between supporters of two candidates in the town of Beaumont in south-western Haiti.

 

Last week there was also rioting directed against UN peacekeepers from Nepal, who some Haitians have accused of bringing cholera into the country.

The UN says there is no evidence to support the accusation.

 

Sunday's elections are seen as a crucial step towards giving Haiti a stable government that can lead recovery efforts after January's massive earthquake, which killed about 230,000 people and shattered the capital, Port-au-Prince.

 

Some 19 candidates are vying to succeed current president, Rene Preval and it is likely that the election will go to a second round run-off on 16 January.

Most candidates have insisted that the elections, which will also choose 99 deputies and 10 senators, should go ahead as planned.

 

 

SVT on 22.11.10: 4 PEOPLE INFECTED BY CHOLERA IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (OR MAYBE DEAD?)

 

 

Danish DR1: 200,000 CASES OF CHOLERA IN HAITI

 

According to Jon Kim Andrus – Deputy Director of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) – Haiti’s Health Ministry has recorded 56,901 cases of cholera.

 

The infected are treated in hospitals and as out-patients.

 

1,415 have DIED due to the cholera epidemic.

 

Cholera is found in 8 of Haiti’s 10 provinces / regions.

 

 

German ARDtext: HAITI’S NUMBER OF CHOLERA DEATHS RISES TO MORE THAN 1,400

 

According to Fisher, UN coordinator for humanitarian assistance, probably 2,000 have already died of cholera.

 

According to the government more than 60,000 Haitians have been infected since mid-October. About 25,000 of them are still being treated.

after-the-earthquake-looming-aids-crisis-in-haiti/full/

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-11-29/after-the-earthquake-looming-aids-crisis-in-haiti/full/

 

As activists and celebrities get ready to mark World AIDS Day tomorrow, Lisa Armstrong reports from Haiti, and discovers a health disaster in the making.

 

Nadine and her two young children live in a small tent in Port au Prince, on the plot where their house stood before the earthquake. They don’t have much—the tent is surrounded by rubble and anchored with cracked cement blocks—but the inside is neat. Nadine has set up a twin bed and a single mattress, an old television and a fan. The children have adopted two cats, one white, one black. And on afternoons, Nadine’s daughter and her friends sit on the floor of the tent and play cards.

 

Nadine and her children fled the vast tent city, Champs de Mars, in the fall, after police shot tear gas into the encampment in response to a violent protest. Now, in this little tent, 37-year-old Nadine has tried to create what, in the absence of an actual structure, at least feels like a home for her 7-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son. And while life here is safer and better than it was in the camp, Nadine says that she doesn’t think a new government, or anything else the Haitian people have been promised, will make a difference, particularly for people like her.

 

Nadine is HIV positive, and according to the United Nations, there are as many as 120,000 people like her in Haiti. Many, like Nadine, have been living under tarps and in tents since the January earthquake that devastated the country—conditions that experts warn could lead to a major health disaster.

 

Nadine, who doesn’t want her last name used because the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in Haiti, has to worry more than most when she cannot find food or water, or when the rain drips into her tent at night, soaking her clothes. With her weakened immune system, the drastic drop from the day’s blazing heat to the damp cold at night can make her catch a cold, and then tuberculosis. She has to have clean water as cholera would quickly kill her. And she needs food to take her anti-retroviral drugs to keep full-blown AIDS at bay.

 

After her house collapsed during the January earthquake, Nadine first came to Champs de Mars with her children, hoping to find food and shelter. But she wasn’t lucky enough to get a tent or food distribution cards, and ended up living with five other relatives under a tarp. She and her children often went without food, and the filth, rapes, and other violence in the camp left Nadine with little hope. And fleeing the camp didn’t improve her outlook.

 

“Sometimes I feel depressed and I say, well, why don't I go? Why don't I leave this world?” says Nadine. “There is no hope coming, especially for those people like me living with HIV. I thought that the government could help us, but that’s not what happened.”

 

Haiti used to be a model for combating AIDS. Experts at first thought the epidemic might wipe out a third of the population. But instead the country became a surprising success story: Thanks to significant financial support from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as well as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria prevalence rates fell from 9.4 percent in 1993 to 2.2 percent in 2008.

