PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) – Representatives from 31 countries attended the Continental Conference for the Withdrawal of MINUSTAH held in Port-au-Prince on Friday and Saturday under the theme “Unite for the departure of MINUSTAH”. A resolution was signed at the conference for the total withdraw of the United Nations peacekeeping forces from Haiti by May 28, 2014.

The two-day conference resulted in a resolution of six articles, one of which is Article 4, which calls for a strengthen of the National Police of Haiti by a legislative increase in the 2013-14 budget.

Other articles called for the immediate removal of soldiers of the United Nations from Haiti, a negative vote for renewal of the mandate of the peacekeeping mission by the United Nations Security Council, and protest alongside Haitians for damages to be paid for victims and families affected by the cholera outbreak, these were the demands of representatives of 31 nations with soldiers in the UN stabilization mission in Haiti.

The conference was organized at the initiative of Senator Jean-Charles Moise (Nord/Inite) who began a campaign in April, by traveling to Brazil and Argentina, urging for the removal of the UN soldiers.

“Now we come to a serious phase in the movement, that we will prevent the international community and the 5% of people who own almost all of the national wealth to hands on the natural resources of the country,” said the representative of the North, the air reassured, before several hundred supporters gathered at the foot of the statue of Dessalines on the Champ de Mars.

“No government, no foreign power can prevent this resolution from reaching his goal, said the main opponent of the government in power, Jean-Charles. May 14, 2014, get ready to celebrate the departure of MINUSTAH as it leaves the country May 28, 2014.”

In addition, Senator Jean-Charles Moses said the fight would not end with the removal of the UN force. “Even when the soldiers leave the country, we continue the fight for compensation for victims of cholera and other crimes by MINUSTAH in Haiti.”

The UN peacekeeping mission is charged with violating human rights abuses, beatings and killings of Haitians, introducing the cholera outbreak and not succeeding in its mission of providing security and ensuring the progress of democracy in Haiti.

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Un bâtiment fissuré, devenu aussi poreux qu’une vulgaire bâche malmenée par le soleil et des équipements détruits par la pluie : c’est la situation de l’Université du Roi Henry Christophe de Limonade (Urcl), faisant partie de l’université d’État d’Haïti (Ueh), observe l’agence en ligne AlterPresse.

Cette structure, « don » controversé de la République Dominicaine à Haïti, a été construite en moins de six mois.

Sur une superficie de 60 hectares de terre, le campus Roi Henri Christophe peut accueillir jusqu’à 10,000 étudiantes et étudiants, dans ses 4 bâtiments abritant 72 salles.

Lors de son inauguration, le 12 janvier 2012 (2 ans après le tremblement de terre), le campus avait suscité ébahissement et admiration.

En 2013, les sentiments paraissent tout autres.

« Immeubles fissurés un peu partout »

Nous sommes dans le bureau du secrétaire général de l’université, Kénold Moreau.

Celui-ci décrit une situation qui, visiblement, l’inquiète.

« Les immeubles du campus sont fissurés un peu partout. Ce sont des fissures assez profondes. Mais il n’y a pas que cela : les immeubles et les toits coulent partout », explique-t-il.

Pointant le doigt vers le divan en cuir noir, sur lequel nous sommes assis, Kénold Moreau signale que « si la pluie tombait, nous serions forcés de nous déplacer, parce que l’eau coulerait comme si l’on était à l’extérieur.

« Quand il pleut, cette jolie salle, dans laquelle nous nous trouvons, coule comme une passoire. Et, ce qui est pire, ce n’est pas dans cette salle seulement : il y a des toilettes qui sont fermées à cause de leur détérioration », ajoute-t-il, non sans ironie.

Dans les laboratoires également, l’eau de pluie a déjà endommagé pas mal de matériels électroniques précieux. Sur les 72 salles, seulement une cinquantaine fonctionnent.

