Muhammad Yunus announces financing in Haiti

October 13, 2012

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Nobel peace laureate Mohammad Yunus announced Saturday that his pro-business development group is financing several endeavors through a mix of loans and equity.

The projects that incorporate Yunus' development philosophy of "social business" include two poultry farms, a bakery and a plantation of jatropha plants that can be used for biodiesel, offering an alternative energy source while creating jobs for 200 farmers.

The amount invested in each will range from $80,000 to $500,000, and feature loans with interest rates ranging from 6-10 percent. Such "social businesses" must each have a social mission like a non-governmental organization, but also generate revenues to cover costs like a profit-making business.

Yunus, an international development expert, made the announcement on the first of a three-day trip to Haiti that includes field visits and a conference examining ways to use his development philosophy to ease poverty in Haiti.

It was the second time Yunus had come to Haiti since visiting a year ago to introduce his "social business" philosophy to the impoverished Caribbean nation. The country is still recovering from a January 2010 earthquake that toppled thousands of buildings and displaced more than 1 million people.

The Germany-based Yunus Social Business Fund, formerly the Grameen Creative Lab, opened an office in Haiti after the temblor. Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker known for developing a microcredit program for entrepreneurs who were too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.

He sits on a board of more than 30 philanthropists, former government leaders and executives that advise Haitian President Michel Martelly on economic matters. Former President Clinton, also the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, is a co-chairman.

Yunus also plans to launch a nationwide social business competition for university students before leaving Haiti on Monday.

Haiti: Little Rain But Troubles Remain

By Giordano Cossu & Elodie Vialle
August 16, 2011

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—In early August, several western media turned to storm Emily and its threatening arrival to Haiti. Eventually it lost power and did not cause the expected damage. As a result, Haiti disappeared once again from the headings, pushed away by other news.

Yet living conditions are still deplorable in the country: living under tarps surrounded by rubble since the earthquake, no access to proper health care, employment or education, and plagued by insecurity. Whether the storm came or not, Haiti is devastated and far from any acceptable level of reconstruction.

A Haitian joke says that when a storm approaches Haiti, it looks at the country from the sky. Seeing its terrible conditions it says, “Ah, I must have already been here,” and it steers away. This is what storm Emily may have thought when it reached the coasts of Haiti last week: in Port-au-Prince, only a light rain was recorded.

"The international opinion only turns its eyes to Haiti when a disaster is looming over us," says Maryse, a woman living in Pacot, to the east of Port-au-Prince, adding that several Haitians grin ironically at this attention as their day-to-day struggles are forgotten.

Cholera

The authorities and international organizations also fear a surge in cholera cases as a consequence of rising water levels and the lack of drinkable water for over 600,000 people who are still living in makeshift camps, 18 months after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. Cholera has already resulted in nearly 6,000 victims in Haiti since its arrival last October.

Gabriel Thimothé, general director of the Health Ministry, insisted on the priorities to be tackled in partnership with the World Health Organization: providing free drinkable water to the population; and preventing water contamination as well as the overflow of latrines. This might ease the further spread of the disease in a country where hygienic conditions are appalling, and waste treatment is virtually nonexistent.

Security

Just as the latest news about storm Emily was announced at the National Center of Emergency Operations to Haitian and international organizations and the media, repeated gunshots were heard a few meters from the compound. The emergency center is located near Parc Jean Marie Vincent, one of the largest tent camps in Port-au-Prince with tens of thousands of disaster victims living there. The number has gradually decreased over time from the original 48,000, specifically because of security issues.

In June 2010, the camp had been subject to a clean-up mission by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and Haitian police evicted criminal gangs who used it as their base. Yet in spite of those efforts, violent incidents remain frequent, as larger and smaller gangs use the camp as a base for criminal activities. In a survey taken last December, 68 percent of people said that they did not feel safe in the camp.

At the sound of the gunshots, some 20 inhabitants of the area quickly found refuge inside the compound while other passersby scattered in all directions. “It’s only sporadic, roughly three days per week,” explained the police guard at the gate, without stress.

