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Billions of dollars promised for Haiti fail to materialize
Academics, authors and activists from around the world are proposing a bold solution to the shortfall
Published On Mon Aug 16 2010
Isabel Macdonald
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Haitian President Rene Preval view earthquake damage in February. The French government is being asked to give back the money Haitians were forced to pay for their independence.
Francois Mori/REUTERS
Nearly seven months after a devastating earthquake killed upwards of 250,000 people in Haiti, UN special envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton told Associated Press on Aug. 6 that international donors have yet to make good on their promises of billions of dollars to help the country rebuild.
Haiti?s rebuilding could cost $14 billion, according to a recent Inter-American Development Bank study. Yet only ?five countries ?
Brazil, Norway, Australia, Colombia and Estonia ? have so far provided $506 million, less than 10 per cent of the $5.3 billion pledged for Haiti at a March donors' conference,? according to an Aug. 6 AP article.
Today, dozens of leading academics, authors and activists from around the world proposed a bold solution to this desperate financial shortfall.
Why not reimburse Haiti for the illegitimate ?independence debt? it paid France?
In an open letter to French president Nicolas Sarkozy published today in the French national daily newspaper Liberation, 90 leading academics, authors, journalists and human rights activists from around the world urged the French government to pay Haiti back for the 90 million gold francs Haitians were forced to pay as a price for their independence.
.../
http://www.thestar.com/article/847863--billions-of-dollars-promised-for-haiti-fail-to-materialize
Academics, authors and activists from around the world are proposing a bold solution to the shortfall
Published On Mon Aug 16 2010
Isabel Macdonald
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Haitian President Rene Preval view earthquake damage in February. The French government is being asked to give back the money Haitians were forced to pay for their independence.
Francois Mori/REUTERS
Nearly seven months after a devastating earthquake killed upwards of 250,000 people in Haiti, UN special envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton told Associated Press on Aug. 6 that international donors have yet to make good on their promises of billions of dollars to help the country rebuild.
Haiti?s rebuilding could cost $14 billion, according to a recent Inter-American Development Bank study. Yet only ?five countries ?
Brazil, Norway, Australia, Colombia and Estonia ? have so far provided $506 million, less than 10 per cent of the $5.3 billion pledged for Haiti at a March donors' conference,? according to an Aug. 6 AP article.
Today, dozens of leading academics, authors and activists from around the world proposed a bold solution to this desperate financial shortfall.
Why not reimburse Haiti for the illegitimate ?independence debt? it paid France?
In an open letter to French president Nicolas Sarkozy published today in the French national daily newspaper Liberation, 90 leading academics, authors, journalists and human rights activists from around the world urged the French government to pay Haiti back for the 90 million gold francs Haitians were forced to pay as a price for their independence.
.../
http://www.thestar.com/article/847863--billions-of-dollars-promised-for-haiti-fail-to-materialize