Aid for Haiti

[nancyk58]

News on 14.2.11 in relation to HAITI

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12458930

 

14 February 2011 Last updated at 18:12

 

HAITI CHOLERA CHALLENGE 'FAILED' BY AGENCIES

By Mark Doyle

 

BBC International Development Correspondent

 

The cholera outbreak that has killed 3,600 people in Haiti since October 2010 has not been suppressed - despite billions of dollars in promised aid, according to a report by Haitian and US researchers.

 

The report says more than a third of people made homeless by the massive earthquake in January 2010, and now living in tents, still do not have access to clean water, and a quarter still do not have a toilet.

 

This is despite highly-publicised promises of help by aid agencies and foreign governments.

 

Cholera is spread through contact with human faeces - so lack of washing and toilet facilities is a direct cause of death.

 

The study says the epidemic has not yet peaked, so unless the situation is addressed there will be more unnecessary deaths.

 

The report, by New York's City University, is based on a survey by Haitian sociologists. It says aid agencies have failed to address the real causes of the cholera outbreak - including widespread poverty and unemployment that was endemic before last January's earthquake.

 

"Much more progress needs to be made", says the enquiry; "not only in aid delivery but in coordination".

 

'Missed opportunity'

 

The Haitian government says the earthquake killed over 230,000 people. It made around two million people homeless.

 

The new study says the international community and the Haitian government failed to capitalise on the movement of people out of the capital Port au Prince in the immediate aftermath of the quake.

 

It says there was an opportunity at that time to undo the mistakes of the past including "failed neo liberal development policies that swelled the population of shanty towns of the capital".

 

This was a reference to cutting import taxes on rice in the 1980s. This policy led to a flooding of the local market by US rice, a decline in local rice production, and mass rural-urban migration.

 

Another "neo liberal policy" was the encouraging of low-wage factory jobs in the capital. This also served as a magnet to rural people.

 

Aid agencies and the Haitian government should have worked outside Port au Prince, the report says, and "seized the moment to initiate job creation to rebuild rural Haiti's delapidated infrastructure".

 

Dire situation

 

"Instead, all the food-for-work and cash-for-work, not to mention aid distribution, was centred in Port au Prince. Predictably… the camps swelled to an estimated 1.7 million people at their peak, making the aid response more difficult".

 

The report says the situation is dire despite the widely publicised promises of aid.

 

In one camp for displaced people in the Carrefour district of Port au Prince, people without access to a toilet throw their faeces, wrapped in plastic bags, on top of a rubbish pile which is next to a recently-created cholera treatment centre.

 

As well as criticising the response to the cholera outbreak, the report questions the wider "aid dependency" which the private aid agencies - known as Non Governmental Organisations, or NGOs, have created.

 

It says some NGOs:

 

undermine the capacity of the state

have no accountability to people they serve

do not always work in under-served areas when asked to by government

lack coordination

are top-down and top-heavy.

 

The report says only a tiny proportion of the aid money promised to Haiti has reached the Haitian government - in the early days after the earthquake it was estimated to be just one per cent.

 

And yet, ultimately, the study says, it is only the government that could coordinate actions to address crises such as the cholera outbreak.

 

Some NGOs privately criticise the government of Haiti for CORRUPTION; foreign governments say they cannot risk handing over money to DYSFUNCTIONAL institutions.

 

But the report says "pointing fingers at the Haitian government or the Haitian people is not the solution".

 

It says some NGOs are more interested in attracting funds - and so perpetuating their own futures - than in solving the problems they say they came to Haiti to address.

[nancyk58]

Article on HAITI on 15.2.11 from Care2 Causes

 

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54472

 

HAITI

 

RESETTLEMENT PLAN EXCLUDES ALMOST 200,000 FAMILIESBy Jane Regan

 

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 14, 2011 (IPS) - One year and one month after Haiti's horrendous earthquake, the world's eyes are focused elsewhere.

 

Aside from a few updates on ex-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haiti has fallen from the headlines.

 

Gone are the foreign reporters and news crews pumping out anniversary stories.

 

Long-forgotten are the one-year reports from United Nations agencies, the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and watchdog groups, full of self-congratulations or hand- wringing over the lack of progress on Haiti's reconstruction.

 

But there has been a kind of progress.

 

Haitian authorities – or, to be more precise, those who have authority in Haiti, but who are not necessarily Haitian – actually do have a plan for Haiti's homeless.

 

The ambitious 30-page "Neighborhood Return and Housing Reconstruction Framework (version 3)," obtained last month by Haiti Grassroots Watch, outlines plans to rebuild neighbourhoods with better zoning and better services, help homeowners rebuild safer homes, or relocate homeowners to new homes in less precarious locations.

 

However, the Framework leaves out Haiti's largest group of earthquake victims: the poorest of the poor. The renters.

 

"With a few exceptions, the reconstruction is not going to make people homeowners who were not homeowners before," Priscilla Phelps, senior advisor for Housing and Neighbourhoods for the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), told IPS and Haiti Grassroots Watch in January.

 

That means 192,154 families – more than half of the 1.3 million internally displaced persons tallied last fall – will be left out in the cold. Or, in the case of Haiti, out in the sun, the rain and the dust.

 

According to the Framework, "[r]eturn and reconstruction will not change the tenancy status of earthquake affected households: the goal is to restore owners and renters to an equivalent status as before the earthquake, but in safer conditions."

