Tag Archives: haiti

International

UN admits Haiti cholera may have come from Peacekeepers, it’s not over

United Nations health investigators say the strain of cholera, that killed more than 4,000 people in Haiti, came from south Asia.

The UN officials say they traced the strain back to a river near a UN peacekeeper camp, that was occupied by troops from Nepal.  The UN admits that sanitation conditions at the camp were below standards.

The UN investigators refuse to blame the Nepalese, even though they say the evidence “overwhelmingly supports” that the Haiti cholera strain came from south Asia.

The cholera epidemic is not over for Haiti.  The United Nations predicts another 800,000 Haitians could become sick this year.

International, Opinion

More than a year after the 7.0 Haiti quake, still no aid getting to the people, bad sign for Japan

Haiti was hit by a 7.0 quake in January 2010, which devastated several cities.  Donations came in, officially anyway, but according to the UN (United Nations) only a fraction has gotten through.

Donations to Japan, after their catastrophic disasters on March 11, still lag behind the official donation numbers reported for Haiti. Japanese media is already reporting problems getting aid to their people.

“Tanks, armored vehicles and soldiers should have given way to bulldozers, engineers, more police instructors, experts in support to justice and to the penitentiary system.”-President René Préval

Outgoing Haitian President René Préval has pleaded with countries, and charities, to hurry up and get the aid out. President Préval is the only Haitian president to complete two terms without being jailed or exiled.

“Now that we’ve had this election, and the international community has accepted the results and verified and participated in the oversight of it, I think greater donor disbursements are important.”-Bill Clinton, UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Haiti

This is not a good sign for the people of Japan. Haiti got more aid money than Japan, so far, and yet, more than a year later, Haiti is still waiting to see it. I don’t think Japan, with its catastrophic disasters, can rely on any help from the world community.