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OAS GROUP OF FRIENDS OF HAITI MET IN WASHINGTON TO PROMOTE DONORS CONFERENCE

The Organization of American States (OAS) Group of Friends of Haiti met this week in Washington, DC, to promote the Haiti Donors Conference which will take place on April 14 in the same city. Also took part in the meeting representatives from the United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF).

The meeting was chaired by the OAS Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert Ramdin, who also chairs the Haiti Task Force at the hemispheric institution. Most Permanent Representatives were also in attendance, as well as several Permanent Observers and representatives from other international organizations.

Ambassador Ramdin stressed the need to take advantage of the wave of solidarity with Haiti and the situation of “relative politic stability” between political parties, the executive and the legislative bodies, which constitute a “unique momentum”.

“We have a window of opportunity and I hope that Haiti will use that, I hope that the international community will use that, to do the best for the process in Haiti,” he said. “Haiti is a priority for all of us, for this institution, and also for the IADB and all the other international and financial institutions and the development agencies in the Americas.”

The Assistant Secretary General also warned that efforts should not and can not be limited to a commitment at the Donors Conference. “We don’t want to be disappointing ourselves. Everybody knows that 10 years ago we tried this already. We don’t want that to happen,” he said.

“I hope it will be the beginning of that kind of inspiration to do things in Haiti which will stick,” he added.

The Permanent Representative of Haiti to the OAS, Ambassador Duly Brutus, expressed his appreciation for the support of the OAS and highlighted the important role played by the donor countries, especially on issues such as disaster relief and the challenge of attracting investment.

Ambassador Brutus also reminded the meeting that legislative elections will take place in Haiti on April 19, and that the country enjoys nowadays a situation of stability and security that will pave the way for a trouble-free election.

David Harland, Director of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations’ (DPKO) Europe and Latin America Division, shared with Ramdin the need for the effort to be permanent. “We are going to use the final two weeks to make a final push, but we are as ready as we can before the Donors Conference. I think we see it not as a big party, but more as the beginning of a process of mutual commitment: the Haitians to reform, the internationals to ongoing support.”

“It’s like a wedding: we’ll try to get a few presents, but it’s not the presents that will make the marriage ultimately successful,” he said. Harland highlighted how the works of MINUSTAH (United Nation Stabilization Mission in Haiti) are focused on “creating a political space” and providing “public safety”, a task in which troops from several countries in the region have excelled, he said.

Furthermore, Harland had even kinder words for the role of Latin America in promoting the Donors Conference. “It is a strategic agenda largely imparted to us by the Latin American troop contributors, who have spoken very, very seriously over a period of over two years now about the need to properly complement what is being done in the political and security side.”

During the meeting, which took place at the OAS Headquarters in Washington, DC, Dora Correa, IDB Representative on Haiti Donors Conference explained that the goal is to obtain a two-year commitment from the participating countries to work especially on job creation, transportation, agriculture, exports and basic services.

Damien Shiels, from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, introduced a project of investment generation with the purpose of attracting investment in light-manufacturing and improving free zones and industrial parks that should host them. IFC estimates the project, to be developed between 2009 and 2011, could contribute to the generation of US$30 million in new or expanded investments with an associated 3,500 jobs.

Amy Coughenour, from PADF, an affíliate of the OAS, explained the institution has been in Haiti since 1982, developing projects in four key areas: Community Driven Development, Disaster Relief and Mitigation, Protecting Human Rights and Strengthening Border Development. PADF also launched the campaign “I TOO AM HAITI”, which seeks to raise awareness and money to help exploited children in the Caribbean country.

Reference: E-113/09