 

January’s earthquake, however, destroyed many health facilities, and experts are afraid that with the high rates of rape, prostitution, and promiscuity in the camps, there will be an explosive increase in the number of new HIV infections.

 

“I think we could well have 200,000 to 300,000 affected by HIV,” says Esther Boucicault, founder of Foundation Esther Boucicault Stanislas, a grassroots HIV/AIDS organization. “Because what can you do in a tent? Nothing. Nothing, no entertainment, nothing. The only thing you can do is sex. So you have sex.”

 

Doctors doing HIV testing at a clinic at one of Haiti’s many tent camps are seeing at least 15 to 20 new cases each day in that one camp alone, says Beatrice Dalencourt Turnier, a social mobilization officer at The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

 

Shortly after the earthquake, Turnier and her team tried to distribute condoms in the camps, but those in charge of the emergency response did not see this as a priority. “Once somebody has access to food, to water, to shelter, the next need is affection and sex,” says Turnier. “But it's very difficult for people that work in an emergency to understand that. When people are giving out food and you're telling them they need to give condoms, it's like ‘Why do you want to bother me with that?’”

 

For those already living with HIV, the immediate challenge after the earthquake was getting access to anti-retroviral drugs. While some of the larger organizations that serve people with HIV were able to resume distribution of the vital drugs in the weeks after the earthquake, many smaller organizations were destroyed, leaving their clients without medication, food, and other services.

 

Nadine was able to get her medication after four days from one of Haiti’s largest HIV/AIDS organizations, but it has been hard for her to take her twice-daily dosage of drugs because she doesn’t want anyone to know she is HIV positive, because of the stigma.

 

“I have to hide myself to take my medication, but finally, when people discover I am taking medicine they ask why. I say I am taking the medicine to have an appetite to eat more,” she says.

 

Nadine discovered she was HIV positive almost eight years ago, when she was pregnant with her daughter. While her husband initially stayed with her after the diagnosis, he left Nadine and their children three years ago. She has never had steady work, in part because of the HIV, and now works as a vendor, selling food with her cousin in downtown Port au Prince to earn a little money. However, her family does not know that she is HIV positive, and on the days when she is sick and cannot work, her aunt calls her lazy, and refuses to give her leftover food so that she and her children can eat.

 

“Some organizations before the quake used to give us money to pay for school for the kids. And also they used to give us some food,” says Nadine. “After the quake they stopped. They say they don’t have money anymore. It’s not good because they know we are not working; that we need money; that we need food. I don’t have money for school fees, so my children cannot go to school.”

 

The problem is a simple lack of funding. The smaller organizations often do not have the connection to international aid sources that some of the larger organizations have.

 

Boucicault, the AIDS activist who is HIV positive herself, hopes that whoever is elected as the new president of Haiti will do a better job of providing for those living with HIV. If international aid stops flowing, she says, “all the people in Haiti living with HIV will die, because the government has never taken care of them.”

Nadine for her part is gathering the necessary paperwork to immigrate to New York, where her grandmother lives. She knows that it will be difficult, but it is her only source of hope.

 

“President Obama said that… even though you have HIV you would be able to have your residence in the States,” says Nadine. “In the meantime, I accept the way life is, and my kids also. We have to accept life the way it is.”

This reporting project was supported with a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

 

Lisa Armstrong covers humanitarian issues around the world. She has written for magazines, newspapers and organizations including The Washington Post, National Geographic, Parade, USA Weekend, O Magazine, Unicef and the World Bank.

NEWS ON HAITI ON 3 DECEMBER 2010

 

NEWS ON HAITI ON 3 DECEMBER 2010

 

Swedish SVT: HAITI: AT LEAST 12 MURDERS AFTER ALLEGED MAGIC

 

Gangs in the south-western Haiti have killed at least 12 people in the last couple of days. According to the police, the victims were accused of having carried/brought cholera to a region that had not been affected before and of having tried to spread the infection via magic.

 

The cholera continues to spread, but is less mortal than before.

