PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - REPORTS surfacing yesterday (May 18) indicate that former United States President Bill Clinton is expected to soon be named the United Nations special envoy to the heavily indebted Caribbean nation of Haiti.
Haiti was severely battered by tropical weather in 2008, with Tropical Storm Faye and Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike all devastating the island within a 30-day period between August and September. Nearly 800 persons died as a result of the storms and an estimated US $1.1B worth of damage was done to infrastructure.
Skyrocketing food prices that led to violent food riots, as well as the deadly collapse of two public schools were among myriad other issues that have raised international concern over the state of affairs in Haiti.
In March of the this year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President Clinton visited the disaster plagued nation and were subsequently able to raise $353.4M in donor pledges through fund raising.
Clinton said that he would be pleased to act as a permanent envoy for Haiti, which would require him to make regular visits to the island and ensure that funding to the island is properly distributed.
“It is an honor to accept the secretary general's invitation to become special envoy to Haiti.
“Last year's natural disasters took a great toll, but Haiti's government and people have the determination and ability to build back better, not just to repair the damage done but to lay the foundations for the long-term sustainable development that has eluded them for so long,” the former-President told the Herald.
Meanwhile in Haiti, word that Clinton would be named as the special envoy has been widely praised due to his past campaigning for the nation on the world stage.
“We are very grateful to the Secretary General that he chose such a friend of Haiti with a worldwide reputation, who is very committed to Haiti,” said Haitian Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis, who was appointed to her position in 2008 after the turmoil from the food riots ousted the Jacques-Édouard Alexis government.
“He's going to be extremely helpful to the country because we are really in dire need of support,” Pierre-Louis added.
Some analysts have also indicated that Clinton’s highly regarded stature among the general population of Haiti would help to relax tensions between the people and the nearly 9 000 UN peacekeeping soldiers on the ground in the country.
Official confirmation of Clinton’s appointment is expected later today by the UN, while the US State Department would also have to approve the position due to his wife, Hilary Clinton, currently serving as the US Secretary of State.
Haiti News