WASHINGTON, DC – Some five hundred representatives and associations of the Haitian Diaspora in the United States, Canada, France, Dominican Republic and the rest of the Caribbean continued today with a three-day meeting Sunday convened by the Organization of American States (OAS) with the goal of contributing ideas for the reconstruction and future of the Caribbean country following the January 12 earthquake.
The following individuals, among others, have participated in forum activities: José Miguel Insulza, OAS Secretary General; Albert R. Ramdin, OAS Assistant Secretary General; Edwin Paraison, Haiti’s Minister of Haitians Living Abroad; Hillary R. Clinton, United States Secretary of State, via video and through her Chief of Staff, Cheryl Mills; Marie Landrieu, United States Senator for Louisiana; and Marie St. Fleur, Massachusetts State Senator.
During the inauguration today in the Hall of the Americas at the Organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., Secretary General Insulza emphasized the need for the international donor community to provide the necessary funds so the Haitian government may provide the services for which it is responsible, and the need to create an agency that coordinates international efforts.
The “Forum with the Haitian Diaspora: Contributing to the Strategic Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of Haiti” brings together at least 17 Haitian organizations that live outside their country, as well as other social, professional, religious groups, non-governmental organizations, academics and the private sector.
The Forum’s objective is to develop a strategy for collaboration that identifies the key points in the work of recovery, reconstruction and development of Haiti. The meeting builds on the work of the international community and the commitments proposed at the January 25 meeting in Montreal, as well as the results of the High-Level Technical Meeting of Donor Countries that took place March 16 and 17, 2010, in Dominican Republic.
The Diaspora meeting will end tomorrow, Tuesday, March 23, and its conclusions will be considered during the Haiti Donors Conference to be held in New York City on March 31, 2010. “We also express our hope that the international community will reach a clear agreement on the coordination necessary to ensure that all the available resources are properly channeled to Haiti in the upcoming New York Meeting,” the Secretary General added.
Furthermore, the Secretary General indicated that the international community must support Haiti and its Government in whatever is necessary. “I take this opportunity to voice our support for measures that will ensure the full participation of the Haitian People and the Haitian democratically elected government in the reconstruction process. We call upon the international donor community to address this issue as quickly as possible, as failure to do so will lead to undesirable consequences. The Government of Haiti needs to be supported in providing those services that it is best placed to provide such as law and order, public administration and social protection services and to prepare the programs of reconstruction that can be funded by the international community,” he said.
The head of the OAS called on the United Nations and principal donors to take the initiative to create “one strong agency for the Reconstruction of Haiti, with participation of the major donors as well as the regional and Caribbean organizations that can ensure leadership and coordination for these efforts.”
OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin praised the inclusive character of the meeting, which brings together representatives of all sectors of the Diaspora and gives them an opportunity to define concrete ways to help their co-nationals. “If all these different actors unite their efforts, we’re going to help Haiti recover more quickly, more efficiently and in a more transparent way,” he said.
“I see this Forum as a manifestation of the hope, strength and determination of the Haitian people and I am proud that our Organization of American States has been given this chance to support your efforts,” Secretary General Insulza concluded.
Minister Paraison, for his part, emphasized his support and that of the Government of Haiti “to this initiative of including the Diaspora in the reconstruction of Haiti. We encourage all Haitians to continue working for the long-term development of Haiti.”