 

Earlier 9% of the infected died compared to 2.3% now.

 

The figures are stated by PAHO - the Pan-American Health Organization - the Latin-American branch of WHO.

 

So far 1817 died. 80,860 cases have been reported. 36,000 of these required treatment at a hospital.

 

PAHO estimates that 400,000 will be infected in the the coming 12 months.

 

 

Swedish SVT: UN THREATENS TO STOP ITS HAITI SUPPORT

 

UN will withdraw its support if Haiti's government does not respect the result of the election.

 

"The international community will witdraw its HAITI support, and Haiti will no longer be able to take advantage of international resources if the result of the election is not respected", said Edmond Mullet, who is in charge of the UN efforts.

 

12 of 18 candidates running demanded that the result of the election should be declared null and void / invalid after a campaign in favour of the candidate from the ruling party, Jude Celestin.

Article about HAITI's WOMAN

 

SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST HAITI's WOMEN

 

posted by: Natasha N.

 

NOTE: In the aftermath of the earthquake, women in Haiti have faced a formidable outbreak of sexual violence.

 

Guest blogger Liesl Gerntholtz, Researcher at Human Rights Watch, interviewed a young rape survivor as part of an investigation into sexual and other violence against women in the country. This is part three of a series of guest posts.

 

Driving through Port-au-Prince's Parc Jean Marie Vincent camp, the first thing I notice is how massive and congested it is. After that, the smell and the heat hit me. I had come to the camp to interview a young rape survivor, as part of a Human Rights Watch mission to Haiti to investigate sexual and other violence against women in the continuing aftermath of the earthquake.

 

Sexual violence often increases in emergencies, when normal structures have broken down and women struggle to meet basic needs for food, water, shelter and hygiene.

 

A Rape Victim's StoryI met "Gentile" in an empty tent, giving us at least a little privacy. We sat in the oppressive heat, and she quietly described how, a few nights earlier, she had been grabbed by five men and taken into a nearby house. There she was raped, forced to perform oral sex, and brutally beaten. When she finally managed to escape, the men chased her and beat her in the street, where a man finally rescued her and took her to his home. Later that morning, she returned to the streets, as she literally has nowhere else to go.

 

Gentile, whose name I have changed for her protection, was lucky, if that is the right word, to meet up with a human rights advocate in the camp. He took her to a hospital, where she received some medical treatment. She was not sure what medication she had been given, as the doctor who helped her did not speak Creole and there was not one to translate what he was saying. As Gentile told me, "I really need somebody to be with me in this suffering… I am not sleeping… I feel weak."

 

Women's Safety Continues to be Compromised

 

During our mission, we were in 15 of the largest camps for displaced Haitians, and we documented a number of gang rapes in Parc Jean Marie Vincent camp alone. The camps are unsafe places, and many women live with strangers, having lost contact with family members and friends. Their access to food and water is compromised. They bathe and wash children in public places. There is no separation of facilities for women and men-and no lighting-so these are unsafe after dark.

 

Violence against women was a problem in Haiti long before the earthquake, with rape only recognized as a crime in 2005.

 

However, much can be done to protect women from sexual violence during the reconstruction of Haiti. Aid agencies continue to take steps to address these concerns: highlighting the need for lighting and security in the camps, safe food distribution, private washing facilities and latrines, access to health services for women who are assaulted and raped.

 

The International Violence Against Women Act

 

As the work continues, it is essential to re-build the capacity of local women's organizations that can lead the struggle against violence. Many have lost key activists and other staff members, and the remaining members have personal losses and their offices have been destroyed. Strengthening these groups and individuals will be key to protecting Haitian women and girls during rebuilding.

News on 6.12.10 in relation to HAITI

 

Swedish SVT and Danish DR1: CHOLERA DEATH TOLL IN HAITI PASSES 2,000 - ACCORDING TO HAITI's HEALTH MINISTRY 2,013 HAVE DIED

 

 

The epidemic has infected about 90,000 people.

 

6 weeks after the first cholera case for more than 100 years was recorded in Haiti, data show that the death toll continues to rise at a worrying speed.

