Death of Emerante de Pradines Morse
Emerante of Pradine lived almost a century.
Dancer and choreographer, she was one of the girls of Canjo, a very well-known musician during her time. Emerante kept her vitality almost until the very end.
She looked after the Ollofson Hotel with her son.
She loved to tell stories about how she never went out without making her bed. She explained that her father would say, if something ever happens to you and we have to transport you home, we should not find your bed unmade.
She had a first school in Martissant. Then she had a second closer to the hotel. Because she liked walking, Emerante would go to that one on foot.
She taught dance, body movement, and singing. Once she arrived in Haiti, she dedicated herself to primary school education.
She was never able to stay without keeping busy. It was something vital for her.
Death of the anthropologist Rachel Beauvoir
The anthropologist, voodoo priestess and university professor, Rachel Beauvoir, died on Friday, January 5th, in Carrefour, according to the on-line agency Alter-Presse. Beauvoir was the daughter of Max Gesner Beauvoir and the wife of the architect Didier Dominique.
Rachel Beauvoir trained as a cultural anthropologist at Tufts University in Boston, as well as at Oxford University in Great Britain.
Along with her husband Didier Dominique, she is the co-author of “Savalou E”, published in 2003 by the International Center of documentation and Haitian, Caribbean and afro-Canadian Information (CIDIHCA), established in 1983, in Montreal.
The book “Savalou E”, which deals with Haitian voodoo, received the first prize for "Casa de las Americans” in Havana, Cuba.
She is also an author of "The old cathedral of Port-au-Prince", published in 1991 as well as of numerous articles, on contemporary society and traditions.
As a founding member of the Foundation dedicated to the conservation of Haitian cultural traditions, she was also a recipient of the Jean Price-Mars Medal, of the State University of Haiti.
She was the sole blood decedent of Hounfò of Mariani, which was left passed down by her deceased father Max Beauvoir.
Max Gesner Beauvoir died on September 12th, 2015 in Port-au-Prince, at the age of 79 (in August 25th, 1936 - September 12th, 2015), as a result of a cancer.
Vatican and DR caught in a heated debate because of Haiti
A lively debate has been brewing during the last few days between the State of Vatican and the Dominican Republic. It all started as a result of an article published recently in the Vatican’s Gazette, “Osservatore Romano” whose title resounds as a plea "Rispetto per gli Haitiani" (Respect for the Haitians). The political and religious organ of the Roman Catholic Church accuses the Dominican Republic of poorly treating citizens without Haitian papers during the deportations.
"The living conditions of Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic continue to raise concerns in the Roman Catholic Church. Last year, in fact, about forty seven thousand Haitians were repatriated without the possibility of returning to the country where they had found work." This excerpt of the article can be read in the Dominican newspaper “Diaro Libre.”
Sarodj Bertin survives a fight in the Dominican Republic
Sarodj Bertin took part in a concert by Bad Bunny and Ozuna in an amphitheater in December 31st, 2017 in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
The Puerto Rican singer Ozuna was not able to end his performance because the party turned sour. A fight broke out between participants at the event. Punches were launched and chairs were thrown, and chaos seized the scene, according to the report from the newspaper “Diaro.”
In a video which circulated on social media, we see Miss Haiti 2010 running away hastily and making her way into a swimming pool.
Afterward, the actress and television presenter preferred to laugh about it on Instagram: "Yes, it was a great concert, but there was a big fight, and I found an escape!!! The swimming pool,and why not? Jajajajjaj. We have to do what’s necessary to keep safe. Thank God, I can laugh at it today."
The former top model said she took herself out of harm’s way, shielded from punches and possible injury during the fight. "Obviously I did not want that a bottle or a chair strike me," she explained.
The Dominican newspaper did not reveal an assessment of the injuries or the damage that resulted from the fight.
New UN mission to take innovative approach to strengthening rule of law
REPORT
from UN News Service
3 January 2018 – The head of the new United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti, known asMINUJUSTH, has said the operation will carry out its work in an innovative in the island nation – complete with an unusually tight timeframe and a bench-marking exit strategy.
