March 16, 2017 H.E. Secretary-General António Guterres United Nations New York, N.Y. 10017 Dear Mr. Secretary-General, We write to you on behalf of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) to request a meeting to discuss the UN’s New Approach to Cholera in Haiti. As advocates for Haitian cholera victims, we congratulate you on your declared vision of building a culture of accountability in UN peacekeeping and ensuring effective remedies to victims of peacekeeping harms. The New Approach to Cholera in Haiti is a vital opportunity to realize that vision, and to ensure that the rights and dignity of victims are put first throughout the UN’s responses to peacekeeping harms. We are deeply concerned, however, that the current trajectory of fundraising and elaboration of the New Approach is betraying the UN’s promises […]

In December 2016, when then-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon apologized to Haitians for the UN cholera epidemic for the first time, he also announced a $400 million plan to reduce cholera and aid cholera victims. So far, the plan is only about 2% funded from voluntary contributions and pledges from UN member states. The new Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has asked all member states to notify him of their intentions regarding the plan by March 6. IJDH Director Brian Concannon emphasizes that despite funding concerns, the UN must consult with cholera victims and their families as it had originally promised. So far, there has been no word of these consultations beginning. Part of the article is below. Click HERE for the full text. UN Fund to Fight Cholera in Haiti Hovers at 2 Percent of Goal Carol Guensburg, VOA News March 1, 2017 Late last year, […]

On December 1, 2016, the United Nations launched a new $400 million approach to cholera in Haiti. The plan includes two track: Track One entails better efforts to reduce cholera, improve access to care and treatment, and address the water and sanitation systems. Track Two is material assistance and support to Haitians affected by cholera, including consultations with cholera victims and their communities. Unfortunately, the plan is only 2% funded so far. Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter to all UN member states asking them to express their intention to make a voluntary contribution (or not) by March 6. Part of the article is below. Click HERE for the full text. Haiti – Cholera : Funding Failure for the $400M UN Funds HaitiLibre February 26, 2017 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has asked Member States to inform him by 6 […]

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently stated that he would “burn his own body” if it would help Korea but his indecisive record at the United Nations makes many people doubt that. With the cholera epidemic in Haiti especially, Ban received major criticism for apologizing six years after the UN caused the epidemic. This, despite a UN expert panel establishing the UN fault in 2011 and everyone from cholera victims to UN experts criticizing the lack of UN response for several years. With Ban’s eye now on the Korean presidency, as his UN term has ended, many believe that the belated apology was really just an attempt to erase the cholera stain from Ban Ki-moon’s UN legacy. Part of the article is below. Click HERE for the full text. [Correspondent’s column] Is Ban Ki-moon really willing to burn his own body? Yi Yong-in, The Hankyoreh January […]

The United Nations has issued a General Assembly resolution on its new approach to fighting the cholera epidemic in Haiti. December 12, 2016 Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Ireland, Jamaica, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Uruguay and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of): draft resolution The new United Nations approach to cholera in Haiti The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 65/135 and 65/136 of 15 December 2010, Expressing concern at the recurrent outbreaks of cholera in Haiti, which have affected nearly 800,000 people and caused over 9,000 deaths to date, Deeply concerned that there has been an increase in the number of persons affected by cases of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases as a result of Hurricane […]

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s apology to the Haitian people for the UN’s involvement in the spread of cholera has been long awaited and was long overdue.  Now that he has apologized, a long road lies ahead for the UN to truly help end the epidemic in Haiti. The United Nations comes clean(ish) on cholera in Haiti The Editorial Board, The Washington Post December 12, 2016 MORE THAN six years after a brigade of U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal introduced cholera in Haiti, triggering an epidemic that has killed at least 10,000 and sickened many more, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has finally uttered the word “sorry.” Mr. Ban’s tortuously worded apology, delivered recently in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, must be the beginning, not the end, of official contrition and accountability by the United Nations in Haiti. The glacial rate at which […]