 

For home- and land-owners, things are moving forward, albeit very slowly.

 

Humanitarian agencies have over 100 million dollars to build 111,240 "transitional shelters" or "T-Shelters" – small huts, usually 18 square metres. As of Feb. 1, only about 43,100 had been built, due to the rubble choking poor neighbourhoods and Haiti's convoluted land ownership situation. (Most donors want to be sure on land titles before building a T-Shelter.)

 

Agencies and construction firms also have at least 174 million dollars pledged of the 350 million dollars needed - in 2011 alone - for repairing or rebuilding homes and neighbourhoods. As of Feb. 1, of the approximately 193,000 homes needing to be repaired or rebuilt, only 2,547 had been repaired and 1,880 rebuilt.

 

But for the hundreds of thousands of former renters living hunched under tents in camps with few or no services, with an average of 392 residents per latrine, there is no shelter – transitional or permanent – on the horizon. Because they are supposed to rent.

 

Sanon Renel, of the Housing Reflection and Action Force coalition (Fòs Refleksyon ak Aksyon sou Koze Kay - FRAKKA), which is mobilising with unions and other groups on the housing issue, is outraged.

 

"This is pure and simple exclusion. You could even call this an official policy of apartheid," Renel told IPS.

 

In addition to losing all their belongings, many of Haiti's displaced also lost jobs, as well as the huge sums they had paid out for school tuitions and rent prior to the earthquake. In Haiti, one rents six, 12 and even 24 months at a time. Renel noted that it will take years for families to save that up again.

 

"These people are factory workers, day labourers. Many are former peasants forced into the city because their land has given out, or because they can't make ends meet. They are the eternal victims of an economic system that protects big landowners and rich capitalists," said Renel.

 

A typical example of "reconstruction"

 

The way the housing issue is being handled offers a typical example of Haiti's "reconstruction".

 

The Framework "is intended to signal what the approach is going to be," according to the IHRC's Phelps, who likely helped author the plan and who recently co-wrote 'Safer Homes, Stronger Communities: A Handbook for Reconstructing After Natural Disasters' for the World Bank.

 

But the document has never been approved by the government of Haiti. Not by the parliament, not by President René Préval, and not the Inter-Ministry Commission on Housing, which groups together five ministers.

 

Nor has the document ever been held up to public scrutiny or discussed at fora where local urban planners, construction firms or other stakeholders – like FRAKKA and the homeless people themselves – could perhaps make their opinions known.

 

Nevertheless, the Framework is more than what the "approach is going be".

 

De facto, it is the plan. Because NGOs are moving forward, according to Jean-Christophe Adrian of UN-HABITAT, which chairs the "Shelter Cluster" of the 200 or so NGOs working on the housing issue.

 

"The document represents the consensus," Adrian explained.

 

Phelps notes that the Inter-Ministry Commission on Housing has "seen it and made remarks," but they have never openly approved or disapproved of it, nor has it been made public.

 

In fact, national government officials have only gone public on one housing project – a plan for 3,000 to 4,000 apartments in the Fort National neighbourhood overlooking Haiti's National Palace.

 

"It's a project of public housing high-rises, respecting building norms for earthquake zones, which will house many hundreds of families," Jacques Gabriel, Minister of Public Works, told Agence France Presse in January.

 

But when Minister of Social Affairs Gérald Germain and his bodyguards showed up to place the cornerstone on Jan. 12, they were chased away by angry, homeless protestors.

 

"We want explanations!" a man who identified himself as Leguenson told AlterPresse.

 

Haiti's homeless are not the only ones who want explanations. According to Phelps, the project does not yet have IHRC approval.

 

Nevertheless, not unlike the lack of coordination and communication sometimes apparent in other sectors, the first stone for the Fort National project was going to be placed even before it received the IHRC's green light.

 

Or perhaps the Haitian government has decided to skip the IHRC? But according to a decree, it is "responsible for continuously developing and refining development plans for Haiti."

 

"There are still a lot of questions that have to be worked out," Phelps explained. "The proposal they have made is one that needs some vetting. It's quite expensive."

 

Shelter Cluster authorities are also sceptical. "Our experience shows us that, in all countries, these types of projects end up benefiting the middle classes. They don't benefit the poorest people," Adrian said.

 

With authorities bickering, with no high-rise in sight, and with construction and reconstruction only planned for the homeowners, 13 months later, Haiti's poorest earthquake victims are left exactly where they were on Jan. 13, 2010 - in tents and under tarps, living in subhuman conditions, under constant threat of eviction, facing a depleted housing stock with no savings.

 

(END)

 

NGOs and the "humanitarian industry"

 

"In the language of NGOs, Haiti is a 'humanitarian hot spot,' because the NGOs go where the donors go," journalist Linda Polman told a group of reporters in Petion-ville, Haiti recently.

 

"That's why all these organisations are here. They're waiting for the billions… Haiti is just one station on the trip NGOs make. They ask people for money because they say they are going to help… You have to ask them questions. You have to make sure they spend that money on you."

 

The Dutch author of "The Crisis Caravan - What's Wrong with Humanitarian Aid" took time out from her investigation into Haiti aid to urge Haitian journalists at Radio/Tele Metropole to dig into NGOs and the "humanitarian industry".