Describing what is unique about the mission, the Special Representative and Head of MINUJUSTH, Susan Page, underscored that it focusses “exclusively on the rule of law.”
“The new mandate by the [UN] Security Council is to work with the Government of Haiti to strengthen its rule of law intuitions. It's also to continue to support the HNP, the Haitian National Police, and to work on justice and human rights – and that includes human rights reporting, monitoring and analysis,” she told UN News.
MINUJUSTH is also unique in that its mandate calls for a benchmarking exit strategy.
“Within two years, we can figure out how we [will exit the country] but with benchmarks for progress that can be measured,” she stressed.
The mission head stated that the country team created a framework with a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which, along with SDG 16 –to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies– is working in conjunction with the Haitian Government.
“This is a way of bringing the entire country team together, along with the peacekeeping mission, to attain those goals,” she continued, adding that the Government “has already signed up to be a partner in trying to accomplish this for its own development.”
Mobile team approach
Ms. Page explained that while MINUJUSTH is almost exclusively based in the capital, Port-au-Prince, it will also have a 'mobile approach' that will take teams into the field – reaching the greatest number of people.
The mission chief told UN News that the teams will focus on peace, justice and rule of law, to help the people figure out their needs, and then connect them with top-level political figures to see how the UN can help the Government address those needs.
“Once they have a baseline of what the people are looking for, what they need knowledge about, we hope that this bottom-up and top-down approach will help Haiti to strengthen its own institutions with a bit of push from us,” she explained.
Ms. Page sees this new approach as a possible new peacekeeping model, commenting that with the aim of doing more with less, “one of the ways we can reach people is by being more flexible and being more mobile.”
On the ground
Turning to the situation on the ground, Ms. Page noted that while Haiti's political system had been less than stable, “now, all of that is settled.”
“Now that Haiti has its elected officials at all levels, including at the lowest levels in the communes, we have something to work with,” she said.
“The police will continue to work with the Haitian National Police on their strategic development plan, but they also have a programme that is strengthening the mid-level to upper level cadres of the National Police,” she added
As for the ongoing combat against cholera in the country, Ms. Page expressed hope to get to zero transmission.
“One of the ways we continue to work is through the country team,” she said, mentioning the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), which are working to strengthen sanitation and water systems.
“It's really a whole of UN approach; and with the Government's strategic vision and roadmap of how they intend to get there. And we can help them with that,” she said reassuringly.
Rwanda: is nearing a ban on the import of used clothing, despite threats by the USA
Rwandan president Paul Kagame underlined that Rwanda will pursue its project aiming at the progressive abolition of the import of used clothing in spite of threats by the United States, which warned that this decision could lead to the revision of the eligibility of the country to have access to tax-free goods on the American market.
President Kagame made his statement at a press conference, moments after having submitted his application as a candidate with the National Election Board (CEN).
Indeed, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and South Sudan decided to completely forbid the import of used clothes and shoes by 2019, arguing that this measure would allow the member countries to stimulate their local clothing industry.
However, members of the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association - SMART), an association of companies in the textile industry in the United States, expressed that this decision of the Community of east Africa (EAC) forbidding the import of used clothes and shoes imposes considerable economic hardship on the American industry of secondhand clothes. The petitioners assert that this ban is in direct contradiction with the requirements of the law, according to which the beneficiaries of the law must work towards the elimination of barriers to the growth and the potentialities of Africa (AGOA).
Consequently, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) launched the revision of the eligibility of Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania and the advantages they receive from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA trade program provides eligible sub-Saharan countries duty-free access to the United States on condition they meet certain statutory eligibility requirements, including eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment, among others.
U.S. AGOA imports from Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda totaled $43 million in 2016, up from $33 million in 2015, according to the USTR. U.S. exports to Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda were $281 million in 2016, up from $257 million the year before.