Même dans le bureau du président du conseil d’administration de l’Université du Roi Henry Christophe de Limonade, Jean-Marie Théodat, « l’eau coule en permanence », continue de déplorer le secrétaire général, Kénold Moreau.

« Le rectorat de l’Ueh avait dépêché des ingénieurs civils. Même les Dominicains avaient promis de venir réparer… Rien n’a été fait. Ils ne sont pas venus, et nous sommes en train de subir durement les intempéries ».

Tant bien que mal…

Des difficultés académiques et administratives demeurent à l’université Roi Henri Christophe, qui a commencé à fonctionner, le 19 novembre 2012, à la suite d’un concours d’entrée, réalisé avec plus de 7 mille postulantes et postulants.

Selon Moreau, l’une d’elles est que certains professeurs – travaillant depuis plus de 6 mois – n’ont toujours pas reçu leurs traitements.

Les professeurs, pour la plupart, sont installés dans des conditions difficiles.

C’est que l’Université de Limonade – comme elle est appelée couramment – a débuté ses activités académiques avec un personnel incomplet, « dans une boîte vide qu’on devait remplir ».

« Nous n’avions pas tous les professeurs au début. Les étudiants étaient restés, un certain temps, sans suivre de cours. Jusqu’à maintenant, nous n’arrivons pas à compléter toute l’équipe du personnel enseignant », explique Moreau.

De plus, certaines filières ne sont pas encore disponibles, à l’image des sciences de l’éducation.

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The United Nations is condemning the eviction of up to 150 Haitian families living in a makeshift settlement established after a devastating 2010 earthquake.

Sophie de Caen of the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a Monday statement that she’s “gravely concerned” about the rights of quake victims being violated.

The U.N. says a tractor was used on June 4 to destroy tents in a camp established on private land, forcing 120-150 families to move out. It did not say who was behind the eviction.

Shortly after the quake, as many as 1.5 million people lived in such camps. But that number has dropped to 320,000, in part because of evictions.

Those forced removals are now among Haiti’s more pressing rights concerns.

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On May 31 the World Bank, PAHO and UNICEF announced $28.1 million in new funding for cholera elimination efforts in Haiti. The new funding was announced following a meeting in Washington, D.C. of the Regional Coalition to Eliminate Cholera Transmission in Hispaniola. In February 2013, a $2.2 billion, 10-year cholera elimination plan was announced by the Government of Haiti, with the support of the coalition. The plan calls for $443.7 million over the first two years. Thus far, however, there have been few details of how the plan will be funded and coordinated.

In announcing the new funding, PAHO noted that UNICEF would “take lead responsibility for the operation of a national trust fund to channel resources to cholera elimination.” While the terms of reference for the national fund are still being worked out, those familiar with the discussions told HRRW that it would be run by a steering committee led by the ministries of health of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In contrast with previous aid and reconstruction funds that have largely bypassed the Haitian government and Haitian institutions, the new fund would have the ability to directly fund the work of the Haitian government as well as international NGOs.

“Donors are looking for improved international cooperation with Haiti and this is a model they’re looking for,” said Kate Dickson, Senior Policy Advisor at PAHO. Dickson added, “it is a model that allows the respective governments, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, to actually take the lead, accompanied by a coalition at the international level.”

This would represent a significant change from previous efforts, such as the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, which was only able to disburse funds to the U.N., World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. It also may reflect the influence of Paul Farmer, named the U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Community Based Medicine and Lessons from Haiti. Under his previous role as Deputy U.N. Special Envoy, Farmer argued that “the way aid is channeled matters a great deal, and determines its impact on the lives of the Haitian people.”