 

 

According to figures from the Health Ministry, 88,789 cases of cholera have been recorded and 2,013 have died of cholera in Haiti since the end of October.

 

According to UN experts, the actual death toll can be considerably higher.

News in relation to HAITI on 7.12.10

 

Swedish SVT: HAITI: UN CAMP WAS THE SOURCE OF CHOLERA

 

The devestating cholera epidemic in HAITI started in a camp for UN soldiers from NEPAL. This is the conclusion in a French - not yet public - expert report, so AFP.

 

The suspicion that UN soldiers were the source of the outbreak of cholera that has so far killed more than 2,000 Haitians triggered violent clashes. The suspicion has been confirmed by a Swedish diplomat, but dismissed by the UN.

 

An acknowledged French epidemiologist has found out that the infection spread when faeces (stools) were emptied into the ARTIBONITE river near the UN camp in Mirebalais.

News on 8 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

NEWS on 8 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

Danish TV2 news / Swedish SVT and German ZDFtext: VIOLENCE AND UNREST AFTER HAITI ELECTION RESULTS

 

Haitians demonstrate after the early reports of the results of the presidential election in Haiti. The 70-year-old former first lady and opposition leader MIRLANDE MANIGAT is in the lead with so far 31% of the votes after the first round which took place on 28.11.10. JUDE CELESTIN from the party in power got 22%. According to the electoral council Celestin got 7,000 more votes than the third candidate, popstar MICHEL MARTELLY. This information led to suspicion of election fraud according to AFP. The headquarter of the government party is on fire. A second round is scheduled on 16.01.11.

 

Demonstrators have set up barricades of tyres. Tyres are burning in several quarters in the capital, Port-au-Prince according to AFP reporters / journalists. They also reported episodes of shots. At least one person has been killed. Local radio stations report similar protests in other Haitian towns / cities.

 

 

Swedish SVT: The NEPALESE army dismisses the rumour that Nepalese soldiers were to blame for the spread of cholera.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11950240

8 December 2010 Last updated at 20:10 GMT

 

HAITI RULING PARTY HQ SET ALIGHT BY ELECTION PROTESTERS

 

Demonstrators have set fire to the headquarters of Haiti's ruling party, amid large-scale protests against the results of presidential elections.

 

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Port-au-Prince, accusing the ruling party of rigging the vote in favour of its candidate, Jude Celestin.

 

He finished in second place ahead of pop star Michel Martelly, who was pushed out of the second round run-off.

 

President Rene Preval called for an end to the protests in a national address.

 

Demonstrations erupted in several cities soon after the results were announced on Tuesday night.

 

In Port-au-Prince, supporters of Mr Martelly started fires and set up barricades.

 

Thousands of young people resumed the protests in the capital early on Wednesday in the capital and other cities.

 

Witnesses described flames leaping from the headquarters of the governing Inite (Unite) coalition after it was set alight.

 

Protesters told the Associated Press news agency that security guards had shot demonstrators as they attacked the building, but there were no confirmed reports of injuries.

 

"The people came out to vote for Martelly because [leading candidate Mirlande] Manigat and Celestin are not going to sort anything out. Martelly was ahead and they have stolen the elections," one protester said.

 

The AFP news agency reported that one protester was shot dead and two others were wounded as supports of Mr Martelly and Mr Celestin brawled with each other in the second city, Cap Haitien.

 

Officials have not yet confirmed numbers of casualties.

 

Mr Celestin is regarded as Mr Preval's hand-picked successor, and the incumbent defended the election result in his national radio address.

 

But he urged Mr Celestin and Mr Martelly to ask their supporters to call off the protests.

 

Results 'inconsistent'

 

Most observers say the first round of the voting was grossly mismanaged.

 

Former first lady Mirlande Manigat won 31% of the vote and Mr Celestin 22%. Mr Martelly polled just over 21% - about 6,800 votes short of Mr Celestin.

 

The US embassy in Haiti said on Tuesday it was concerned the results were "inconsistent" with vote counts observed around the country.

 

The close result has led to calls that Mr Martelly also be included in the run-off.