“Some gangs shoot around to intimidate the people. Wait 10 minutes before leaving, and then drive as fast as you can, without stopping” he advises the journalists who came here for the press conference on storm Emily. Bullets are part of the day on this side of Port-au-Prince.

Among those who have found refuge in the compound, Augustine, a young mother carrying her infant in her arms, looked scared as she did not want to go back to her tent for fear of the thugs who spread terror within the population. The risk of rain and flooding, for them, is clearly their last worry now.

Unemployment

Even in quieter areas, those living in camps find it difficult to meet their basic needs. Most have no job and struggle to feed their families. The world thinks that plastic sheets and tarps were donated to those in need, but in fact the great majority of those in the camps had to buy them. Second-hand of course, often already ripped apart and offering only minimal shelter from sun, wind, and rain.

Joseph, 49 years old, living in the camp at Canapé Vert, paid 500 gourdes (US$12) for each of the five sheets that give shelter to him and his family. He makes flower arrangements for funerals, but he sells very little since the earthquake. He spent the whole day in Carrefour (about one hour from Port-au-Prince) unsuccessfully looking for clients.

“No way I can be ready for the storm. I have no means. We just tightened the ropes around the tent,” he says, adding complaints about “the absence of the authorities who left us alone.”

Political deadlock

Haitian President Michel Martelly did send warnings to the homeless in the camps. He encouraged people living in the lower-ground of the city to move up to the hills. Martelly was recently inaugurated as president but is still struggling to form a new government due to harsh contrasts with the Inite opposition party who has majority in the Senate. This political deadlock contributes to creating tensions amid the feeling that the state is not in control, hence no strong actions or reforms are being employed despite election promises.

Lack of Resources

All those living in the camps would certainly like to move out to a safer area; where to go is their dilemma.

“We don’t know where to go, and we are afraid that we will not find our tents and things again when we come back,” confides 27-year-old Anouza, mother of two girls aged 13 and 11 and a young boy aged 4, pointing to the small tent, ripped on the side, where they all live. The school year re-opens in September, but she has no money to send her two girls to school, just like the majority of families in the camps. In a country in desperate need for the younger generations to take the lead for a better future, the lack of free education accessible to the poor represents a handicap for decades to come.

If Emily closely missed Haiti, what if the next hurricane does take a toll on the country? According to OCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, between 200 and 300 emergency sites (for 30,000 to 50,000 people) were available to host earthquake victims if a forced evacuation by the Haitian Civil Protection became necessary. However, the list is still not consolidated as inspections at these sites are still ongoing, which raises concerns about the effectiveness of emergency evacuation procedures.

When compared with the 600,000 still living under tents and tarps, these figures appear largely insufficient. The Haitian population can still pray “Bondye” (the Good Lord) that the next hurricane, too, will take compassion on them and stay away from their country. Because nobody else seems to have the will and strength to seriously address the structural issues of post-earthquake Haiti.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/haiti-little-rain-but-troubles-remain-60442-all.html.

Haiti remembers those killed in earthquake - Summary

Wed, 12 Jan 2011

Port-au-Prince- A funeral service in the ruins of Port-au- Prince cathedral Wednesday launched ceremonies to remember the 230,000 people killed in a quake that devastated Haiti a year ago.

Thousands, many of them dressed in white, gathered in the early morning for mass at the site of the cathedral, which was destroyed in the January 12, 2010 quake along with much of the city and its surroundings. Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot was among those killed in the quake.

All archbishops and bishops in Haiti conducted mass together, and the service was attended among others by Haitian presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat and by Haitian-American rapper Wyclef Jean.

Haitians and members of international aid organizations marked the anniversary in other cities and towns.

At 4:53 pm (2153 GMT), the precise time of the disaster a year ago, the whole country is set to grind to a halt, with white balloons being let off in areas devastated by the quake.

Edmond Mulet, commander of the UN Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH), highlighted the United Nation's support for Haiti one year after a quake which also claimed the lives of 102 UN peacekeepers and employees in the country.

"In the memory of hundreds of thousands of missing persons, of injured, of handicapped, of displaced people, the Special Representative of the United Nations General secretary for Haiti is keen to express to the Haitian people that the United Nations are and will remain with them," Mulet said in a statement.

