News from Haiti:
Commentary: The curse of striking gold in Haiti
May 19, 2012
The news is out of the bag: Haiti has billions of dollars of gold in its ground. Will this gold serve as a curse to make the nation as divided as the Central African Republic or will this gold enrich each citizen with the means put at his disposal so he will become as...
Haitian adolescent girls to benefit from vocational training
May 10, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- On Wednesday, the World Bank launched the Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) in Haiti. The initiative is a global public-private partnership aimed at fostering economic independence among 12,000 young girls and...
OAS assistant secretary general meets with young Haitian business leaders
May 8, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- A delegation of young Haitian businessmen traveled to Washington, DC, this week to meet with OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin. The delegation included investors in the tourism, manufacturing and transportation sectors.
UN envoy welcomes Haitian parliament's confirmation of new premier
May 5, 2012
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti on Friday welcomed the confirmation by parliament of the appointment of the country’s prime minister designate, Laurent Lamothe.
Commentary: Labour Day in Haiti
May 5, 2012
In a country where 89% of the population endure unemployment or underemployment, more than 500,000 people, mostly young ones, turned out into the vast yard of Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture to celebrate International Labour Day on May 1.
Emergency aid shipment for Haiti cholera epidemic
May 4, 2012
STAMFORD, USA -- AmeriCares is rushing to deliver more than 100,000 liters of IV solutions for victims of the worsening cholera epidemic in Haiti. The emergency shipment contains enough IV fluids to treat at least 17,000 of the most seriously ill patients.
Haiti agriculture: Growing investments
April 27, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- Agriculture remains a key sector for Haiti, as half of its population lives in rural areas. Together with other donors, the IDB supports the Haitian government’s national agricultural plan, which seeks to address structural problems.
IDB grants $27 million for Haiti rural land tenure program
April 26, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has announced the approval of a $27 million grant for a pilot program to improve land tenure security in rural areas in northern and southern Haiti.
Haiti's disaster risk management and recovery experience showcased in Washington
April 18, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- Thierry Mayard-Paul, Haiti's Chief of Staff and Minister of the Interior, Territorial Collectivities and National Defense, led a Haitian delegation that shared Haiti's disaster risk management and recovery experience with...
American Red Cross funds pioneering cholera vaccine distribution in Haiti
April 13, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- The American Red Cross has contributed $1 million to purchase and distribute oral cholera vaccinations to 100,000 people in urban and rural Haitian communities. The Red Cross funding will support a $1.3 million vaccination project.
IDB supports leading Haitian insurer
April 11, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $2 million subordinated loan to Alternative Insurance Company (AIC), the leading locally based insurer in Haiti. This is the first IDB non-sovereign guaranteed operation...
Commentary: Easter in Haiti
April 9, 2012
Haiti is Catholic country. On Maundy Thursday and all day Good Friday most business come to a halt. All over the nation the Catholic hierarchy has instructed the priests to take over the streets and conduct a public affirmation of faith in leading the way of the cross.
Twelve years of impunity after murders in Haiti
April 4, 2012
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- Twelve years ago, a voice and advocate for justice was silenced in Haiti. On 3 April 2000, Jean Léopold Dominique, journalist and executive director of Radio Haiti Inter was shot dead in the station’s courtyard.
Commentary: An excellent coup de maitre!
April 4, 2012
I have been a fervent advocate of the decentralization process of the State University of Haiti. The present governing board, albeit reupholstered, is still plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (the more things change, the more they remain the same).
Digicel Group acquires Voila in Haiti
April 3, 2012
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- Digicel Group has acquired Haitian mobile operator, Voila, from its parent company, US-based Trilogy International Partners, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction closed on Friday, March 30, 2012.
UN concerned over funding for humanitarian services in Haiti
March 28, 2012
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti -- The United Nations and the government of Haiti on Tuesday voiced concern over a lack of resources to fund humanitarian services that are still required to help people in the Caribbean country recover from recent crises.
French ministry to bring Haitian delegates to France
March 28, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Following a series of meetings between Haiti's Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul and Jean Dussourd, Prefet Referent on Haiti to the French Ministry of the Interior, Dussourd will be organizing visits to France by...
Commentary: The fine line between free speech and free fall destabilisation
March 27, 2012
I was discussing at the dinner table with my 100-year-old father, a reputed and fine jurist (he was dean of the law school of Cape Haitian and chief judge of the civil court of Port au Prince), the issue Mr Andre Michel, a lawyer in the process of being sued by...
Haiti launches seismic risk reduction plan
March 24, 2012
CAP HAITIEN, Haiti -- Haiti's Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator, Helen Clark hosted a landmark validation ceremony in Cap-Haitien on Friday, putting into action a precedent-setting...
IMF approves US$15.1 million disbursement to Haiti
March 22, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the second and third reviews of Haiti’s performance under the extended credit facility (ECF) arrangement on March 19, 2012. Completion of the reviews will...