 

"NGOs are part of an international, multinational, multi-billion-dollar industry," she said. "Donor countries give over 130 billion dollars a year."

 

And that figure doesn't even take into account private donations.

 

According to Polman, about 37,000 NGOs, mostly from Western countries, work in poor countries. There are probably about 2,000 foreign NGOs in Haiti by her reckoning. And while NGOs say they come to poor countries to "help", that is not the only motivation, she said.

 

"This is a business, and sometimes they make decisions that are not moral," she noted.

 

In addition to being in business, they also do foreign policy work. In her book, Polman writes how, in 2001, just weeks after the 9/11 attack, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told NGO leaders that "American NGOs… NGOs are a force multiplier for us, such an important part of our combat team."

 

Polman pleaded with journalists to investigate the foreign NGOs in Haiti which – according to many journalist and watchdog groups – are not delivering the quality and quantity of assistance needed.

 

"Western journalists come and go and that is why it is up to you. Ask the NGOs questions. And if you don't understand, ask and ask again, because it's your money."

 

*Author Linda Polman's visit to Radio/Tele Metropole was part of an ongoing training organised by the Knight International Journalism Fellow in Haiti.

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12744929

 

16 March 2011 Last updated at 00:02 GMT

 

Haiti cholera 'far worse than expected', experts fear

 

 

By Michelle Roberts - Health reporter, BBC News

 

The cholera epidemic affecting Haiti looks set to be far worse than officials had thought, experts fear.

 

Rather than affecting a predicted 400,000 people, the diarrhoeal disease could strike nearly twice as many as this, latest estimates suggest.

 

Aid efforts will need ramping up, US researchers told The Lancet journal.

 

The World Health Organization says everything possible is being done to contain the disease and warns that modelling estimates can be inaccurate.

 

Before last year's devastating earthquake in the Caribbean nation, no cases of cholera had been seen on Haiti for more than a century.

 

The bacterial disease is spread from person-to-person through contaminated food and water.

 

It causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting, and patients, particularly children and the elderly, are vulnerable to dangerous dehydration as a result.

 

Gross underestimate

 

In the three months between October and December 2010, about 150,000 people in Haiti contracted cholera and about 3,500 died.

 

Around this time, the United Nations projected that the total number infected would likely rise to 400,000.

 

But researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, say this is a gross underestimate.

 

They believe the toll could reach 779,000, with 11,100 deaths by the end of November 2011.

 

Dr Sanjay Basu and colleagues reached their figures using data from Haiti's ministry of health.

 

They say the UN estimates were "crude" and based on "a simple assumption" that the disease would infect a set portion (2-4%) of Haiti's 10 million population.

 

Dr Basu's calculations take into account factors like which water supplies have been contaminated and how much immunity the population has to the disease.

 

They predict the number of cholera cases will be substantially higher than official estimates.

 

"The epidemic is not likely to be short-term," said Dr Basu. "It is going to be larger than predicted in terms of sheer numbers and will last far longer than the initial projections."

 

But the researchers say thousands of lives could be saved by provision of clean water, vaccination and expanded access to antibiotics.

 

A spokesman for the World Health Organization said: "We have to be cautious because modelling does not necessarily reflect what's seen on the ground.

 

"Latest figures show there have been 252,640 cases and 4,672 deaths as of 10 March 2011.

 

"We really need to reconstruct water and sanitation systems for the cholera epidemic to go away completely.

 

"It's a long-term process and cholera is going to be around for a number of years yet."

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12798654

 

20 March 2011 Last updated at 21:44 GMT

 

Haitians elect president in delayed second round

 

Haitians have been voting in the delayed run-off of the presidential election, amid an ongoing struggle to rebuild after last year's earthquake.

 

On the ballot papers are pop star Michel Martelly, and academic and former first lady Mirlande Manigat.

 

The poll is being held just two days after former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned from seven years in exile in South Africa.

 

Final results are not expected until mid-April.

 

Haitians have a choice between two markedly different candidates: Mirlande Manigat is a 70-year-old academic and wife of a former president, while Michel Martelly, 50, is a singer and entertainer known to his fans as "Sweet Micky". They emerged after recounts and challenges as the top two from November's chaotic first round, which was marred by violence and fraud.

 

Turnout

 

Whoever wins will face a mammoth challenge.

 

Haiti is struggling to rebuild after the devastating January 2010 earthquake, with some 800,000 people still living in camps.

 

The country has also been suffering a cholera epidemic that is likely to flare up again with the start of the rainy season in a few weeks.

 

International donors are looking for the next president to help restore some stability and be a partner they can work with.

 

One key factor will be how many of the 4.7 million eligible voters will cast their ballots. Only 23% votes in the first round, adding to the accusations of fraud.

 

Low turnout or even a boycott by supporters of Mr Aristide, who returned home on Friday, could undermine the poll's legitimacy, correspondents say.

 

Speaking to hundreds of his supporters at the airport, Mr Aristide criticised the exclusion of his party, Fanmi Lavalas, from the elections, which are also for the country's legislature.

 

Mr Aristide received a tumultuous welcome from his supporters. "The exclusion of Fanmi Lavalas is the exclusion of the majority of Haitians," he said. The party was barred apparently because of technical errors on its application forms.

 

The former priest, who was forced into exile in 2004 amid a rebellion, has said he will not re-enter politics and has so far not endorsed either of the candidates.