During the meeting between coalition partners and donor groups in late May, Farmer directly addressed this, in an appeal to donors:

By December 2012, only 10% of the total $6.4 billion dollars invested in Haiti had gone through national systems.  We have learned and relearned this lesson in Haiti: unless efforts are made to increase the amount of such resources to and through public institutions, the process of building them is slowed or thwarted. When we say “through”, we mean of course, that there can be local private entities, from contractors to NGOs, that wish to be part of rebuilding… Again, we are here not only to fund the national actions plans, but to do so in a way that strengthens ownership and local capacity, while accompanying local authorities and providers. This requires, as the Americans say, “boots on the ground” – not those of soldiers but of community health workers.

Nevertheless, some traditional donors, reluctant to give up operational control of their aid funds may instead opt to work outside of the national fund. This is already evident. In December, when the U.N. Secretary General announced an initiative to support the cholera elimination plan, he stated that there had already been $238.5 million committed. However, with the recent funding commitments of $28.1 million announced last week, PAHO noted that it “brings the total funds committed to support the national plans to $209.4 million, less than half the amount needed over just the next two years.”
The Secretary General’s announcement, where he pledged to “use every opportunity” to mobilize funding for the plan, included commitments from the IDB and Spanish government for example, to support the water and sanitation sector in general.  Once plans for a national fund emerged, some donors appear to have balked at providing resources through this mechanism rather than through other channels of their choosing.  USAID also reportedly does not favor putting resources into a national fund, though it is apparently interested in coordinating with the coalition. USAID did not respond to a request for comment.

But, as the national fund has yet to formally take shape and the immediate needs on the ground remain pressing, for the time being many donors will continue to fund work in the water and sanitation sector through their existing funds. “Saving lives is a priority,” said PAHO’s Dickson. “We cannot wait on the mobilization of resources for the fund to be set up, we have to move now using existing funding mechanisms to ensure a timely response to any additional outbreaks.” While donors may at first be reluctant to channel resources into a national fund, by working with the coalition the hope is that program activities will be integrated into the scope of the cholera elimination plan. The risk, however, is that aid agencies and donors fall into the same mistakes that have been made in the past, bypassing the Haitian government and failing to coordinate. What is clear though is that with hurricane season beginning, and cholera continuing to spread, the needs are not just long-term but also immediate.

“The situation is worse than it was two years ago,” says Duncan McLean, a health program manager for Medecin Sans Frontieres, adding, “I’m very, very concerned about the state of cholera preparation in Haiti. The situation has become more dangerous than it was before.”

Through the first three months of the year, the number of reported cases was up 83 percent over 2012, while deaths had increased by over 100 percent. Over the last two months cases have diminished, though cholera is still sickening nearly 100 Haitians every day. Part of this decrease is because the spring rains, which led to large increases in the caseload in 2012, have not occurred this year. However, with the hurricane season starting June 1 and the potential for a late rainy season, the expected cholera spike may have just been delayed. As of May 28, over 6.5 percent of the population has been sickened by the disease and at least 8,120 Haitians have died, according to the Health Ministry

Meanwhile, funds for the short-term response have been just has hard to come by as funding for long-term development. “To treat cholera primarily as a development issue is grand, but people are dying now,” McLean told Fox News. The Miami Herald reported last month that the $37 million U.N. appeal for Haiti was just 19 percent funded and that “Water, sanitation and health activities related to cholera are so far the least funded sectors” of the appeal.

The result has been a decreased response capacity on the ground. According to data from the United Nations, the number of cholera treatment centers and treatment units has decreased drastically over the last two years, and has reached a low of just 28 for the entire country as of April 2013, down from over 300 in early 2011.  Haiti’s Ministry of Health, which has struggled to take over for departing NGOs, is sounding the alarm. “The rainy season is upon us. Alas, our resources are not as available as they need to be. We must take urgent and bold steps to meet these needs,” Marie Raymond, director general of MSPP warned.

As Farmer stated to donors last week, “there is much to be done in the immediate term, long before the goal of eradication might be met. The fatality rate among cholera patients in Haiti is still far too high; of course no one should get cholera but no one, once sick, should die from it.”

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By Barbara Joe
June 6th, 2013