Despite the United Nations public apology in December and being “profoundly sorry” for their role in the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti, very little has been done to keep their promise of $400 million in aid to the island.
Former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon promised to raise $400 million to redress the situation including $200 million earmarked for water and sanitation system and treatment of Haitians. After seven years, and the loss of 10,000 lives, thus far only $2 million has been raised according to a New York Times article published on March 21.
Ki-moon cited “insufficient funding” by member nations as the reason for the lack of efforts to eradicate the disease. Countries who contributed included South Korea, France, Chile, India and Liechtenstein. Who’s missing??? The United States. The U.S. had contributed zero dollars to this cause.
The U.N. responsibility to Haiti is undeniable as the struggle continues but the Caribbean community must also step forward and raise our voices to continuously bring attention to this issue. We need to ensure that the U.N. keeps their commitment to Haiti including the United States! Just imagine if U.N. peacekeepers were responsible for 10,000 deaths in Europe somewhere? I’m pretty certain the response would look very different. I’m just sayin’. We must remain vigilant in keeping this issue relevant even when mainstream media and the international world is ignoring it.
