WYCLEF JEAN RAISES $25M TO FINANCE MUSIC PUBLISHING SERVICES In AFRICA And DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
By Tommy Williams
"The generous charitable initiatives established by three-time Grammy Award winner Wyclef Jean, in his native Haiti and other developing countries in Africa, are a significant part of his legacy. Jean hopes to see these regions continue to thrive and, more recently, has turned his attention to the fast-growing music genre of #Afrobeats, which has had a burst of commercial success globally, in 2018 and 2019. I spoke with Wyclef Jean about his newest venture Carnival World Music Group, which has just raised an impressive $25M in capital funding. The group seeks to democratize the global music marketplace for songwriters and producers in developing regions, whilst contributing to further empower dynamic women-owned businesses in the music industry.
Wyclef Jean Connects With His African Heritage
Jean, 50, is a #Haitian native who migrated to the US at the age of 9. He was always aware of his African heritage, calling Haitians “the Nigerians of the #Caribbean” and Jean, in his own words, is “almost 100% #Nigerian”, confirmed by a DNA ancestry test. His music has always been influenced by his Haitian and #African roots and, in 2004, Jean made his first trip to Africa to perform with music legend Fela Kuti’s son Femi Kuti. Jean had released a song titled “Diallo” in memory of Amadou Diallo, a 23-year-old Guinean immigrant who was shot 19 times by four New York City policemen in 1999. The song did not get much play in the US.
Kobe Bryant's Daughter Gianna, 13, Dead Alongside Father in Calabasas Helicopter Crash
The NBA legend and his daughter were both onboard the private helicopter
Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna ALLEN BEREZOVSKY/GETTY
Kobe Bryant’s daughter Gianna also died in the Calabasas helicopter crash that killed her father.
Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, nicknamed Gigi, was also onboard the private helicopter when it went down on Sunday, reps for the former basketball player told TMZ Sports. The outlet said that Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant — with whom he shares all four children — was not onboard.
Emergency personnel responded but none of the nine people onboard survived, a spokesperson for the LA county sheriff’s office said during a press conference.
Sources told ESPN that the helicopter was headed to a travel basketball game for Gianna, and that the other passengers were another player and their parent.
Bryant is survived by Vanessa, 37, and their daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 7 months.
Spokespersons for LA county sheriff’s office and LAPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Singer Yama Laurent, winner of La Voix 2018, soon in Haiti
Winner of the La Voix au Québec competition in 2018, Yama Laurent does not intend to savor alone the success and experience she gained after her victory. Two years later, she launched the “Miss Côte des Arcadins” contest, which recruited girls aged 17 to 27 living nearby. On site, a team is working hard. The champion will be present for the final scheduled for the end of the year.
JAZZ FESTIVAL IN PORT AU-PRINCE
Defying the crisis, international jazz made Port-au-Prince vibrate
The light rain did not prevent spectators from dancing in front of the stage, where Saturday night Canadian Dawn Taylor Watson sang. This proved that the international jazz festival of Port-au-Prince was a breath of fresh air prized in Haiti, in the midst of a socio-political crisis.
Pap Jazz, as it is regulars call it, has gained its place on the international scene at a time when the world capitals of the musical genre are shivering under negative temperatures. But this 14th edition was the most complex to implement.
"We changed the programming schedule 15 times. It was very, very complicated but we never thought for a second that we were not doing this festival, never a second," says Milena Sandler, director of the Haiti Jazz Foundation, organizer of the festival.
Inauguration of the MIDAS installation at the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) in the official border point in Malpasse
22nd January 2020
On Wednesday 22nd January 2020 the installation of the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) was inaugurated at the office of the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) in Malpasse. Various personalities participated in this event, including the Director of the Ministry of Interior and Territorial Collectivities, the Director of the DIE, the United States Ambassador in Haiti, the Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration, and the Director of the Anti-Corruption Unit. This inauguration is a very important date as the use of MIDAS marks a significant step forward in border management in Haiti.
Developed in 2009 by IOM, the MIDAS system collects, process, store and analyses traveler information in real time. People entering and leaving Haiti are now controlled more efficiently through this new computerized system, thus contributing to increased border security. MIDAS facilitates crossing of travelers through the automatic capture of biometric information, as well as the work of DIE officers. According to information shared by the DIE, from 1st to 31st December 2019, 22,551 persons have already been registered.
