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Ban calls on Haiti to seize opportunity for economic security

Ban calls on Haiti to seize opportunity for economic security

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right), with former US president Bill Clinton (left), and Haitian Pop star Wyclef Jean visit a Cité Soleil school feeding programme
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who wrapped up a visit to Haiti today, urged the people of the impoverished nation to seize the current momentum to lift it out of its downward spiral and place it firmly on a path to economic security.

“2008 was a difficult year for Haiti, from the violent reactions to the increase in food prices to the devastation caused by the successive hurricanes,” Mr. Ban told reporters in the capital, Port-au-Prince, yesterday.

Those storms claimed 800 lives, with 800,000 Haitians either losing their homes entirely or being badly affected.

A donor’s conference next month in Washington seeking to spur economic growth will give the impoverished country a “fresh start,” the Secretary-General, who visited Haiti with former United States President Bill Clinton, said.

There is a “growing optimism that Haiti has all the assets it needs to break the impasse,” he stated.

The Secretary-General emphasized the need to help small farmers recover from last year’s devastating hurricanes to feed their people, and voiced hope that Haiti’s textile industry will take advantage of HOPE II, a new United States law giving allowing access to the American market for Haitian garment products.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MINUSTAH) has been working with Haitians for nearly five years towards creating “a secure and stable environment within which key reforms and economic development could take place.”

But Mr. Ban cautioned that “this window of opportunity is limited, and it is essential to seize it now, in order to avoid a disastrous slide backward, which would leave the country worse off than ever,” noting that both MINUSTAH and the HOPE II act are time-bound.

He wrapped up his trip to Haiti today with a visit to a garment factory employing 1,000 workers and met with UN staff.

Accompanied by Mr. Clinton, the Secretary-General yesterday held talks with President René Préval. In a communiqué issued following that meeting, Mr. Ban and the former US leader noted strides made in public security, political stability and good economic governance.

Mr. Ban is now headed to Washington, where he is slated to meet with US President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss a host of issues, including the global economic crisis, Sudan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The two leaders are also expected to confer on climate change, non-proliferation, human rights, United Nations reform and US-UN relations.

Tonight, the Secretary-General will speak at a dinner hosted by the UN Foundation, and will hold talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee tomorrow.

In a related development, Mr. Ban wrote in his latest report on MINUSTAH to the Security Council that last year’s devastating storms have thwarted progress in key areas.

He said that “incremental advances” have been made in four areas – political dialogue and elections; extending State authority; security strengthening; and the rule of law and human rights – while the fifth, social and economic deterioration, has witnessed a significant deterioration.

“Those achievements which have been reached remain very fragile and are subject to reversal,” the publication, made public today, stressed.

“Continued, determined engagement by the Haitian authorities, together with enhanced support by the international community, will be critical in the coming months to recover ground that has been lost, while securing and building on the gains that have been made.”

The damage resulting from the hurricanes which battered Haiti in 2008 have brought to the fore the pressing need to bolster the daily living conditions of Haitians and has also made apparent the linkage between security stabilization and development, the Secretary-General said.

Further, the current global financial crisis has curtailed remittances sent to Haiti. “It is urgent that the Haitian authorities work closely with the international community to facilitate the flow of necessary relief and recovery, while laying a foundation for renewed private-sector activity and for the country’s longer-term reconstruction and development,” the report said.

In spite of the difficulties faced by Haiti, the nation still has an opportunity to move forward in its efforts to consolidate stability, Mr. Ban emphasized, calling for the continued support of the international community. “However, such assistance will bear fruit only if the Haitians themselves bring to their longer-term challenges the same level of resolve and spirit of consensus that they displayed in the immediate aftermath of the storms.”