As
UN
Dodges "Moral
Responsibility"
on Haiti
Cholera, a
Joint
Commission?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 1 --
After bringing
cholera to
Haiti, the UN
of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
repeatedly
said that all
claims for
the more than
8,000 people
killed are
"not
receivable."
But as
reported in
Haiti, has Ban
now agreed to
a "joint
commission"
with the Haiti
government on
the issue,
with work to
begin on
October 10?
At
the September
30 UN noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City
Press: On
Haiti, the
speech by the
Prime Minister
in the General
Assembly said
that the UN
has “moral
responsibility
for the
eruption of
the cholera
epidemic”, and
said that the
response is
far from being
sufficient,
and I
wondered,
given that he
is the Prime
Minister of
the country,
what the
response of
the
Secretariat is
to
that?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well, the
Secretary-General
met with the
Prime Minister
of
Haiti, and
they discussed
the question
of cholera in
Haiti, and the
focus was very
much on
handling that
outbreak and
the need,
specifically,
for additional
funding. There
is something
of a
shortfall in
funding for
that, and that
is precisely
what the focus
is on.
Inner
City
Press: But
this phrase
“moral
responsibility,"
some have
made something
of it because
up until now
the Government
has resisted
saying the
things that
the litigants
or potential
litigants are
saying, and so
is, does this
change
anything that
the Government
uses
this phrase?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
The focus of
the United
Nations and,
as we
understand it,
of the Haitian
authorities is
to help the
people of
Haiti to
overcome
the cholera
epidemic. And
a key
component of
that is
funding.
The
UN's read-out
of Ban's
meeting with
Prime Minister
Laurent
Lamothe
said that
"they
discussed the
current
situation in
Haiti,
including
political
developments,
joint efforts
to eradicate
cholera
and the
relocation of
internally
displaced
persons. The
Secretary-General
called on the
Government of
Haiti to
continue
working
closely with
his Special
Representative,
Sandra Honoré,
on
the
strengthening
of the Haitian
National
Police and the
continued
consolidation
of the United
Nations
Stabilization
Mission in
Haiti
(MINUSTAH)."
This
phrase "joint
efforts to
eradicate
cholera" was
unpacked in
Haitian media,
HaitiLibre.com:
"The idea of
the Joint
Commission
was welcomed
by Mr. Ban Ki
Moon and
Sandra Honoré
[Special
Representative
of the
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations in
Haiti] which
confirmed the
arrival in
Haiti, on 10
and 11
October, of
UN experts to
begin the work
of this
Commission."
So
what IS this
Commission?
Watch this
site.
, 