 

Under Haiti's election law, the Provisional Electoral Council is due to announce preliminary results on 31 March, with the final results confirmed on 16 April.

 

The top United National official in Haiti, Edmund Mulet, acknowledged that the long wait for results could stir up rival supporters as each claimed victory.

 

However, Mr Mulet said he believed there would be a credible outcome.

 

"This is the first time in Haitian history that they will have a run-off election, a second round, so I think the product of this election will be a legitimate one that will have the support of the majority of the Haitian people and that alone is already an asset for the next government," he told Reuters news agency.

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12966875

 

5 April 2011 Last updated at 08:54 GMT

 

Haiti: Michel Martelly 'defeats' Mirlande Manigat

 

Musician Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly is the winner of Haiti's presidential run-off, according to official preliminary results.

 

Figures indicate he secured more than two-thirds of the vote, beating former first lady Mirlande Manigat.

 

If the results are confirmed on 16 April, Mr Martelly, 50, will succeed President Rene Preval, who has been in office for five years.

 

Haiti is still struggling after the 2010 earthquake and a cholera epidemic.

 

Turnout in the second round was high and voting was largely peaceful, although still marred by fraud.

 

Correspondents say that although a period of appeal must be observed until 16 April, the wide margin between the rival candidates means Mr Martelly's win is all but assured.

 

After the preliminary results were announced, thousands of Mr Martelly's supporters took to the streets of Port-au-Prince, dancing and cheering. Witnesses said some fired automatic rifles into the air.

 

Although the celebrations were peaceful, the US embassy urged its citizens to "stay indoors and avoid large crowds for tonight".

 

The singer made no public statements but thanked his supporters via Twitter, adding: "We're going to work for all Haitians. Together we can."

 

He is due to hold a news conference on Tuesday.

 

The BBC's Andy Gallacher says that if Mr Martelly - who has promised change for the Haitian people - becomes the next president, he will face some serious challenges.

 

Hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors still live in squalid tent cities as the cholera outbreak which has killed thousands remains out of control.

 

Mr Martelly is politically inexperienced but his message of reform appealed to Haiti's poor and unemployed, our correspondent adds.

 

Fatal shootings

 

Mr Martelly benefited from the support of five candidates eliminated in the first round. Fellow musician Wyclef Jean, whose own candidacy was ruled invalid, also backed Mr Martelly.

 

The run-off vote was supposed to have taken place in January but was delayed.

 

Observers said the second round was much better organised than the first in November, when turnout was only 23%.

 

Jude Celestin, who had the backing of outgoing President Preval, was initially placed second in the first round but withdrew from the race after international monitors found there had been widespread fraud in his favour.

 

Two people were shot dead during second-round voting in clashes between rival political factions in different rural areas.

 

The electoral commission extended voting by an hour because some polling stations were missing voting materials.

 

But the head of the commission said at the time that reports of irregularities would have "no impact on the electoral process as a whole".

 

Mr Preval's mandate formally ended on 7 February but he has parliamentary approval to stay in office until 14 May.

 

 

Text-TV from Swedish TV channel SVT, Danish TV channels DR1 and TV2 News + German TV channel ZDF:

 

50-year-old singer & musician Michel Martelly won the presidential election in Haiti - held on 20 March 2011.

 

Martelly achieved 67.6% of the votes after having promised CHANGE. His rival, the former first lady Mirlande Manigat got 37.7% of the votes according to the official preliminary election result on Monday.

 

The votes will be recounted before Martelly can be declared the final winner. The final result will be published on Saturday 16 April 2011.

 

Haitians have suffered from poverty and corruption. The earthquake in January 2010 made life even harder for the Haitians.

 

The international community has pledged $10 billion in aid to HAITI.

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13163550

 

21 April 2011 Last updated at 17:43 GMT Share this pageEmail Print

 

Michel Martelly officially declared Haitian president

 

Popular Haitian singer Michel Martelly has been officially declared the next president of Haiti.

 

Official results showed Mr Martelly won 67.6% of the vote in the run-off on 20 March, defeating former first lady Mirlande Manigat.

 

Speaking after the results were made public, Mr Martelly said he would seek to work in harmony with the opposition, following an election marred by violent protests and accusations of fraud.

 

He will take office on 14 May.

 

Deadly protests

 

Just hours after he was declared the winner, Mr Martelly tried to rally support through his Twitter account.

 

"Let's pick up our tools and get to work to clean up our country," he tweeted.

 

But despite Mr Martelly's calls for unity, there have been several violent incidents in a number of Haitian cities.

 

A spokesman for the United Nations police force, which patrols much of Haiti, said demonstrators had set fire to a government building in Belladere in central Haiti.

 

Protests also took place in Leogane, south of Port-au-Prince. At least one person is reported to have been killed.

 

The protests followed the release by the electoral commission of some results of the legislative elections, which were held on the same day as the presidential run-off.

 

The results suggest that outgoing President Rene Preval's ruling INITE (Unity) party will remain the DOMINANT FORCE in the Haitian legislature, although it seems to have lost its parliamentary majority.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13173055

 

22 April 2011 Last updated at 20:53 GMT

 

US seeks Haiti election explanation amid fraud concerns

 

The United States embassy in Haiti has said it is worried about possible fraud in recent legislative elections there.

 

In a statement, the embassy said the Haitian government and the country's provisional electoral commission needed to explain why a number of candidates won seats in the final results, when they hadn't been leading in preliminary counts.