The quake was "the greatest tragedy that the country and the United Nations have ever known," Mulet said.

He recalled the fact that Haiti lost not only thousands of civilians but also thousands of government officials and a huge portion of its infrastructure in the quake. MINUSTAH itself, he stressed, lost 102 people and was left "beheaded," Mulet said.

Former US president Bill Clinton and Wyclef Jean are among prominent personalities who are in Haiti for the anniversary.

Beyond the Caribbean country's borders, the anniversary was observed too.

In New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky said that "the Secretary-General would like to express his solidarity with the people of Haiti and all those who suffered tragic losses a year ago."

"We honour those who left us and carry on their work," Nesirky said.

In Washington, the Organization of American States (OAS) paid tribute to the dead.

"On such a sad day we join with Haiti and all of the international community in mourning for the loss of so many thousands of lives," said OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza.

Insulza highlighted evident problems in reconstruction efforts.

"The challenges and hurdles are huge and the lack of coordination persists, but we have to persevere. We owe it to all in Haiti and to the memory of those who died," he said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/362040,killed-earthquake-summary.html.

UN remembers those killed in Haiti earthquake in 2010

Wed, 12 Jan 2011

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon led the world organization on Wednesday to commemorate victims of the earthquake in Haiti a year ago, vowing to maintain solidarity with the Haitian people as they face challenging days ahead.

The ceremony at UN headquarters in New York took place in the small chapel decorated with glass windows by French artist Marc Chagall and attended by senior officials of the organization.

A moment of silence lasting 47 seconds was held to echo the duration of the earthquake that struck the capital Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010, at 4:53 pm local time.

"We are gathered today in solidarity with the people of Haiti, with one another, and with all who lost their loved ones on that tragic day," Ban said in an address at the solemn ceremony. "For all who suffer injuries, physical and emotional, we offer our deepest sympathy."

The magnitude 7 quake killed an estimated 222,000 people, including 102 UN personnel and peacekeepers.

Ban said the struggle by the Haitian people and government to rebuild, backed by the international community, is far from over and the road ahead "will be long and hard."

"The UN and the entire international community has stood by Haiti and its people in its darkest hour," Ban said, urging continued efforts at recovery and reconstruction. "Together we will work with them toward a brighter future."

"In the memory of our fallen comrades, let's pledge to realize their dreams of a better Haiti," Ban said about the work of UN personnel who died in the quake.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/362049,killed-haiti-earthquake-2010.html.

Renewed anti-government protests in Haiti - Summary

Tue, 04 Jan 2011

Port-au-Prince - Critics of the Haitian government were protesting again against President Rene Preval, Radio Metropole reported.

They built barricades on key streets in the Haitian capital Port- au-Prince since late Monday, the radio station said Tuesday. Earlier, Preval said in a televised address that he intended to remain in office until May, instead of leaving in February according to the original schedule.

The country, the poorest in the Americas, is beset by a series of challenges, beginning with the slow recovery from the January 12, 2010 quake, which claimed at least 230,000 lives.

It is immersed in a cholera epidemic that has killed at least 3,300 people in recent weeks. And controversy shrouds the outcome of the November 28 presidential election, for which no official results have been announced amid complaints of fraud.

Experts from the Organization of American States (OAS) are currently overseeing the count.

Preval is accused of having manipulated the election to favor his party's candidate, Jude Celestin. If unofficial results announced so far are eventually confirmed, Celestin would join conservative Mirlande Manigat in the runoff, leaving popular singer Michel Martelly out of the race for the presidency.

The runoff was originally scheduled for January, with the new president to take office in February.

On Tuesday, Sean Penn, the US actor who maintains a camp for the homeless in Port-au-Prince, criticized the international community over delays in aid for Haiti, telling a German magazine much of the pledged aid had still not arrived.

He told Stern magazine that the Caribbean country would not be suffering a cholera epidemic if governments and aid groups had acted faster to ensure that all Haitians had clean water to drink.

Penn accused aid groups of preferring to hand out food instead of helping Haitians to rebuild homes. He said that of 10 billion dollars pledged to Haiti last March, "hardly anything" had arrived.

