HAITI: UN ENVOY BILL CLINTON APPOINTS PROMINENT US DOCTOR AS DEPUTY

Former United States President Bill Clinton today appointed the physician and Harvard University professor Paul Farmer as the United Nations Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti to assist in advancing the economic and social development of the impoverished Caribbean nation.

"Paul's selfless commitment to building health systems in the poor Haitian communities over the last 20 years has given millions of people hope for a brighter future for Haiti," said Mr. Clinton, who is the UN Special Envoy to Haiti.

Dr. Farmer, a founding director of Partners in Health since 1987, has dedicated much of his life to improving health care for the world's most vulnerable people. As a student in 1983, he worked in villages in Haiti's Central Plateau bringing modern health care to some of the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere.

Starting with a one-building clinic in the village of Cange, Dr. Farmer's project now extends to a multi-service health complex that includes a primary school, an infirmary, a surgery wing, a training programme for outreach workers, a 104-bed hospital, a women's clinic and a paediatric care facility, according to the Office for the Special Envoy to Haiti.

"His credibility both among the people of Haiti and in the international community will be a tremendous asset to our efforts as we work with the Government and people of Haiti to improve health care, strengthen education and create economic opportunity," said Mr. Clinton.
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BAN WELCOMES RELEASE OF US JOURNALISTS FROM DPR KOREA

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the release of two United States journalists by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) during the visit to Pyongyang by former US President Bill Clinton.

"He appreciates the decision of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to release them on humanitarian considerations, responding to the repeated calls by the international community," his spokesperson said in a statement.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee arrived in the US city of Los Angeles this morning with Mr. Clinton, after DPRK's leader, Kim Jong-il, granted them a special pardon.

The two women, who work for an Internet broadcaster, Current TV, had been found guilty of entering DPRK illegally in March and sentenced to 12 years' hard labour.

Mr. Ban congratulated former President Clinton for his "successful humanitarian mission."

In addition, he reiterated his hope that dialogue will resume at the earliest possible time between the DPRK and the parties concerned towards resolving outstanding concerns including the nuclear issue, according to the statement.
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BILL CLINTON WRAPS UP FIRST VISIT TO HAITI AS UN SPECIAL ENVOY

Former United States President Bill Clinton is wrapping up a three-day visit to Haiti today, his first since being appointed United Nations Special Envoy for the impoverished Caribbean nation.

During a visit to the country in March, Mr. Clinton and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assessed the situation in the wake of four back-to-back tropical storms that battered the country in 2008, killing nearly 800 people and affecting an estimated 1 million people.

Mr. Clinton's current trip was aimed at discussing how to support Government efforts to brace the country for hurricanes, generate new jobs and boost the delivery of basic social services.

Today he met with representatives of the private sector, women's groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and discussed the key challenges facing them today in Haiti. The meetings aimed to ensure private sector investments in the country, coordination of NGO activities and the inclusion of women in recovery efforts.

Last night, Mr. Clinton and President René Préval had a working dinner with donors to encourage them to honour the commitments they made at a pledging conference in Washington, D.C. in April and align their contributions to the Government's recovery plan.

The dinner capped off a day that included visits to, among others, the city of Gonaïves, which was devastated by floods last year, and to an emergency hospital that has temporarily replaced one destroyed by hurricanes.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, with an annual estimated gross domestic product (per capita) of $390.
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BAN TO PUSH FOR FURTHER INVESTMENT IN HAITI TO WIDEN ‘BREAK-OUT OPPORTUNITY’

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said that he will be asking donors to go beyond traditional assistance and invest in Haiti, at a time he called a crucial turning point for the impoverished Caribbean nation.

"This is Haiti's moment, a break-out opportunity for one of the poorest nations to lift itself toward a future of real economic prospects and genuine hope," Mr. Ban wrote in an opinion piece published in the New York Times on-line edition.

The Secretary-General, who earlier this month visited Haiti with former United States President Bill Clinton, said that Haiti stands a better chance than almost any emerging economy, not only to weather the current economic storms but to prosper, because of new US trade legislation.

HOPE II, as the act is known, offers Haiti duty-free, quota-free access to US markets for the next nine years. "No other nation enjoys a similar advantage," Mr. Ban said. "This is a foundation to build on."

He sees it, he says, as a chance to consolidate the progress the country has made in winning a measure of political stability, with the help of the UN peacekeeping mission, and move to genuine economic development, creating the jobs needed to alleviate the country's massive unemployment, particularly among youth.

Mr. Ban said he will be advocating investment in Haiti, for these purposes, at an international donor conference to take place next month in Washington

Paul Collier, an Oxford University economist and Mr. Ban's special adviser on Haiti, has helped the Government devise a strategy to create those jobs, emphasizing the country's traditional strengths in garments and agricultural production.

The plan calls for the enactment of new regulations lowering port fees (now among the highest in the Caribbean) and creating the sort of industrial clusters that have come to dominate global trade.

It also calls for dramatically expanding the country's export zones, so that a new generation of textile firms can generate economies of scale, drive down production costs and spark "potentially explosive growth constrained only by the size of the labour pool," as Mr. Ban put it.

