SANDRA HONORÉ REPORT
Last Thursday, Sandra Honoré, the special Representative of the United Nations General Secretary for Haiti, went to the United Nations in New York to report to the Security Council about the situation in the country. She declared that "a strong spirit of compromise between the Haitian stakeholders, and a commitment so strong to reach consensus, will be essential for the country to return to constitutional order."
Considering the number of delays in the implementation of the agreement, she underlined "a prolonged period of political uncertainty is not in the interest of the Haitian people because it diverts the attention which should be on preserving the stabilization improvements that have been achieved during the last few years. Failure in restoring political stability would have long-term grave consequences and could put in danger the well-being of the Haitian people."
THE SECURITY COUNCIL ADDRESS THE SUSPENDED POLITICAL CYCLE IN HAITI
The members of the security council expressed their profound concern about the continuous suspension of the electoral cycles in Haiti and called up to the completion of the electoral cycle without further delay, to allow the Haitian people to have the opportunity to vote for their representatives elected in a free, just, inclusive and transparent election
AMBASSADOR PAULA CALDWELL VISITS PARLEMENT
On Thursday, March 17th, Paula Cadwell, the Ambassador of Canada in Haiti, went to the Haitian Parliament for in courtesy visit. She expressed her concerns with regard to the political situation prevailing in Haiti.
During this visit in which about ten presidents of committees participated, questions relative to the country’s political and socioeconomic conjuncture were addressed, according to the vice-president of the Senate.
Cholera : almost 100 dead since January 2016
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — Haiti says it has recorded 96 people died from cholera during the first two months of this year.
The Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) said there were also 7, 782 cases of the disease during the period January 1 to February 27.
But it said that the trend is towards a decrease in the number of cases following the outbreak US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention described as the worst epidemic of cholera in recent history.
Haitians have blamed UN peacekeeping troops from Nepal whom they said carried strains of the disease with them, contaminating a large portion of the country’s drinking water.
The United Nations initially denied any role in the outbreak, and has refused to redress complaints, claiming immunity under a 1946 convention. In January, a US judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by human rights groups seeking compensation for Haitian victims.
The MSPP said that the decline has been observed every week despite the recent rains, saying “this situation demonstrates of a better capacity to control the transmission in outbreak and at the same time the need to enhance efforts to strengthen the management of cases.
“The humanitarian community continues to support the Haitian government in its efforts not only to ensure a rapid and effective response to the cholera epidemic in improving access to drinking water services, sanitation and health, but also to reduce the vulnerability of populations living in the most at-risk cholera areas.
“As part of the continuation of this commitment, a humanitarian response plan in which the response to the cholera outbreak is a priority, is being developed,” the MSPP added.
But it noted that the number of deaths during the first two months of this year is higher than the same period last year when 67 deaths were recorded.
In addition, the Ministry of Health reports that 18 communities, including Cap-Haïtien, Limbé, Pilatte, Port Margot and even some sections of the capital, remain in a red alert.
PIO/CG-PR33/2016
Haiti unveils cabinet to fill political vacuum
ByLouis-Joseph OlivierJanuary 19, 2015 3:06 PM
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haiti's leaders unveiled the line-up Monday of a unity government supposed to bridge a dangerous political void and put the fragile Caribbean nation back on the road to elected government.
Haiti has failed to hold elections in three years and parliament's mandate expired last week, leaving President Michel Martelly de facto sole leader of the country in the face of mounting street protests.
Martelly has attempted to calm the situation by naming Evans Paul, a figure from the opposition, as his prime minister and signing a deal to hold new elections by the end of this year.
But Paul's appointment was never ratified by the outgoing parliament and his constitutional position appears weak. Nevertheless, on Monday he pushed on and named 44 ministers and state secretaries.
The statement announcing the new cabinet said Paul chose the ministers "in agreement with the president ... in conformity with the constitution" and it was issued by Martelly's presidential office.
Most of the ministers in the new line-up are reshuffled holdovers from the government of former premier Laurent Lamothe, Martelly's great friend and wealthy ally, who resigned in December.
This fact alone is unlikely to appease the opposition demonstrators, who took to the streets again over the weekend to demand Martelly step down immediately.