According to Stern, which published his remarks in German, Penn said that if those nations had sent money as pledged and ensured clean water for every Haitian, installing pipes and filters, the cholera epidemic would not have broken out.

Cholera returned in October to Haiti where it had not been seen for 100 years.

Penn charged that both Germany and the United States were withholding aid. He said the danger of corruption in Haiti was not a valid reason to withhold aid from those in desperate need.

Stern released the remarks to other media a day before the magazine hits the streets. It said the camp run by Penn's JP HRO organization was serving 55,000 people and was exemplary.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360709,protests-haiti-summary.html.

Haiti to verify vote count after violence over preliminary results

Thu, 09 Dec 2010

Washington/Port-au-Prince - Haiti's electoral authorities on Thursday said they will verify the vote count from last month's elections after the disputed preliminary results triggered violence across the country.

"We are going to create a commission to verify the count," Philippe Augustin, a member of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) told the German Press Agency dpa.

The preliminary results from the November 28 poll gave a narrow lead to ruling party candidate Jude Celestin over popular musician Michael Martelly for second place in January's runoff.

Former first lady Mirlande Manigat received 31.37 per cent of the vote, according to the electoral commission results, and will face Celestin, who received 22.48 per cent. Martelly got 21.89 per cent of votes, despite recent polls suggesting he would defeat Celestin, the protege of outgoing President Rene Preval.

The CEP's Augustin said international observers and representatives of the three candidates were to be made part of the commission.

Haitian daily Le Nouvelliste quoted a CEP statement as saying that this was an "emergency, exceptional verification procedure."

It remained unclear when the verification would start.

The demonstrations started shortly after the preliminary results were announced late Tuesday and the country has continued to simmer since.

Thousands of angry Haitians went on a rampage across the impoverished nation, burning tires, looting stores, blocking roads with rubble and setting fire to offices of the governing party over widespread allegations of vote rigging in the elections.

There were hopes that the election would yield a fresh and stable leadership for Haiti, to aid the country's reconstruction process as it struggles to emerge from the rubble of January's devastating earthquake, which killed close to 230,000 people, and a raging cholera epidemic that has left more than 2,100 dead.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357453,count-violence-preliminary-results.html.

Protests grow over Haiti vote rigging claims - Summary

Wed, 08 Dec 2010

Port-au-Prince - Thousands of angry Haitians went on a rampage in capital Port-au-Prince and other cities, burning tires, looting stores and setting fire to offices of the governing party over widespread allegations of vote rigging in last month's elections.

The demonstrations started shortly after preliminary election results were announced late Tuesday and escalated through Wednesday. The initial results from the crucial November 28 elections gave a narrow lead to ruling party candidate Jude Celestin over popular musician Michael Martelly for second place in January's runoff.

Former first lady Mirlande Manigat received 31.37 per cent of the vote, according to the electoral commission results, and will face Celestin, who received 22.48 per cent. Martelly got 21.89 per cent of votes, despite recent polls suggesting he would defeat Celestin, the protege of outgoing President Rene Preval.

Three people were reportedly killed in the protests, as the United Nations and Organization of American States (OAS) called for calm.

"This will not simplify the situation," said one witness to the violence. "It is a total rebellion against the government."

Protesters set fire across the country to headquarters and offices of Preval's Inite party. They tore and burned Celestin's election posters. Thick, black plumes of smoke spiraled above the earthquake- shattered skyline of the capital city, as gun shots echoed through the streets.

In Port-au-Prince, crowds gathered outside the headquarters of the Provisional Electoral Council chanting, "We want Michel Martelly" and "We want our rights."

American Airlines canceled its six daily flights to and from Port-au-Prince on Wednesday and Thursday "due to the inability of airport and airline employees as well as passengers to get to and from the airport," a company statement said.

In New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concerns about the allegations of fraud and subsequent violence. He reminded all the candidates "that they have a personal responsibility to encourage their supporters to remain calm and to stop violence."

Jose Miguel Insulza, OAS secretary general, noted that the results were just a "provisional count." He said the OAS observation mission would "closely monitor" the process in the coming weeks in which candidates can challenge election results.

The US embassy in Port-au-Prince urged Haitians to "express themselves peacefully."

