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STORY: UN / HAITI
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 2.18
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH/ ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 13 SEPTEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
13 SEPTEMBER 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Edmond Mulet, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of mission of the United Nations Stabilization Mission In Haiti (MINUSTAH):
“In spite of a fragile political context and a difficult humanitarian situation, I am delighted by the decision of the Haitian Government to convene its citizens to the ballots next 28 November. These elections represent a big step in the process of democratic consolidation and the re-establishment of the State after the earthquake.”
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Edmond Mulet, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of mission of the United Nations Stabilization Mission In Haiti (MINUSTAH):
“Institutional weakness, combined with the presence of displaced persons’ camps, the resurgence of gang activities and the instability which characterizes electoral periods in Haiti, contribute to create a volatile security environment. I remain concerned by the situation in the camps, where vulnerable groups, in particular women and children, are likely to be victims of sexual and genre based violence.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Léo Mérorès, Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations:
“We have a financial deficit regarding those projects. So, once again, the pledges made to Haiti by the international community during the donor’s conference in March, need to be urgently complied with so that the population’s expectations will not be disappointed.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations:
“The Secretary General’s report mentions discussion of force drawdown, and we recognize that this increase is indeed temporary in nature. That said, we believe any discussion of drawdown must be based on the security conditions on the ground in Haiti, on the achievement of security benchmarks, and after the hurricane season, the elections and a peaceful transition of power early next year are completed.”
9. Zoom out, Security Council
The top United Nations (UN) official in Haiti today (13 September) stressed the need to carry out credible and legitimate presidential and legislative elections on 28 November with the maximum popular participation despite a “fragile political context and difficult humanitarian situation.”
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of mission of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Edmond Mulet, said that these elections “represent a big step in the process of democratic consolidation and the re-establishment of the State after the earthquake.”
Mulet noted that although the security situation remains generally calm, “institutional weakness, combined with the presence of displaced persons’ camps, the resurgence of gang activities and the instability which characterizes electoral periods in Haiti, contribute to create a volatile security environment.”
Outlining steps taken since the drafting last month of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the impoverished nation, he expressed concern about the situation in the camps, “where vulnerable groups, in particular women and children, are likely to be victims of sexual and genre based violence.”
The United Nations has launched a new operation to combat rape and gender violence in Haiti, where some 1.3 million people were made homeless by January’s devastating earthquake, with the majority still living in camps.
Police and soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH) and Haitian national police (PNH), who are often the first responders, are being trained to tackle the problem and ensure medical services for victims. A 200-strong UN police unit continues to maintain a permanent presence in six high risk camps sheltering 135,000 people and carries out daily patrols in 70 other priority camps.
While the return to their homes of those displaced by the quake remained slow and tens of thousands of buildings needed major work or were beyond repair, Mulet called for a balance between providing services in the camps encouraging the displaced to return to their communities by providing basic services there, such as health and education.
Addressing the 15-member Security Council, Haiti’s Ambassador Léo Mérorès, said that his Government had approved a number of plans but noted that there is a “financial deficit regarding those projects”. He called on the financial community to “urgently” comply with the pledges made to Haiti during the donor’s conference in March in order not to disappoint “the population’s expectations”.
Only $506 million, or 18.9 per cent of the international assistance promised for 2010, has so far been provided.
United States’ Ambassador Susan Rice stressed that the current strength, augmented after the earthquake, should be maintained at least through the elections and the formation of a new Government, She said that “any discussion of drawdown must be based on the security conditions on the ground.”
MINUSTAH, with nearly 12,000 military and police personnel currently deployed around the country, has been on the ground since mid-2004 after then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile amid violent unrest.