 

Of 18 such cases, it said, 16 favoured the governing Unity party - known in Haiti as Inite - of the outgoing President, Rene Preval.

 

Haiti's President-elect, Michel Martelly, has called for an investigation into the results and urged Mr Preval not to ratify them.

 

Mr Martelly, a popular Haitian singer, won the presidency in a run-off election, with over two-thirds of the vote. But his party has won only a handful of seats in the incoming legislature.

 

So if he is to get much-needed legislation passed, he will have to work alongside the Unity party, which will dominate the new legislature.

 

It will have an absolute majority in the 30-seat Senate. And it is very close to an absolute majority in the lower house, which has 99 seats.

 

Haitians 'deserve nothing less'

 

The US Embassy in the capital Port-au-Prince queried the swings in 17 seats in the lower house, and one in the Senate.

 

It asked why one winning candidate from the incumbent party - who had been in third place after the preliminary count - gained 55,000 votes, going "from 90,000 in the preliminary results to more than 145,000 in the final results."

 

It also called for international election observers to review the 18 cases to ensure the results were fair. "The Haitian people, who have participated with great patience in the two rounds of elections, deserve nothing less," the embassy states.

 

Mr Martelly, who will be sworn in as president next month, has also criticised the results.

 

"The results of the presidential elections matched the people's will," he said in a radio broadcast. "But the results in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate seem wrong. It seems the people's vote was not respected."

[nancyk58]

HAITI HAS GOT A NEW PRESIDENT - ELECTED BY THE HAITIAN PEOPLE

 

Today, the Haitian singer Michel Martelly was sworn in as Haiti's new president after Réné Préval.

 

Michel martelly was primarily supported by Haiti's analphabets and by poor Haitians hoping for CHANGE.

 

Haiti has a past of revolts and dictatorships (Duvalier). In January 2010, Haiti was hit by one of the worst earthquakes ever in Haiti's history devastating the poor Caribbean country.

[nancyk58]

Hash-smoking pop president gains power in Haiti (free paper Urban on 6.4.11 + niry:berlingske.dk)

 

50-year-old Michel Martelly is most known for his past as a crack and hash smoking musician. But the population loves him, and now he has been elected president in Haiti with 68% of the votes.

 

He had to leave the army after having made the general's daughter pregnant.

 

He has released 14 records within the genre kompa - dance music sung in Creole.

 

His election campaign focused on a crusade against the widespread corruption in Haiti, on agricultural reforms and on restoration of the military.

 

In an interview, he has said: I think that my past is my strength. By electing me, the voters know what they get - it is open - it is public - it is on YouTube".

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13555743

 

26 May 2011 Last updated at 03:50 GMT

 

Haiti: Daniel-Gerard Rouzier attacks earthquake panel

 

Haiti's prime minister-designate, Daniel-Gerard Rouzier, has said he wants to replace the "dysfunctional" quake reconstruction commission.

 

The commission, co-chaired by former US President Bill Clinton, has been criticised as too slow.

 

In an interview with AP, Mr Rouzier said he hoped Bill Clinton would remain active in helping rebuild Haiti.

 

The agency was set up after the 2010 earthquake to assure foreign donors their funds would not be misspent.

 

Outgoing Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive is the other co-chair of the commission.

 

The countries that have contributed the most to rebuilding after the devastating earthquake, including the US, France and Japan, are also represented on the commission.

 

Bill Clinton has expressed his frustration at the slow pace of reconstruction in Haiti, but in January, one year after the earthquake, he said the speed of the effort was picking up.

 

A recent US government report criticised the commission for delays in its work.

 

'Tremendous vision'

 

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010 killed more than 250,000 people, made about two million people homeless and wrecked large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

 

Sixteen months on, hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tent cities.

 

Mr Rouzier was appointed prime minister by new President Michel Martelly and is awaiting senate confirmation of his role.

 

Mr Rouzier called the 27-member reconstruction commission "dysfunctional" and said it would be replaced by a government agency.

 

"What I can tell you is that the [commission] as it exists today will not continue," he told the Associated Press.

 

"I don't mean to crucify the people who came up with the concept. But sometimes when something doesn't work you have to fix it."

 

He said he would like Mr Clinton, who is also a UN envoy to Haiti, to remain active in the country's reconstruction.

 

"When you have someone of Clinton's calibre, this is a man of tremendous vision... We have to pick his brain and make sure that we have the right strategy."

 

Mr Rouzier is a US-educated businessman who runs several companies in Haiti, including a car dealership and an electric power company.

[nancyk58]

Text-TV from Danish TV station DR1 and Swedish SVT: The DEATH TOLL in HAITI after the devastating earthquake in January 2010 might rather be between 46,000 and 85,000 and not the official one - 250,000. This according to an examination made at the request of the relief organization USAID.

[nancyk58]

HAITI: NEW OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA

 

More than 10 people died and thousand(s) were hospitalized after new outbreak of cholera around the capital - Port-au-Prince.

 

310,000 have been infected and 5,332 have died since last year's outbreak of cholera.

