Brussels, 22/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday 22 February, again took stock of the EU's coordinated response following the earthquake which devastated Haiti on 12 January. At a time when focus is on the emergency supply of shelters for more than one million Haitians - and especially the 100,000 most deprived - before the rainy season, the opinion of all was that the response was good. If the EU failed in something, it was in the lack of visibility, ministers said. They launched a number of ideas to remedy this lapse, for example having visible sign to identify European players (“badging”), which respecting national sensitivities. Coordination within the EU and with international players could also be improved, with better division of labour, maybe along geographical lines, said Miguel Angle Moratinos on behalf of the rotating EU Presidency, as he informed ministers of the conclusions of the informal meeting of development ministers in La Granja, which was attended by the USAID administrator and the United Nations Special representative to Haiti (see EUROPE 10082).
Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative told press that it could be seen, after the event, that the EU action was swift and appropriate. The EU was the biggest provider of humanitarian aid and development aid, she said, adding that this was reason for pride. She hailed the use that was made of all the EU instruments: emergency aid, aid for the rapid restoration of the State and longer term reconstruction aid from the Commission (€429 million in all and €91 million from the Community budget in additional humanitarian aid that was requested), and also civil protection resources provided by member states and coordinated by the MIC, and the logistical, police and military resources made available by member states and coordinated by the EUCO Haiti unit set up in Brussels following the 25 January Council. This tragedy was, Ashton said, far from over. Aid had to be continued, to provide solid shelter for the homeless before the rainy season, and to construct accommodation. The timescale, she said, was tight, since the rains begin in March, and the hurricane season in June. Time had come, she went on, to send a strong signal to the Haitian people and government. She announced that she would travel to Haiti next week. She was severely criticised for not travelling to the site of the tragedy in the days following the earthquake. She added that the airport had been re-opened, and that she would have meetings with President René Préval and Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive. The exact date of her departure has yet to be decided, but it could be Monday 2 March. At any rate she will join International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who is due to leave for Haiti very shortly (this week) on the ground. Ashton's objectives are threefold: 1) to express EU support for the government and people; 2) to show that, while Haiti may no longer be in the headlines, EU aid “and especially for children”; will continue, and 3) to announce the EU's willingness to be part of a “Marshall Plan for Haiti” devised in close cooperation with Haitian authorities.
Ashton expects the donors' conference for the reconstruction of Haiti, scheduled to be held in New York on 31 March (according to the latest planned date), to back the Marshal Plan and believes that it will transform this tragedy into an opportunity for Haiti. Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that the Haitian authorities had to take ownership of reconstruction, and he stated that the €100 million in aid for the rapid restoration of State capabilities would to a large extend go on budgetary support: €5 million initially, rising to €50 million. Georgieva asked member states for the EU to be united in New York. Ashton is likely to be mandated to represent the EU and hopes to receive the mandate next week. Georgieva said that the situation on the ground had improved thanks to the massive effort from the international community and the resilience of the Haitian people. The shelters that were to be supplied had to be strong and able to be used in the stage after the rainy season - the reconstruction phase, she stressed. There was also a need to consider prefabricated shelters and to build this provision into the transport planning of these shelters. She also highlighted the need to find a rapid solution to the issue of sanitation in the camps for displaced persons (some 20,000 latrines are required), where overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and the lack of waste removal systems mean that there is a risk of epidemics. Ashton thanked Italy and France for switching their military mission to the provision of shelter. French minister Pierre Lellouche announced €326 million for Haiti, including debt cancellation. (A.N./transl.tfl)