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OAS Secretary General after visit to Haiti: “It’s necessary to coordinate well all assistance”

Upon his return from a two-day visit to Haiti, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today described as “impressive” and “a terrible experience” the destruction of Port-au-Prince as a result of the January 12 earthquake, though he also underscored the desire of the Haitian people to rebuild and noted that international aid is playing a fundamental role in helping the victims and maintaining order.

“There is not a single street that has not lost a significant number of homes. It’s impressive to see the number of buildings that have completely collapsed, in addition to those that are still standing but must be demolished,” the Secretary General said in his verbal report to the Permanent Council of the Organization, which met for the purpose in a special session at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“This has been the greatest natural disaster of our lives,” he said, adding that the population is still traumatized by the experience and by the fear of new tremors. Nevertheless, the Secretary General underscored how the Haitian people wish to immediately begin to rebuild their country. “The Haitian people wish to live, they want their country to improve through this tragedy. They want to decide their own destiny and rebuild their country and hopefully we can all help them do it.”

The Secretary General praised the “enormous effort” of many countries, many of them members of the OAS, and regional organizations such as the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) and the Pan American Health Organization. “I’ve come back with the feeling that the efforts being conducted are worthwhile,” he said, while urging everyone to continue to contribute: “What’s important is to continue to help, because this emergency will be with us for various months and even years.”

The head of the OAS recalled the need to look for solutions for the orphans and the abandoned, the sick that are being discharged from hospitals and the hundreds of thousands of people still sleeping in plazas out in the open, when the rainy season is only two months away.

Furthermore, the Secretary General insisted on the need to improve coordination between international organizations, national governments and non-governmental organizations, especially with respect to distribution. All of this under the direction of the government of Haiti, which has “great leadership” and “great talent” in President René Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.

Looking toward the future, the Secretary General supported the conclusions of the recent Preparatory Meeting in Montreal, which seek to centralize coordination of emergency relief aid around the United Nations Mission in Haiti, as well as the creation of a Multi-agency Fund and a Multilateral Agency for reconstruction. These measures will have to be set in motion at the Summit in New York, in March.

Insulza added that it is necessary to be prepared for that decisive meeting in the reconstruction of Haiti with a coordinated proposal from the countries of the Americas, and that it would be helpful to hold a Consultation Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the continent in the Dominican Republic, where every country would make clear commitments on its own initiatives, with OAS coordination.

Reference: E-028/10