As indicated by the Director of the DIE, Mr. Joseph Cianciulli, "the DIE no longer only produces passports, it now has full control over migration control". For his part, the Chief of Mission of IOM Haiti, Mr. Giuseppe Loprete, stressed that "IOM's support in the installation of MIDAS at the Malpasse border point is only the beginning. As of this year, the Ouanaminthe and Belladère border points will also have MIDAS, and then potentially the international airports of Cap Haïtien and Port-au-Prince, in order to have an interconnected national migration control system".
The Ambassador of the United States remarked, “The inauguration of Haiti’s first MIDAS installation here in Malpasse represents an important step in modernizing the cross-border travel between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. [It is] an excellent example of cooperation among the Haitian government, the United States government, and IOM.”
The MIDAS system has been operational in Malpasse since 28 November 2019 thanks to funding from the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).
U.N. is committed to addressing its peacekeepers’ sexual abuse of women in Haiti | Opinion
BY CATHERINE POLLARD AND JEAN-PIERRE LACROIX
JANUARY 21, 2020 05:18 PM
A recent report on the children fathered by U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti is deeply disturbing.
So let us be clear: Sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. personnel is unacceptable, and we are fully committed to the secretary-general’s zero-tolerance policy. It harms victims and tarnishes the reputation of thousands of our personnel who serve with honor and distinction. It undermines the trust necessary between our personnel and the millions of people we have pledged to protect and serve.
We will do everything possible to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse, address cases when they do occur and support victims and their families — including children fathered by U.N. personnel — and ensure that paternity issues are addressed comprehensively.
The United Nations has a unique responsibility to set a global standard for preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse by those with power and addressing its impact effectively and humanely. The secretary-general has put the rights and dignity of victims at the forefront of efforts to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and respond to it should they occur.
In countries where U.N. personnel are deployed, our teams train them, raise awareness with communities and receive and respond to complaints. Teams on the ground receive reports, and community networks help victims know where to go to seek help. More people are coming forward as a result, and we are better able to respond.
Our partners on the ground provide medical, psycho-social, protection and legal support, in addition to livelihood opportunities. For example, victims have been referred to partner associations in the Central African Republic for health and livelihood support and for medical services in South Sudan. International humanitarian partners provide crucial services in many field locations.
We have established a trust fund that directly helps victims and others at risk make a living. In Haiti, for example, the United Nations and its partners enable children born of sexual exploitation and abuse go to school and help their mothers gain employment, including by opening their own businesses.
We have also established a special coordinator on improving the U.N. response to sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. personnel, created a voluntary compact with 103 member states on our mutual commitment to prevent this scourge. By joining a Circle of Leadership, 87 heads of state and government have demonstrated their commitment at the highest political level to stand with us against this scourge.
But the United Nations cannot do it alone. We need the full cooperation of our member states to produce real results for victims. They must ensure that the uniformed personnel they contribute are selected and trained in a way that embed an understanding of zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. They must act quickly on credible allegations and put the required legislation and processes in place so perpetrators can be held to account and victims receive effective remedies. For the sake of the victims and communities, and to promote greater transparency, the United Nations needs to be informed about the results of their actions. Our contractors must also demonstrate that they have mechanisms in place to ensure their employees are trained and that they receive reports and discipline offenders.
We encourage all who become aware of cases of sexual exploitation and abuse to refer victims and witnesses to U.N. offices and their partners on the ground for assistance and follow-up. It is our duty to hear them.
All of us have a joint commitment to the victims and all those who believe in the U.N. Charter to honor its values. We cannot let them down.
Catherine Pollard is U.N. undersecretary-general for management strategy, policy and compliance. Jean-Pierre Lacroix is undersecretary-general for peace operations.
U.S. demands firm date for next round of elections in Haiti | Miami Herald
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES AND
NORA GÁMEZ TORRES
JANUARY 23, 2020 05:03 PM
Secretary Pompeo discusses need for elections in Haiti
el Nuevo Herald / Miami Herald reporter Nora Gámez Torres asks U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the situation in Haiti where President Jovenel Moïse is ruling the country by decree. BY EMILY MICHOT
Haiti must set a firm date for the next round of elections, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo says.
