Haiti Earthquake: Bill Clinton Launches the UN's Largest-Ever Natural Disaster Appeal

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from Mark Leon Goldberg at UN Dispatch: http://www.undispatch.com/node/9585



February 18, 2010

At the UN (Thursday), UN Special Envoy for Haiti Bill Clinton launched the a $1,441,547,920 humanitarian appeal for Haiti. This is the UN's organization's largest ever appeal for humanitarian assistance following a natural disaster.

At a meeting at the UN, Clinton delivered an impassioned appeal for international support for Haiti relief. He said the appeal was important for long term rebuilding, but the most immediate concern was to meet Haitians' basic needs. "You can't build a country back when a third of the people are living day-to-day...when people are worried about things like their children dying of dysentery in a camp," said Clinton. "We need to move them from living day-to-day to living month to month." He repeated that refrain a number of times, at one point banging the table for emphasis.

His job now is to help convince donors that their donations will be used effectively. To that end, he announced the launch of a website, Haitispecialenvoy.org, that will allow donors to track their funds. He also expressed his confidence in the Haitian government, which is an important thing considering that much of the funding will be used to support Haiti's crippled governing infrastructure. Clinton even cited a conversation he had with Haiti President Rene Preval in which Preval refused to lament the loss of his presidential palace, saying "everything from this day forward should be about the country we wish to become, not the country we used to be."

The report that has accompanied the appeal contains some new facts and figures that give some perspective to the immense scale of the disaster . . . The $1.44 billion appeal is intended to provide relief to the affected population and set the stage for Haiti's long term recovery . . .

This is an unprecedented undertaking. Fortunately, it is also unprecedented for someone as high profile as Bill Clinton to be leading the charge. As I've said before, one thing that Haiti has going for it is that Bill Clinton is in their corner. And if there is something in which President Clinton truly excels, it is fundraising. I must say, having just watched Bill Clinton brief the UN on the appeal, it is clear that despite his recent health scare, he is eager to put these talents to use on behalf of the Haitian people.

read more: http://www.undispatch.com/node/9585

Haiti Humanitarian Aid Report (pdf)
http://ochadms.unog.ch/cap-exchange.nsf/0/D5F63279A726B4EDC12576CE00466B1C/$FILE/HAITI_HUMANITARIAN%20APPEAL_2010_small%20size.pdf

[Frustratedlady]

1. What's George doing these days?

Unless I've missed it, there hasn't been much publicity regarding George's part of the Haiti aid fund. Is he writing thank you notes from home?

Why didn't he show up in Haiti like Clinton/Daddy did for the tsunami?

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2. Too busy helping the Dick-Head load his shotguns.

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