 

Mr Martelly has said he will not accept a place in the run-off if Mr Celestin is present. He has until 10 December to appeal against the result.

 

 

At the scene

 

Tim Mansel BBC News, Port-au-Prince

 

There was sporadic gunfire throughout the night in Port-au-Prince after the election result was announced. As dawn broke, several columns of black smoke were rising into the air from tyres that had been set alight by demonstrators, obscuring views of the city beneath us.

 

The chants of the demonstrators break through sporadically, and there have been several explosions in the last few hours and reports of groups of demonstrators on the streets, armed with sticks and machetes. Some barricades have already been cleared, but others are still being erected.

 

Streets that would normally be full of traffic are empty, as many people have stayed at home. Flights in and out of the airport have been cancelled and the UN has told all its personnel to stay at home.

 

There are further reports of unrest from several other parts of the country.

 

 

From other news sites

 

• Yahoo! UK and Ireland: Four dead as Haiti vote protests turn ugly

 

• Reuters UK: Haiti protesters rampage against election results

 

• CNEWS: Haitians protest election run-off

 

• ONE News: Election run-off protests erupt in Haiti

 

• Irish Times: Haiti election to go to run-off

News on 9 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

News on 9 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

 

Danish DR1: UNREST CLOSED HAITI's AIRPORTS

 

HAITI's airports have been closed after VIOLENT CLASHES that COST 4 HUMAN LIVES. The unrest was caused by dissatisfaction with the results of last month's elections in the Caribbean nation.

 

Officials in the airport in Port-au-Prince say that all airports in HAITI are closed at the same time as THOUSANDS DEMONSTRATE IN TOWNS AND CITIES IN ALL OF HAITI.

 

The airline American Airlines has cancelled its flights to HAITI until the end of Thursday.

 

 

Danish DR1: CHOLERA SPREADING FAST IN HAITI

 

According to American Centre for Disease Control, cholera is spreading fast in HAITI, and the centre recommends a rapid international effort to contain the epidemic.

 

American experts say that cholera is recorded in all parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince where hundred thousands of Haitians are still living in tent camps and huts with poor sanitary conditions after the earthquake in January 2010.

 

The epidemic which started 2 months ago has so far COST 2,120 HUMAN LIVES according to official figures. 91,770 have been INFECTED of which 43,245 have been hospitalized for treatment.

NEWS IN RELATION TO HAITI ON 10.12.10

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO HAITI ON 10.12.10

 

 

Danish DR1: 500,000 HOMELESS HAITIANS HAVE LEFT TENT CAMPS

 

About 500,000 homeless Haitians have left the miserable tent camps that have housed many families made homeless by the powerful earthquake on 12 January 2010.

 

The number of Haitians in the camps reached their peak in the summer of 2010 when more than 1.5 million homeless Haitians lived in the 1,200 camps.

 

Haitians are leaving the camps to look for alternatives to the overcrowded and miserable camps. The long rainy season has made their stay in the camps almost unbearable. But also the fear of the cholera epidemic has made many Haitians look for alternatives.

 

According to the UN, many have returned home!!

 

 

Swedish SVT: NEW COUNTING OF THE VOTES FOR THE 3 LEADING CANDIDATES IN HAITI's ELECTION

 

The votes for the 3 leading candidates in Haiti's election will be counted again after violent clashes caused by the official result which placed the current president's candidate as no. 2 (and in the second round) instead of the popular popsinger Michel Martelly who was placed as no. 3 in the official result.

 

At least 4 died on Wednesday, and the protests continued yesterday.

BBC WORLD NEWS ON THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 10.12.10

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11964180

10 December 2010 Last updated at 06:27 GMT

 

HAITI ORDERS RECOUNT OF DISPUTED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

 

 

Election officials in Haiti say they will review the disputed result of last month's presidential election.

 

There will be an immediate vote recount in the presence of the top three candidates - Mirlande Manigat, Jude Celestin and Michel Martelly - and international observers.

 

The announcement follows violent demonstrations by supporters of Mr Martelly, the third-placed candidate.

 

He alleges the count was rigged to deny him a second-round run-off place.