[nancyk58]

NEWS IN RELATION TO HAITI ON 3.6.11

 

CHOLERA WARNING IN HAITI: DEATH TOLL SINCE OUTBREAK IN OCTOBER 2010 RISEN TO 5,337

 

The cholera death toll in Haiti since the outbreak 7 months ago has risen to 5,337 until the end of May according to Haiti's Department of Health. By each day, 6 more dies, and 550 are infected. The Relief organization Doctors without Borders (Medecins sans frontières / MSF) has also recorded a significant increase of the cholera cases.

 

Since October 2010, 320,000 Haitians have been infected with cholera.

 

From Swedish text-TV /SVT.

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13689711

 

7 June 2011 Last updated at 17:42 GMT

 

Haiti: Port-au-Prince flooding kills at least 11 people

 

At least 11 people have been killed in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, after torrential rain caused floods and landslides.

 

Two children were buried alive when their home collapsed and two people died in a tent city erected after last year's devastating earthquake.

 

Haitian officials said other such camps could be swept away as the hurricane season got under way.

 

The Dominican Republic and Jamaica have also issued flood alerts.

 

Days of heavy rain swelled rivers and flooded camps built to house thousands of evacuees after the 2010 earthquake.

 

The United States National Hurricane Center warned the rains could cause flash floods and mudslides in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

 

Haitian President Michel Martelly said he would visit Port-au-Prince's worst-hit neighbourhood, Cite Soleil.

 

"I'm now trying to help people and distribute some food, I hope people can find shelter," President Martelly said.

 

Some camps reported flooding of up to 1.2m (4ft).

 

Meteorologists forecast more heavy rain for Tuesday night, increasing fears that already sodden hillsides could collapse.

[nancyk58]

GERMAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS - GUIDO WESTERWELLE - PLEDGES HAITI GERMAN AID

 

18 months after the earthquake disaster in HAITI, the German minister of foreign affairs - Guido Westerwelle - has pledged Haiti further German aid. "We will not forget Haiti".

 

Westerwelle is expected in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince for a short visit.

 

In January 2010, more than 220,000 people were killed by an earthquake.

 

Despite international aid, rebuilding has only made little progress.

 

Haiti also suffers from a CHOLERA EPIDEMIC which has already claimed more than 5,600 Haitian lives.

[nancyk58]

HAITI THREATENED BY POWERFUL TROPICAL STORM "EMILY"

 

The authorities in Haiti encourages the inhabitants to evacuations and to seek shelter as a storm approaches.

 

According to the US Hurricane Center, the tropical storm EMILY is threatening i.a. Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

 

Haiti's leading meteorologist, Ronald Semelfort, says that torrential rain may hit Haiti late Wednesday.

 

It is dangerous for Haiti which is still fighting the devastation caused by the powerful earthquake in January 2010 that killed at least 225,000 people.

 

(Danish text-tv on DR1 and TV2 News)

[nancyk58]

NEWS IN RELATION TO HAITI ON 3 AUGUST 2011

 

 

HAITI REMAINS WITHOUT PRIME MINISTER

 

Haiti's President, Michel Martelly, has not yet succeeded in electing a Prime Minister (PM). Martelly has now made two attempts, but a majority in the Haitian Parliament has rejected his candidates.

 

Michel Martelly was elected president 3 months ago.

 

Martelly's latest PM candidate was Haiti's former minister of Justice, Bernard Gousse.

 

16 out of the senate's 30 member voted NO. And the rest abstained from voting!!

 

Bernard Gousse has been under suspicion of pursuing political opponents.

 

(Text-TV on Danish DR1 and Swedish SVT)

 

 

 

TROPICAL STORM "EMILY" THREATENS THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND HAITI

 

 

The tropical storm "Emily" moves toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti. There 630,000 remains homeless after the devastating earthquake in 2010.

 

The storm with torrential rain and very strong winds is - according to calculations made by meteorologists - expected to reach the island of Hispaniola - on which the Dominican Republic and Haiti are located - later Wednesday.

 

Experts are in particular warning against MASSIVE FLOODS.

 

(Text-TV on German ZDF / ZDF Text)

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14399524

 

4 August 2011 Last updated at 15:32 GMT

 

Rain hits Haiti as Tropical Storm Emily looms offshore

 

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in makeshift camps are bracing for heavy downpours as Tropical Storm Emily approaches.

 

Rain has damaged several hundred homes in the Artibonite region, the civil protection agency head told AP, but so far no deaths have been reported.

 

Haiti is still struggling to recover from the January 2010 earthquake.

 

President Michel Martelly took office in May but has not yet managed to form a government, complicating aid efforts.

 

Tropical Storm Emily has been bringing rain and strong winds to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the island of Hispaniola.

 

At 1500 GMT on Thursday, Emily was reported to be nearly stationary 145km (90 mile) south-south-east of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.

 

While maximum winds were put at 85km/h (50mph), the main threat was from torrential downpours.

 

"This storm has a lot of heavy rainfall with it," meteorologist Diana Goeller told the Associated Press.

 

Forecasters said 15-30cm (6-12in) of rain could fall, but with up to 20in possible in some regions.

 

The head of Haiti's civil protection agency, Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, said rain had damaged buildings in the Artibonite region.

 

She also said a cholera treatment centre had been damaged in the Central Plateau region.

 

Stalemate

 

Haitian officials had issued a red alert and urged people to leave camps, many of which are sited on deforested hillsides.

 

"People living in unsafe housing will be the worst affected if flooding hits," Harry Donsbach from charity World Vision told AFP.

