During a meeting last Tuesday of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Group of Friends of Haiti, an appeal was made to members for ongoing contributions to the Inter-American Emer-gency Aid Fund (FONDEM) and to ratify the Inter-American Convention to Facilitate Disaster Assistance in order to strengthen the organization’s disaster management system.
At the meeting, Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert R. Ramdin also expressed deep concern that disaster challenges have compounded the economic recovery of Haiti but he lauded the Haitian government’s effort to tackle the country’s difficult situation in the wake of hurricanes Fay, Hanna, Gustav and Ike, an OAS press release said.
The meeting was convened at the organization’s Washington, DC headquarters to review the report on the situation in the Caribbean nation and follows Ambassador Ramdin’s September 11-13 visit to Haiti.
While recognizing the Haitian government’s efforts, Ramdin also noted the contributions of the international community, including the agencies of the inter-American system, towards mobilizing resources for disaster relief in Haiti.
Meanwhile, the Assistant Secretary General commended the appointment of a new Cabinet in Haiti, which will facilitate the recovery effort, political stability and socio-economic development. He also saluted the initiative of representatives of the inter-American system organizations to hold regular coordination meetings on the ground in order to coordinate their programmes.
Several member state representatives shared information on the activities of their particular countries regarding the post-disaster humanitarian phase in Haiti.
They stressed too the need for effective mechanisms to prevent similar catastrophes in the region and for better, more coordinated responses when they do occur. They also identified engineering research, environmental restoration and preservation, proper building codes, education and law enforcement as vital to natural disaster mitigation initiatives.
Ramdin proposed the holding of a workshop on natural disaster in order to revise, streamline and revitalize the inter-American system re-garding disaster mitigation. He added that “structural problems require structural solutions,” in reference to a viable approach to cope with the situation in Haiti.