“That is the most important thing,” Pompeo said in an exclusive interview Thursday with the Miami Herald. “We need to have the elections. That is important.”
The Trump administration’s position comes as Haiti President Jovenel Moïse seeks to use his recently obtained power to rule by executive order to reform the country’s constitution, a controversial move that some fear could delay the holding of elections and plunge Haiti deeper into already protracted political crisis.
Moïse first called for constitutional reform during the Jan. 12 commemoration of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake. He soon followed up with a statement from his office. The statement said he was working on delivering a unity government that would be empowered to pass a budget, pass laws enabling elections and equally, would “propose constitutional changes to address flaws in the 1987 text, which have contributed to a decades-long cycle of political crises.”
He also said that political parties and international partners, in discussions, all agree “on the need to amend the 1987 constitution to enable our government to function.”
But some see the push for constitutional reform as a stalling tactic, and said the president will need to choose.
Pompeo, meanwhile, is adamant. He said the administration believes that “within the Haitian government, they have the capacity and the capability and the lawful right to do that.”
Pompeo said he raised the elections matter with Haitian Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond on the sidelines of a round-table discussion this week in Jamaica with a select group of Caribbean ministers. “We urge them to set a timetable; set a firm date for those elections,” Pompeo said.
Moïse’s statement did not say how he planned to change the constitution. Some close to him have suggested by referendum, while others have said through a political agreement. Both avenues pose problems, even among those who support constitutional changes.
The constitution, itself, outlines when and how it can be modified and that window closed last year when the president of the Lower Chamber of Deputies, Gary Bodeau, and the presidential palace, failed to approve recommendations by a legislative special commission in charge of constitutional reform that had spent two years working on proposed amendments. Proposed amendments to the constitution would have had to be done at the close of the last regular session of the legislative year, which was Sept. 9.
“A constitutional reform should be part of a global political agreement where all political and civil society actors agree on a road map containing key objectives leading to elections. It can’t be a separate project,” said Jerry Tardieu, the ex-lawmaker who chaired the special constitutional reform commission.
“Changing the constitution requires a large consensus among Haiti’s political and civil society forces. We are far from there,” he added. “He can’t even find a consensus to form a government let a lone touch the constitution.”
Haiti has been without a legal government since the lower chamber fired Prime Minister Jean Henry Céant in March. Attempts by Moïse to ratify two other choices were blocked in the Senate where he controlled a majority, but a small group of opposition lawmakers used various tactics to block the hearings.
Some question whether Haiti can hold elections in the current security and political environment. Though the protests that paralyzed the country last year have dissipated and life has returned somewhat to normal, the issues that triggered the economic and political crises remain, observers stress.
The country is seeing a worrying resurgence in kidnappings with Haiti police registering 15 since the beginning of this year. There is also a rise in gang-related insecurity. On Wednesday, residents and merchants not too far from the Parliament building, along with government workers assigned there, were forced to flee amid a gang-on-gang shootout.
Parliamentary and local elections in Haiti were due in October. The country’s failure to hold them meant that Parliament became dysfunctional on Jan. 13, ushering in Moïse’s one-man rule.
He announced the end of Parliament in an early morning post on Twitter, saying that the legislative terms of the entire 119-member Lower Chamber of Deputies had expired along with that of two-thirds — 19 out of 29 — of the Senate. The tweet ended speculation about whether 10 or 19 senators would be dismissed, but triggered a new controversy.
Six of the 19 senators are contesting their dismissal and are accusing the president of violating the constitution and the 2015 electoral law under which they ran. Their six-year mandate, they argue, began in January 2016 and runs until the second Monday of January 2022.
The group has filed a grievance with the provisional elections body, and sent a letter address to nine international parliamentarian associations, pleading for help. Representatives of the public relations firm Mercury, which represents Moïse, did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment on the criteria used by the president to dismiss the senators, or their accusations against him.
In the letter, the ex-senators, which include the only elected female and a supporter of Moïse, accuse the president of trying to be a dictator. They note that on Jan. 14, they were blocked by Haitian police from accessing their offices at the Parliament.