Diplomacy aids Haiti's struggle. Fwa saa ondire se serye

Diplomacy aids Haiti's struggle
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com

The United Nations will launch an unprecedented diplomatic effort in Haiti,
beginning Monday with a visit by former President Bill Clinton.

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Not since Haiti plunged into anarchy that led to the ouster of its
democratically elected president five years ago has it received such targeted
attention on the world stage.

But with Monday's arrival of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.N.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon comes a measure of hope that the nation's
fortunes will begin to turn for the better.

Armed with star power and global influence, the two dignitaries are scheduled
to arrive in Haiti's capital for an overnight visit that will include working
meetings with Haitian President René Préval and Prime Minister Michèle
Pierre-Louis.

Clinton, traveling with a delegation of business leaders, will also sit down
with key Haitian business figures before touring the country's lingering
devastation -- and its best prospects for hope.

It is an unprecedented diplomatic assault, launched by the United Nations and
followed a day later with a rare visit by the international organization's most
powerful body, the U.N. Security Council.

The hope is the series of high-profile visits will provide Haiti with the kind
of global and humanitarian support it needs as it struggles with deepening
poverty, donor fatigue and the worst humanitarian disaster in 100 years.

''We have made a lot of progress in Haiti,'' said U.N Special Representative
for Haiti Hédi Annabi. ``We have suffered some setbacks in 2008, especially in
the wake of the hurricanes. But we think success is possible in Haiti.''

Haiti has teetered on the edge of the abyss for decades. The 9,000-member
Brazilian-led U.N. Stabilization Mission, known by its French acronym MINUSTAH,
is Haiti's fifth UN mission since 1993. And while it has achieved success with
creating an environment for presidential and legislative elections, and
disarming dangerous gangs, fears are increasing that those fragile gains could
be soon lost. Last year's storms, which followed violent food riots that led to
nearly five months of government paralysis, have been major setbacks.

LUKEWARM RESPONSES

Though the food riots sparked global attention on an impoverished Haiti, the
four storms that hit in rapid succession and killed about 800 Haitians while
creating $1 billion in wreckage, went almost unnoticed.

In fact, several U.N. appeals for $108 million in humanitarian assistance received lukewarm responses from the international community.

That fact, coupled with the reality of the global financial crisis and tensions
over pending legislative elections are fueling anxiety that Haiti's small gains
could soon disappear.

''Haiti has been for many years a weak state, and certainly not the
international community nor the Latin American group of nations would like to
see Haiti as a failed state,'' said Ambassador Jorge Urbina, permanent
representative of Costa Rica, which is leading the three-day U.N. Security
Council mission to Haiti. ``The international community has to find ways to
promote development and make it a sustainable process.''

Adding to the sense of urgency are lingering concerns over next month's Haiti
donors conference in Washington, D.C. The Préval-Pierre-Louis government is
seeking a total of $3 billion to finance a World Bank-approved
poverty-reduction plan. It also needs $125 million to cover expenditures to
control inflation and higher prices for basic commodities.

''The global environment makes it challenging,'' Yvonne Tsikata, World Bank
director for the Caribbean, said. ``On the other hand doing nothing is not an
option.''