“United for a better future for Haiti” Summit: Declaration from Santo Domingo

“United for a better future for Haiti” Summit: Declaration from Santo Domingo
TThe earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010 has provoked one of the most serious humanitarian crises of the last several decades. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives and several million are homeless with no way of making a living. The international community has been impacted by this tragedy and is responding rapidly to ease the effects of the devastating quake that has wreaked havoc in the lives of millions of Haitians.

The huge amount of relief pouring in from different countries, organizations and international institutions to Haiti clearly demonstrates the willingness and commitment to transform the country’s pain into hope, to collaborate in providing immediate help for the victims as well as for the long-term rebuilding of the country.

On January 18, 2010, with the approval and assistance of Haitian President Mr. René Preval and the initiative of Dominican President Leonel Fernández, a meeting was held in Santo Domingo with representatives from member countries of CARICOM, the OAS, Canada, Spain, the United States, Brazil, United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the European Union and the World Bank. The goal was to identify and examine a best way of facing this dramatic situation.

The huge amount of relief pouring in from different countries, organizations and international institutions to Haiti clearly demonstrates the willingness and commitment to transform the country’s pain into hope, to collaborate in providing immediate help for the victims as well as for the long-term rebuilding of the country.

The poverty and vulnerability already acute in Haiti have exponentially increased the effects of the earthquake. It is for this reason immediate emergency relief to meet some of the most urgent needs is essential. This is a response that Haiti needs from the international community, especially from countries already involved in development in Haiti. These countries should seek to guarantee the viability and expediency of their initiatives and foster new possibilities for the future of the Haitian nation, on a medium and long-term basis.

The structural fragility of the country at these moments makes the coordination of efforts a fundamental challenge for the international community to tackle as soon as possible. To overcome this challenge, the government and the people of Haiti need to be incorporated in the initiatives and projects that are being formulated.

The government and people of Haiti are, and should continue to be, the main
protagonists in the rebuilding of their country and their collective destiny. But it is the responsibility of the international community to offer all its support to turn the uncertainty into confidence and skepticism into hope for a shared future.

In view of this, the countries and organization present at this meeting agree to promote an International Conference whose objective will be to develop a Strategic Plan for the Reconstruction of Haiti that, beyond the emergency assistance, will contribute to strengthen the medium and long-term social, economic and political stability of Haiti.

The Conference will be called by the European Union and will take place in the Dominican Republic.

A coordinating committee established for this purpose and including Haiti, the Dominican Republic, CARICOM, the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of American States, Rio Group, the United States, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and the Inter-American Development Bank will be in charge of organizing the activity and holding its first official meeting on January 25th in Canada.

A work group designated by this committee will draw up a proposal for a Strategic Plan that will be submitted at the first plenary session. It will focus on three items: The Millennium Development Goals; the 2008-2010 National Strategy Document on Growth and Poverty Reduction and the World Bank Document known as Options and Opportunities for Haiti.

As such, it was agreed to propose that the G-20, in its next meeting, study the creation of a reconstruction fund for Haiti taking into account experiences like the Iraq fund.

The globalized world we live in demands global responses from all of us. The countries and organizations present at this meeting believe that the future of Haiti deserves the international community to join its efforts together.

Haiti’s crisis has reaffirmed once again that in our globalized world, not just governments but citizens as well, feel whatever happens to others is not far away. And that we can and must build a more just and more humane world.

For thousands of Haitians, this tragedy seems to be the end. It is our responsibility to make sure that millions of citizens from this and other continents view this as a new beginning.