 

"Landslides are of courses a threat, but even simply heavy rain has the potential to worsen the volatile sanitation conditions in camps, which, with cholera still prevalent in Haiti, is a serious concern."

 

According to the International Office of Migration, some 634,000 Haitians still live in camps, although other estimates of what is a necessarily fluctuating population put the figure at 375,000.

 

 

On Tuesday, Haitian lawmakers voted against Mr Martelly's new choice of prime minister, Bernard Gousse, following their rejection in June of his first pick, Daniel-Gerard Rouzier.

 

President Martelly needs a prime minister in order to assemble a government that can work with international agencies involved in the task of rebuilding after the 2010 quake.

 

The lack of an administration is also hampering planning for potential disasters.

[nancyk58]

AT LEAST 4 KILLED BY TROPICAL STORM "EMILY" ON THE ISLAND OF HISPANIOLA HOUSING THE TWO STATES - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PLUS HAITI

 

7,000 were evacuated in the Dominican Republic where 3 men were killed. 1 man died in the south-western part of Haiti.

 

"Emily" is continuing towards FLORIDA and is once again developing into a tropical storm according to the US Hurricane Center.

 

Text-TV on German ZDF / ZDF Text

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14514905

 

13 August 2011 Last updated at 06:27 GMT

 

Head of aid agency Oxfam in Haiti resigns amid inquiry

 

The director of Oxfam's operations in Haiti has resigned amid an inquiry into allegations of misconduct by staff.

 

The UK-based aid agency said Roland Van Hauwermeiren felt he needed to resign as he had been in charge at the time.

 

A small number of Oxfam workers in Haiti have been suspended, pending the outcome of an inquiry, it added.

 

The charity raised $98m (£60m) for relief operations after last year's massive earthquake but Oxfam said the allegations were not linked to fraud.

 

Oxfam has used the money to try to improve sanitation in the face of a cholera outbreak, said to have killed almost 6,000 people and made 420,000 ill.

 

The staff suspended are not thought to be British nationals.

 

Under Mr Van Hauwermeiren's direction, Oxfam was one of the few international aid agencies to openly criticise relief efforts.

 

On the anniversary of the quake in January, it said in a report that "the Haitian state, together with the international community, [was] making little progress in reconstruction".

 

"Too many donors from rich countries have pursued their own aid priorities and have not effectively co-ordinated amongst themselves or worked with the Haitian government," Mr Van Hauwermeiren said at the time.

 

Oxfam has been working in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, since 1978.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14195321

 

18 July 2011 Last updated at 21:53 GMT

 

A year and a half since an earthquake destroyed the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, it is estimated at least 600,000 people still live in settlement camps, many facing a daily struggle for survival.

 

Their story is one which Dr Paul Farmer - a US anthropologist and physician - tells in his new book Haiti: After the Earthquake.

 

For three decades Dr Farmer has worked to help the people of the island nation. In this interview with the BBC's Jane O'Brien, he says a cholera epidemic is still raging in Haiti, while most of the quake rubble has not been removed.

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14625665

 

23 August 2011 Last updated at 07:22 GMT

 

Hurricane Irene strengthens as it swirls over Caribbean

 

A strengthening Hurricane Irene has swept over the northern Dominican Republic, bringing strong winds and heavy downpours.

 

The storm, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, had maximum sustained winds of 160km (100 mph).

 

Forecasters say Irene is set to intensify further as it heads north-west towards the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas.

 

The storm is forecast to reach the south-eastern US by the weekend.

 

At 06:00GMT, Irene, now classed as a category two hurricane, was 110km (70 miles) east-north-east of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said.

 

The hurricane is expected to be near the Turks and Caicos Islands and the south-eastern Bahamas by Tuesday night, forecasters said.

 

Irene was likely to strengthen further and could become a major hurricane within the next 72 hours as it moves over the warm sea waters.

 

 

On Monday, Irene knocked out power to more than half the island of Puerto Rico and affected water supplies to more than 100,000 people.

 

The governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuno, said he had asked the US government to declare Puerto Rico a disaster area so it could gain access to emergency funds.

 

In the Dominican Republic, authorities closed schools and evacuated coastal communities ahead of the storm's arrival.

 

Emergency preparations were also stepped up in neighbouring HAITI by United Nations agencies operating there.

 

The country, which suffers from extensive deforestation and poor infrastructure, is particularly vulnerable to heavy rainfall.

 

Hundreds of thousands of people still live in makeshift camps after the January 2010 earthquake.

 

 

Hurricane Irene is on a projected path to reach the United States by the end of the week, possibly making landfall in Florida, Georgia or South Carolina.

[nancyk58]

HAITI: 600,000 are still living in camps after the devastating earthquake in January 2011, and journalists & reporters coming back can notice a deterioration in the camps during the past year.

 

Source: Danish TV2 News, live on 30 September 2011

[nancyk58]

38 HAITIAN REFUGEES DROWNED OFF CUBA - 21 men + 17 women

 

Cuba's coast guard found their ship half-sunk about 100m off Point Maisi on the eastern part of Cuba. 87 other refugees including 4 children and 7 women were rescued and brought to an international refugee camp where help was offered.

 

Danish text-TV on DR1

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16328342

 

25 December 2011 Last updated at 04:10 GMT

 

Haiti migrants found dead off Cuba's coast

 

At least 38 migrants from Haiti have been found dead after their boat sank just off the eastern tip of Cuba, officials in Havana say.