"The 2010 elections represent a critical test of whether the Haitian people will determine their destiny through their vote, and it would be regrettable that violence would mar this process," the embassy said in a statement.

The United States was concerned that the preliminary results were "inconsistent" with the published results of the National Election Observation Council (CNO), which had more than 5,500 observers and observed the vote count in 1,600 voting centers nationwide, the embassy said.

Responding to a question about Preval's alleged accusations that that US was partly responsible for the rioting because of its criticism of the election, US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said: "The United States is in no way responsible for the actions of any individual."

He told reporters in Washington, "We are determined to help Haiti achieve a credible election and a result - not one that the United States will impose, but one that the people of Haiti can participate in fully and that the government that emerges reflects the will of the Haiti people and will have the legitimacy and support necessary to move the country forward."

There were hopes that the election would yield a fresh and stable leadership for Haiti, to aid the impoverished country's reconstruction process as it struggles to emerge from the rubble of January's devastating earthquake, which killed close to 230,000 people, and a raging cholera epidemic that has left more than 2,100 dead.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357270,rigging-claims-summary.html.

'Unpredictable' cholera to afflict Haiti for years: US

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Nov 18, 2010

The deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti is virulent and unpredictable, and repeated outbreaks could wreak havoc for years to come, US officials and health experts warned on Thursday.

"This strain of cholera seems to be more virulent than normal strains," Thomas Adams, the special US coordinator for Haiti, told reporters.

"The disease fooled us," added Adams, saying a cholera outbreak was feared likely in the impoverished Caribbean nation following January's deadly earthquake, but most expected it to break out in the capital Port-au-Prince.

More than 1,100 people have died from the diarrhea-causing illness since it emerged in central and northern parts of the country last month, with more than 18,000 people infected.

A case of cholera has also been found in both the neighboring Dominican Republic and the US state of Florida. Both victims traveled from Haiti.

"The course of the cholera outbreak in Haiti is difficult to predict," the the US-based Centers for Disease Control said in a report on the progress of the disease and efforts to stop its deadly course.

"The Haitian population has no preexisting immunity to cholera, and environmental conditions in Haiti are favorable for its continued spread," it said.

"Longer-term persistence of (the bacterium) V. (Vibrio) cholerae in the environment in Haiti and recurrent cholera outbreaks also are possible."

While the initial source of the bacteria-based disease was likely contaminated water in the Artibonite River, future outbreaks could result from tainted food, the CDC said.

"Risk factors for illness might change as the outbreak expands over time. Contamination of food by persons who are ill, either via the use of contaminated water or poor food preparation hygiene also can contribute to the spread of disease."

Haiti has long suffered from dismal sanitation and polluted drinking water, a situation that worsened after the devastating 7.0 earthquake in January that displaced more than a million people and killed 250,000.

Just 17 percent of Haiti's population had access to adequate sanitation prior to the earthquake, which damaged many of the nation's treated water facilities and piped water distribution systems, the CDC said.

The CDC and other agencies are trying to widely distribute prepackaged oral rehydration solutions so that local residents can drink the safe fluids at the first sign of symptoms and hopefully ward off the deadly dehydration that cholera can cause.

But the harsh reality of life in the overpopulated tent camps around the capital and beyond, in addition to periodic riots as anger and frustration mount, means aid workers will face an uphill climb.

"The number of cases might be lowered substantially if efforts to reduce transmission are implemented fully, but they also might be increased substantially by delays in implementation, flooding, or other disruptions," the CDC said.

Manoj Menon, the CDC liaison for the US cholera response, told reporters that health officials could not rule out rumors that poor sanitation at a UN peacekeeping compound caused the outbreak.

"We will likely never know where this came from," he said, pointing out the difficulties in pinpointing the source of the disease.

But experience shows that cholera has an increased chance of spreading in countries where infant mortality is high, such as in Haiti, he added.

"We hope that given the current preventive and treatment measures we have... the biggest burden will be early on in the epidemic, and that's what's we're seeing now," Menon said.

"But we expect that cases will continue and the organism will be present in the environment for a number of years."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Unpredictable_cholera_to_afflict_Haiti_for_years_US_999.html.