Describing some of the experiences on his recent trip, Mr. Ban recalls visiting a factory in the capital where workers earned $7 a day making T-shirts for export, vaulting them into the Haitian middle class. "Under HOPE II, the owner figures he can double or triple production within a year," he said.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MINUSTAH) has been working with Haitians for nearly five years towards creating a secure and stable environment within which key reforms and economic development could take place, he stressed.

In related news, today MINUSTAH announced some details of its electoral assistance plan for Haiti's legislative elections scheduled for 19 April.

With voter registration, printing of ballots and training of electoral workers now completed and some 9,500 polling stations in place, the Mission is now distributing some 100 tons of equipment it received last week.

It said some 4,000 electoral security workers will be on hand to keep the peace on election day in addition to 6,500 UN peacekeepers.

To further assure the success of the elections, MINUSTAH said, it would deploy more than 1800 civilian staff, 11 aircraft, 950 vehicles and some 300 horses and mules.
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BAN IN HAITI TO DRAW ATTENTION TO RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS

BAN IN HAITI TO DRAW ATTENTION TO RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS
New York, Mar 9 2009 3:00PM

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will arrive in Haiti today to raise global awareness of the Caribbean nation's recovery and reconstruction needs.

On his visit, Mr. Ban is being accompanied by former United States President Bill Clinton, potential investors and representatives of non-governmental organizations, including renowned doctor Paul Farmer, who set up a hospital in the village of Canges, and musician Wyclef Jean, whose Yele Ayiti foundation has worked extensively on community projects in Haiti.

During the first part of the afternoon, the Secretary-General and the delegation will visit education projects, such as a feeding programme at a school in Cité Soleil, the impoverished neighbourhood of the capital Port-au-Prince that was formerly controlled by gangs. They will also meet with honour students from severely disadvantaged backgrounds.

Tonight, Mr. Ban and Mr. Clinton will meet with President René Préval and Prime Minister Michele Pierre Louis, as well as with members of the country's private sector and civil society.

Haiti, already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, was devastated by four successive storms in as many weeks last year, leaving 800 people dead and another 1 million either homeless or badly affected.

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will head to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with current US President Barack Obama to discuss a host of issues, including the global economic crisis, Sudan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The two leaders are also expected to confer on climate change, non-proliferation, human rights, United Nations reform and US-UN relations. While visiting the US capital from 10 to 11 March, Mr. Ban will also hold talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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BAN STRESSES ROLE OF PHILANTHROPY IN PREVENTING DEATHS FROM CHILD BIRTH, TROPICAL DISEASES

BAN STRESSES ROLE OF PHILANTHROPY IN PREVENTING DEATHS FROM CHILD BIRTH, TROPICAL DISEASES
New York, Feb 23 2009 6:00PM
The role of philanthropists and philanthropic organizations is crucial in tackling some avoidable health threats which kill millions of vulnerable people every year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

"Health is a foundation for prosperity, stability and poverty reduction," Mr. Ban said at the opening of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting aiming at advancing progress in strengthening maternal and girls' health, as well as fighting neglected tropical diseases.

Every year more than half a million women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, almost all in developing countries, he told the over 400 participants, including leaders from the business, philanthropic, academic and global health community, including companies such as IKEA, Merrill Lynch and Toyota.

At a press conference ahead of the event, Marianne Barner, who heads IKEA's Social Initiative, announced a $48 million donation to the UN Children's Fund (http://www.unicef.org/UNICEF) programme in India.

She said the funds will impact the lives of 90 million people: 80 million children and young people and 10 million women.

"This brings our total investment in India to around $120 million and our total commitment to UNICEF globally to over $180 million until 2015," added Ms. Barner.

At today's ECOSOC meeting, Mr. Ban insisted that "we must put an end to these senseless deaths," adding that "women are engines of development and drivers of improved health."

Reducing the maternal mortality rate by two-thirds is among the Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/), a set of internationally agreed targets aiming to slash poverty, hunger and eradicate other social ills by 2015.

"Maternal health is a critical component of the well-being of any society. Yet among all the Millennium Development Goals, this is where there has been least progress," warned the Secretary-General.

He called for the UN family and national governments to coordinate their efforts, drawing from the expertise of foundations, research centres and academia, as well the innovative spirit of the private sector and the dynamism of civil society.

Mr. Ban pointed to the example set by cutting down the incidence of malaria in many countries as a way forward with other health issues.

"By making joint efforts and strengthening coordination, the malaria community has achieved real gains. In some African countries there has been a dramatic decline in the incidence of malaria," he said.

The Secretary-General also highlighted the challenge faced by neglected tropical diseases that "afflict about one billion of the world's poorest people. Yet these diseases are largely treatable."

Controlling these diseases offers a strategy for tackling many of the conditions that promote poverty, which is especially important at the present time of economic crisis, he said.

"The economic crisis is putting at risk the unprecedented rise in public and private funding we have witnessed in recent years. The food crisis and the threat posed by climate change have profound implications for people's health and well-being," he warned.

Mr. Ban challenged participants "to think radically about how we can take our efforts to the next level and forge a truly powerful global partnership for global health."

Former United States President Bill Clinton will be offering closing remarks to the Special Event on Philanthropy and Global Public Health Agenda, which was co-organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the UN Office for Partnerships (UNOP).
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