First ever Australian Civilian Corps volunteer concludes one-year assignment in Haiti
March 22, 2012
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- The first ever Australian Civilian Corps volunteer to be deployed, Jed Abad, will conclude his year-long assignment in Haiti at the end of this month. Abad was deployed to Haiti in April 2011 as the donor liaison officer to...
Haiti receives advice from UN economists on attracting foreign investment
March 19, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- United Nations economists have provided the Haitian government with advice on a new investment strategy to help the country attract financing to rebuild infrastructure and boost economic development.
US concerned about Haitian drug trafficking in Bahamas
March 17, 2012
NASSAU, Bahamas -- Haitian and Haitian-Bahamian drug trafficking organizations have been identified as major contributors to the drug trade in The Bahamas, according to a US Department of State report. The International Narcotic Control Strategy Report...
Cuba to build three new hospitals in Haiti
March 17, 2012
HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla met on Thursday in Port-au-Prince with President Michel Martelly and members of his cabinet at the beginning of a two-day day official visit to Haiti.
Convictions against UN peacekeepers in Haiti do not serve justice, says Amnesty Intl
March 17, 2012
LONDON, England -- A year in jail for three UN Pakistani peacekeepers found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy is a travesty of justice, Amnesty International said on Thursday. On 14 March, the UN revealed the three peacekeepers were...
Commentary: Will Haiti survive?
March 17, 2012
This question seems presumptuous since Haiti, which lost some 300,000 people (more than the combined population of Dominica, Montserrat, Anguilla, BVI, Turks and Caicos, St Kitts, Cayman Islands and Antigua) in the earthquake of January 12, 2010...
Three UN peacekeepers repatriated from Haiti for sexual abuse
March 15, 2012
NEW YORK, USA -- Three United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti have been repatriated following a Pakistani military hearing on the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old Haitian male, a spokesman for the world body said on Tuesday.
Haitian government launches community-based decentralization program
March 15, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- The government of Haiti’s President Michel Martelly, working through the Ministry of Interior and local communities, has launched Katye Pam Pose (KPP), an innovative, community-based decentralization program.
CARICOM to take over financing of its office in Haiti
March 12, 2012
PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has decided to take over financing of the operations of the regional bloc’s representative and office in Haiti. The CARICOM heads of government, during their just concluded...
Commentary: Haiti and the issue of dual nationality
March 12, 2012
For the last two months the issue of dual nationality has been on the front and the back pages in the media, the legislature and in the public mind in Haiti. Indeed, Senator Moise Jean Charles of the north of Haiti is accusing President Michel Martelly of...
Police reform vital to improve security situation in Haiti, says UN envoy
March 9, 2012
NEW YORK, USA -- The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) stressed on Thursday that although the security situation in Haiti has improved in recent years, there is still an urgent need for police reform.
New disaster centre boosts Haiti's civil protection network
March 9, 2012
FORT-LIBERTE, Haiti -- Haiti's comprehensive disaster preparedness strategy advanced significantly with this week’s groundbreaking ceremony for a new emergency operations center, disaster relief warehouse, and fire station in Fort-Liberte.
Haiti's decentralization strategy and priority sectors receive boost
March 8, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- International civilian and military teams aboard the US naval vessel HSV SWIFT have completed a three-week mission of knowledge-sharing and capacity building in Northern Haiti, significantly strengthening the...
Commentary: Haiti, the Greece of the Caribbean
March 6, 2012
St Lucia dubbed herself the Helen of the Caribbean. Helen was that goddess of Greek mythology, daughter of the god Zeus and the goddess Leda. She was so beautiful that she had hundreds of suitors, including king and princes. Wedded to Menelaus...
Haitian women denounce poor living conditions, authorities' inaction
March 5, 2012
ANSE-A-PITRES, Haiti -- As part of its "Women Empowerment" program activities financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Haiti's Southeast Department border communes of Thiotte, Grand Gosier and Anse-a-Pitres...
Implementation of seismic risk plan accelerated in northern Haiti
March 3, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul said Haiti's Civil Protection Agency, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program, will accelerate the implementation of the Seismic Risk Plan (SRP) in Northern Haiti.
First mobile phone cash transfers facilitate home rebuilding in Haiti
March 3, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Survivors of the 2010 devastating earthquake in Haiti have this week started receiving cash subsidies through the first-ever mobile money transfer system in support of post-disaster housing reconstruction.
Haiti cuts ribbon for 400-house community for quake victims
March 2, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- For 400 families who lost their homes in the 2010 earthquake, the inauguration of the Les Orangers housing development north of Port-au-Prince will mark a major milestone in Haiti’s reconstruction.
Haitian leaders focus on attracting investments
March 2, 2012
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- In a Club de Madrid Conference held on Wednesday in Port-au-Prince, Jorge Quiroga, the former president of Bolivia, and Jose Maria Figueres, the former president of Costa Rica, conferred with the Presidential Advisory...
PADF to partner with investors in growing Haitian businesses
March 2, 2012
WASHINGTON, USA -- The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) has launched a new program in Haiti to attract international investments in Haitian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a key strategy to create jobs, generate income, and...