Opponents of the popular singer turned politician accuse him of manipulating the crisis to engineer the collapse of parliament in order to rule by decree -- like Haiti's former dictators.
In turn, his camp accuses the opposition of thwarting attempts to hold elections by refusing to pass a new electoral law that would set up and fund a commission to oversee polling.
The international community is increasingly concerned that the crisis will hurt efforts to rebuild Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake and a later cholera epidemic blamed on UN peacekeepers.
Haiti was already the poorest country in the western hemisphere five ears ago, when the quake devastated the capital and surrounding region and left more than 300,000 people dead.
Before that, this nation of around 10 million had suffered periods of dictatorship and bouts of violent unrest, and United Nations troops have been deployed since 2004.
Last year, the UN Security Council reduced the size of the mission, which had been beefed up in the wake of the earthquake, but it remains concerned about the situation on the ground.
Next week ambassadors from the 15-nation council will arrive in Port-au-Prince on a fact-finding mission that has become all the more urgent in the current political situation.
On January 11, Martelly and representatives from several of Haiti's political movements struck a deal to form a consensus government and push for new elections before the end of the year.
A new nine-member electoral council will be created including representatives of the Catholic, Protestant and voodoo faiths, as well as farmers, women, labor and business groups.
The accord was welcomed by Haiti's international partners, including the United States and the European Union, but was never formally approved by the outgoing Haitian parliament before it expired.
PRESS RELEASE
The Core Group voices grave concern over delays in the implementation
of the 5 February Agreement
Port-au-Prince, 16 March 2016- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the other members of the international community in Haiti represented in the "Core Group" (the Ambassadors of Brazil, Canada, France, Spain, United States of America, the European Union and the Special Representative of the Organization of American States) note, with grave concern, delays in the implementation of the 5 February Agreement which provides a roadmap for the return to full Constitutional order within agreed upon timelines. The “Core Group” strongly urges the Parliament to play its role in the implementation of the 5 February Agreement by voting on the Prime Minister’s government policy without delay in order to facilitate the completion of the electoral process.
Stressing the critical importance of a prompt return to full Constitutional order, through the conclusion of the 2015 electoral process as per the 5 February Agreement, the “Core Group” calls on all actors to spare no effort to ensure the implementation of the Agreement, in the interest of the Haitian people and their right to choose their leaders and representatives through elections.
Contact media:
Sophie Boutaud de la Combe
Haiti - Dominican Republic : Towards a commercial air conflict ?
The Dominican airline Air Century, who had announced the postponement of its inaugural flight scheduled for 15 February between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, because according to it, the socio-political instability in Haiti http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16614-haiti-tourism-instability-in-haiti-force-air-century-to-cancel-its-first-flight.html hid in fact a completely different reason.
Indeed, since July 2015 Air Century that has all the permits from the "Junta de Aviacion Civil" (JAC) of the Dominican Republic, waiting in vain for the National Office of Civil Aviation (OFNAC) of Haiti grant it the authorizations required to regularly operate the road Joaquin Balaguer-Port-au-Prince and vice versa to Santo Domingo.
According to the Dominican company "after many visits to Haiti and loss of their documents repeatedly to OFNAC" Air Century has never received any response from Haiti to apply for a permit for a route that is currently provided by the Haitian company Sunrise Airways.
Air Century stresses that it has recently made an investment of more than $ 4.5 million for the acquisition of two Saab 340B aircraft designed to launch regular operations in different international destinations of importance whose Haiti in priority. Note that Sunrise Airways has also late February commissioned an aircraft recently purchased... http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16714-haiti-economy-sunrise-airways-add-a-new-aircraft-to-its-fleet.html
Seeing in this situation an unacknowledged form of trade protectionism from Haiti, Air Century in a note, asking the JAC to require the OFNAC the application of the bilateral agreement of 20 November 2014 of the Joint Bilateral Commission, which in its fourth section agrees of the trade reciprocity between the two countries. The Dominican company asks in case of refusal, the suspension of all permits to the Haitian airlines operating in the Dominican Republic.