 

Another 87 people from the boat were rescued, Cuban TV reported quoting civil defence officials.

 

It said the boat was spotted only 100m off shore. A search for more possible survivors is now under way.

 

Fatal incidents involving migrants from Haiti - the Western hemisphere's poorest nation - are not uncommon.

 

In 2009, US Coast Guard officials called off their search for about 70 migrants from Haiti whose boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos Islands.

 

In May 2007, at least 61 Haitian migrants died when a boat carrying 150 people sank off the Turks and Caicos, a British territory.

[nancyk58]

A TOTAL OF 7,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED OF CHOLERA IN HAITI SINCE THE CHOLERA EPIDEMICS BROKE OUT IN OCTOBER 2010

 

 

Reports of 200 new cases of the disease every day.

 

Many have also died from the disease in the considerably richer/wealthier neighbouring country the Dominican Republic.

 

Health experts call the epidemics one of the worst hitting one single country for decades.

 

At the end of December 520,000 cases had been reported.

 

The source of the outbreak of cholera in October 2010 might be a camp inhabited by UN soldiers from Nepal.

 

Access to clean water is vital in fighting cholera.

 

Source: Danish text-TV on DR1 / Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende on 9.1.12

[nancyk58]

2 YEARS AFTER THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI ON 12 JANUARY, 2010

 

 

On 12 January, 2010 Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake killing more than 300,000 in one of the worst natural disasters in modern times.

 

Haiti is still facing a huge challenge, but the future for Haiti's population and in particular the children seems brighter.

 

This can be read in a new UNICEF REPORT.

 

More than 200 schools have been built / completed.

 

More children go to school now than before the disaster.

 

In the worst hit area the vaccination rate among children has risen from only 6 percent before the earthquake to 85 per cent.

[nancyk58]

http://www.care2.com/causes/haiti-two-years-later-slow-progress-but-you-can-help.html

 

Haiti, Two Years Later: Slow Progress But You Can Help

 

by Judy Molland January 12, 2012 12:45 pm

 

Two years ago today, on January 12, 2010, the worst earthquake in 200 years – 7.0 in magnitude – struck less than ten miles from the Caribbean city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The initial quake was later followed by twelve aftershocks greater than magnitude 5.0.

 

The quake killed more than 200,000 and left 1.5 million homeless.

 

Around the world, ordinary people and governments sought to help. So far, according to USA Today, these are the top givers:

 

* $3.3 billion – United States

* $940 million – Venezuela

* $634 million – European Commission

 

But What Is The Reality Of Life In Haiti Today?

 

It’s true that many nonprofits and other agencies have been on the ground, rebuilding, providing supplies, and helping to re-create the economy.

 

But meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Haitians still live in miserable conditions and nearly half of $4.5 billion pledged by governments for reconstruction has yet to be disbursed.

 

Slow Progress

 

From USA Today:

 

“There’s been a remarkable lack of progress,” says Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which has followed Haiti’s recovery.

 

As Haiti today observes the second anniversary of a disaster that leveled 300,000 buildings and left its economy and government in ruins, half a million people still live in tents, the United Nations reports.

 

Few have access to water, sanitation and other basic services, 60% are jobless and the world’s largest cholera outbreak has killed 7,000 people and infected 500,000 more, the U.N. and aid groups say.

 

Now, money is running short. “Funding is not coming in as before and that is becoming a challenge,” says Francoise Gruloos-Ackermans, UNICEF Haiti representative.

 

The slow progress comes despite promises by the international community that the chronically poor nation with tremendous needs before the disaster would be rebuilt better than before. Since the earthquake, governments and international agencies have pledged $8.4 billion for humanitarian, recovery and development efforts — $4.5 billion of it for rebuilding.

 

The U.S. has disbursed 85% of $1.45 billion pledged for humanitarian relief and pledged $1.8 billion for recovery and development, 37% of which has been disbursed, U.N. figures show. Weisbrot says governments did not pledge enough aid for reconstruction, estimated to cost more than $10 billion, and money that has been pledged isn’t being doled out fast enough.

 

But There Is Good News

 

Despite the slow pace, funds are slowly being allocated as efforts shift from short-term humanitarian needs to long-term reconstruction: creating more jobs by helping small businesses, removing debris, preparing the country for future disasters and helping the Haitian government become a functioning body.

 

To provide just one example, as first reported in USA Today, Beth Hogan, director of the Haiti Task Team for U.S. Agency for International Development says U.S. funds have provided temporary shelters for more than 300,000 families and created 17,000 jobs.

 

And here’s something you can do now.

 

Take Action!

 

Care2 has been working with nonprofit partner BRAC delivering signatures to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling on the U.N. to support programs to redevelop Haiti’s environment.

 

Even before the devastating earthquake, millions in Haiti lived in poverty.

 

BRAC is now working with families to provide them information about quality seeds, fertilizer and planting methods that will help them bring their families out of poverty. One pilot nursery is teaching children and adults how to plant and care for papaya, mango, and timber trees.

 

You can help reforest Haiti, by joining the 15,000 that have signed the petition and tell the U.N. that we need to bring more programs like this to the region.

 

And thank you.

 

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/haiti-two-years-later-slow-progress-but-you-can-help.html#ixzz1jNmZgrq2