Two Caribbean Leaders to address special UN Conference on Haiti

UNITED NATIONS, CMC – Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) prime ministers will address a special United Nations conference in New York on Haiti this Friday to raise funds to assist the French-speaking CARICOM country in dealing with a wide range of issues.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and his St. Vincent and the Grenadines counterpart, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, will address the event as the UN Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 calls for an unprecedented US$719 million to be raised in a bid to restore livelihoods in Haiti.

The event is dubbed “Savings Lives: Addressing Food Security Needs of Haiti,” and the UN said nearly half of the population in Haiti doesn’t have enough to eat, adding that in rural areas, 76 percent of people are affected by food insecurity.

The UN said restoring livelihoods is fundamental to the humanitarian response and that the UN Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023, launched in April, has received only 20 percent of funding.

“The recent floods and earthquake have shown that Haiti’s humanitarian needs remain considerable and will continue to grow as the hurricane season starts. Building on the work of the ECOSOC Advisory Group on Haiti, ECOSOC will convene a special meeting to mobilize action and resources to support food security in Haiti and call on the international community to show solidarity with the Haitian people and contribute to the funding appeals.”

The Group’s objective was to deepen its understanding of the measures taken to support Haiti’s path to stability and sustainable development in a multidimensional crisis with political, security, human rights, humanitarian, and development dimensions.

Apart from the two CARICOM leaders, other addresses at the opening will come from the

President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Lachezara Stoeva, the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation of Haiti, Ricard Pierre, as well as the chair of the ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, Bob Rae.

The World Food Program Executive Director, Cindy H. McCain, and UNICEF’s Executive Director, Catherine Russell, will also address the opening.

The organizers said that the opening would be followed by a round table discussion to be moderated by the Permanent Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations, Claver Gatete.