 

The Provisional Election Council said it had "decided to immediately launch a rapid and exceptional process to verify at the counting centre the tally sheets linked to the 2010 presidential elections".

 

Since the polls on 28 November, more than half of the 19 candidates have called for the result to be annulled.

 

Meanwhile, a second medical study has traced the outbreak of cholera in Haiti - which has killed 2,000 people since October - to UN peacekeepers from South Asia.

 

The research published in the New England Journal of Medicine supports the link, which was reported last month by the US Centers for Disease Control. The UN has denied the claim.

 

Burning barricades

 

Election results announced on Tuesday night gave 31% to the former first lady, Ms Manigat, with the governing party candidate, Mr Celestin, in second place with 22%.

 

Mr Martelly came third with 21%, about 6,800 votes short of Mr Celestin.

 

The strongest protests have come from supporters of pop star Mr Martelly, known to his supporters as "Sweet Micky," who was widely expected to go through to the second round.

 

Violence erupted almost immediately after the results were made public.

 

Thousands of supporters of Mr Martelly took to the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, setting up burning barricades and clashing with UN peacekeepers.

 

On Wednesday, the headquarters of the governing party in Port-au-Prince was set on fire and the international airport was closed because of the unrest.

 

There was also violence in several other cities.

 

Canada on Thursday said it was closing its embassy in Port-au-Prince, due to the protests in the country's capital.

 

Mr Martelly urged his supporters to hold only non-violent protests.

 

He accused the election commission of "plunging the country into crisis with its incorrect results".

 

The outgoing president Rene Preval appealed for calm and defended the result.

Mr Celestin is widely seen as Mr Preval's hand-picked successor.

 

Most observers said the first round of voting was grossly mismanaged, with widespread irregularities.

 

The US embassy said on Tuesday it was concerned the results were "inconsistent" with vote counts around the country.

 

The run-off is due to take place on 16 January.

 

A successful election is seen as crucial to establishing an effective government in Haiti after years of instability.

 

Whoever becomes president will face the task of rebuilding the country after the devastating earthquake that killed around 230,000 people last January, as well as battling a cholera epidemic.

 

Separately, former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is due to visit the country this weekend with the relief organisation Samaritan's Purse, aides of the former vice-president nominee said.

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

Mark Doyle

BBC International development correspondent

 

Most independent observers were sceptical when the government's presidential candidate Jude Celestin came through the first round of voting at the expense of streetwise pop star Michel Martelly.

 

Two days of anti-government protests followed, which led to the closure of the airport and other businesses.

 

On Wednesday the protesters got support from the highly influential US embassy in Port-au-Prince.

 

The results of the first round, the embassy said, were inconsistent with the projections made by respected local and international observers. It was probably this pressure from the US embassy which led the electoral commission to order a recount.

 

What happens next is far from clear. One option, depending on the result of the recount, is that first round may turn out to have been so close that not two but three candidates may stand in the decisive second round runoff.

News in relation to HAITI on 11.12.10

 

Swedish SVT: HAITI's PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DO NOT WANT THE VOTES TO BE RECOUNTED

 

Mirlande Manigat who got most of the votes in the first round of the presidential election in Haiti no longer wants the votes to be recounted. The electoral council proposed that the votes should be recounted.

 

As the proposal for recounting the votes did not contain any details as to how to recount the votes or which role the candidates should play she does not want to be involved.

 

Nor does the popsinger Michel Martelly who was officially declared as the third most popular candidate want the votes to be recounted. He is convinced that President Préval and his candidate Jude Celestin manipulated the election.

News on 17 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

News on 17 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

 

Danish TV2 News, Live and German ZDFtext: UN WILL INVESTIGATE ORIGIN OF CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN HAITI

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has set up a committee which is to investigate the reason for the cholera outbreak in HAITI and its origin.

 

So far about 2,000 (TV2 News mentioned: 2,400) Haitians died of cholera. Thousands are affected.

 

In November 2010 rumours of UN soldiers having brought the cholera to HAITI sparked violent clashes. Official investigations have so far not found the origin of the cholera.