Faced with these new revelations, one wonders if the temporary suspension of flights of the Sunrise Airways by the JAC on March 1 and their resumption a few days later, was well founded or if it was a first retaliation against the Haitian company, in what could be the beginning of a commercial air conflict between the two countries.
HAITIAN MAMBA
Hot and spicy: a new peanut butter grown in Haiti and made in Montreal
In Haiti, peanut butter is an everyday snack, something to slather on toast for breakfast or between slices of cassava crackers after a late night out.
Mamba, as it’s called in Creole, is one of the most common Haitian condiments. It’s also one of the little things Haitians miss when they leave, says Stanley Dumornay, a Montrealer of Haitian descent.
“When they move away, Haitians often settle for bland North American peanut butter. Or they get people going back to bring jars and jars of it back for them,” says Dumornay, who was born in the United States but grew up in Port au Prince, the Haitian capital.
Dumornay and business partner Jason Delis, co-owners of D&D Mamba, met while studying for their MBAs at HEC Montreal. On a vacation to Haiti, Dumornay introduced Delis to Haitian peanut butter and soon he, too, was hooked, spreading it on toast and croissants, eating it with honey and strawberry jam.
“There is something about the butteriness and smoothness and spiciness of it,” Delis said. “It’s a really interesting surprise.”
They began researching ways to bring Haitian mamba to Montreal. With the city’s Haitian community numbering close to 100,000, they figured they had a sizable potential market. Plus, Dumornay says, Quebecers are always open to new flavours — and they have long had a natural affinity for Haiti.
D&D Mamba comes in three versions — hot, medium-hot and mild — and sells for $8 for a 500-gram jar. DAVE SIDAWAY / MONTREAL GAZETTE
The partners wanted to come up with a peanut butter just like the ones Haitians eat: made from dry-roasted Haitian peanuts, organic cane sugar, salt and hot chili pepper. They wanted it to have a rich, nutty flavour with the telltale after-burn that accompanies a scoop of Haitian mamba.
“You don’t feel the spice right away, it kind of creeps up on you,” Dumornay says.
First, they explored making their mamba in Haiti and shipping it here for sale. But it was difficult to get basic supplies, like jars, and the shipping costs proved exorbitant. Finally, they settled upon a plan that sees the already-shelled peanuts shipped from Haiti to Montreal for roasting and grinding in a factory in Ville St-Laurent that already makes other nut butters.
The peanuts are grown on small farms in Haiti, mostly in the rural Plateau Central region and in the north, near Cap Haitien; a portion used also come from Georgia in the United States. Peanuts, indigenous to Peru, were brought to Africa by European explorers, then made their way to Haiti, via the slave trade. And with its tropical climate, Haiti proved to be fertile terrain for peanut cultivation. For as long as anyone can remember, peanut butter has been a part of the daily diet. Now, the legume offers something else — a ray of hope for an economically and agriculturally challenged country.
Dumornay and Delis’s D&D Mamba is among a handful of international companies that support Haiti’s fledgling peanut export trade, which got a big boost when former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s foundation helped create a private, for-profit corporation to help Haitian peanut farmers. Under the plan, the corporation, called Acceso, provides small farmers with credit, seeds, supplies and training to help them improve their yields. And then it purchases their peanuts at competitive market prices and resells them to larger buyers and to the general market. According to the Clinton Foundation, these efforts have doubled the yield of most farmers and increased their income by as much as 50 per cent.
Delis and Dumornay’s Mamba peanut butter quickly found a niche in Montreal. Though the product has been for sale only since last October, they have already sold close to 4,000 jars. It comes in three versions — hot, medium-hot and mild — and sells for $8 for a 500-gram jar. For now, it’s available on weekends at the Mamba stall at Atwater Market, through Lufa Farms and at six gourmet food stores around Montreal, including Marché des saveurs at Jean Talon Market.
How to eat mamba? Spread it on baguette or crackers, with or without a dollop of jam or a spoonful of molasses. That’s how it is eaten in Haiti. But D&D’s Facebook followers have been posting recipes for spicy peanut butter and cocoa muffins, Haitian hot chocolate, and other sweet and savoury dishes. Dumornay adds mamba to papaya-banana smoothies and finds the salty-spicy nuttiness lends itself to Asian satay sauces and to Senegalese stews.