NEWS IN RELATION TO HAITI ON 17 AND 18 DECEMBER 2010

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO HAITI ON 17 AND 18 DECEMBER 2010

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12021400

17 December 2010 Last updated at 18:57 GMT

 

Ki-Moon: "We want to make the best effort to get to the bottom of this and find answers that the people of Haiti deserve"

 

The United Nations has set up an independent panel to investigate the source of cholera in Haiti.

 

 

The move comes after accusations that UN peacekeepers from South Asia introduced the disease to the poverty-stricken country.

 

The UN has previously denied any connection.

 

More than 2,000 people have died and thousands more have been infected by cholera in Haiti since the outbreak began in October.

 

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the scientific panel was necessary to "find answers that the people of Haiti deserve".

 

"There are several theories of the origins of the cholera outbreak in Haiti - not all reports have reached the same conclusion," he said at a news conference on Friday.

 

"There remain fair questions and legitimate concerns which demand the best answers that science can provide," he added.

 

He said the panel would be "completely independent" and have full access to UN premises and personnel.

 

'South Asia strain'

 

NEPALESE peacekeepers became the object of local suspicion partly because cholera is very rare in Haiti but endemic in Nepal.

 

In November, the US Center for Disease Control found that the cholera strain in Haiti most closely resembled a South Asian strain.

 

A leaked study by epidemiologist Renaud Piarroux on behalf of the French and Haitian governments also suggested the strain had been imported from South Asia.

 

Sources who saw the report said it had evidence the outbreak was caused by river contamination by Nepalese troops.

 

But Mr Ban said that initial reports by the UN suggested that peacekeepers from Nepal were not responsible.

 

The Nepalese army denies the accusation, but said earlier this month that soldiers were not tested for cholera before they went.

 

The UN has said that health officials now estimated that 650,000 people in Haiti could become infected with cholera over the next six months.

 

Nearly 100,000 people in the country have already contracted the disease.

 

From other news sites

 

 

• France24: HAITI: UN launches inquiry into Haiti cholera epidemic 7 hrs ago

• Al Jazeera: UN to probe Haiti cholera outbreak 17 hrs ago

• Irish Times: UN to investigate Haiti cholera 21 hrs ago

• CNBC: UN panel to investigate Haiti cholera outbreak 21 hrs ago

• Yahoo!: U.N. chief launches probe of Haiti cholera epidemic 22 hrs ago

News on 22 + 23 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

News on 22 + 23 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

 

German ZDFtext and Swedish SVT: 2,600 HAITIANS HAVE SO FAR DIED DUE TO CHOLERA IN HAITI SINCE OCTOBER AND MORE THAN 121,000 HAVE BEEN TREATED

 

A total of 2,591 Haitians have died due to the cholera outbreak. 121,518 have been treated for cholera according to the authorities. AFP reports that the cholera infection probably has come from abroad. Recently 50 died each day due to cholera compared to between 60 and 80 each day in November. The cholera outbreak caused protests against UN soldiers because they might have brought the disease to Haiti. The United Nations investigates the source of the cholera outbreak.

 

 

Danish DR1 + TV2 news and Swedish SVT: 40 people lynched following the cholera epidemic in HAITI

 

Haitian gangs lynched at least 40 people in 2 weeks after an election characterized by irregularities and after the cholera outbreak. The musician Michel Martelly has allegedly been beaten by Jude Celestin - the current president Préval's candidate - after election fraud. Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestin are the candidates in the second round of the election.

News on 28 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

News on 28 December 2010 in relation to HAITI

 

The death toll in HAITI has risen to more than 2,700 - German ZDFtext

 

In the 10 weeks since the cholera outbreak, more than 2,700 Haitians have died, and almost 130,000 people were infected according to Haiti's Health Ministry. 40 people die each day due to cholera. International health experts think that up to 400,000 people could be infected in the coming 12 months.

 

HAITI is still suffering from the consequences of the earthquake on 12.1.10. when at least 250,000 died and 1.5 million Haitians were made homeless.

 

On 27.12.10 I posted REVIEW 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS.

 

Link: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74684