By Samira Sami on Samedi, juin 14, 2008.
I hardly contemplate the number of times I turn on a water tap in a day or barely appreciate the fortune of flushing the toilet after each use. After spending just a few days in Haiti you come to see water as the "blue gold". Access to safe water for drinking and hygiene prevents disease and dehydration and allows for economic and social growth. The RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, Partners in Health, and NYU Center for Human Rights and Global Justice are partnering together to assess the right to water in Haiti. The launch of the Right to Water report will take place in NYU School of Law on June 23rd.
"Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront to human dignity." Kofi Annan, Former United Nations Secretary-General.
"Water is increasingly recognised as an integral part of the human rights framework. The argument for water as a human right goes further than recognising that water is a basic need, essential for human well being and human dignity. It rests on the notion of justice. Asymmetric power relations threaten the principle of ‘equity' in use and distribution of water, which results in individuals and groups being excluded and/or deprived from access to water. The argument of ‘Rights' is thus needed to effectively address and prevent this discrimination and marginalisation."- UN Development Programme.
There have been both implicit and explicit references to a right to water in public international law. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights implies that the right to water is a prerequisite of the attainment for other human rights. Other global conventions and declarations have also recognized access to safe water as an essential component to development. So, what responsibility do international financial institutions carry when they withhold a country's loans to improve access to water based on political tiff?
Of the $500 million of approved Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loans that were withheld from Haiti in 2001, as a result of US veto power, $54 million were supposed to be used towards increasing access to water. A percentage of that amount would have increased Port-de-Paix's access to potable water from 5% to 39%. This was one of many objectives of the IDB potable water loan project in Haiti. The study of a Right to Water will give further evidence to the fact that economic sanctions and embargoes are most harmful to the vulnerable populations of a country-the poorest of the poor in Haiti.
Although the role of the United States and IDB is scarcely acknowledged in Haiti's public health crisis, the RFK Center for Human Rights has been working with their RFK Laureate Loune Viaud (from Zanmi Lasante) to hold IDB accountable for their actions. The Right to Water report is based on over a year's worth of quantitative and qualitative research conducted in Port-de-Paix, Haiti. The collaboration includes surveying community water sources, meeting with community leaders, and applying human rights and public health methodologies to assess the consequences of the failure of the Inter-American Development Bank to disburse life-saving loans.
Sanctions against Haiti were based on politics and not law. International human rights organizations, such as the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, are tracking the effects of these sanctions on Haiti's social, economic, and cultural rights. "The American public has a right to know what role its government is playing behind closed doors," said Monika Kalra Varma, Director at the RFK Center. Varma continued to insist, "As international financial institutions and donor nations begin publicizing plans to reinvest in Haiti, this information must be made public so that such a destructive and perverse reversal does not happen again."
Click here for more information on the right to water.
To attend the Right to Water Report Launch in NYU on June 23rd RSVP to rsvp@rfkmemorial.org.
~ Samira
Access to water is such a
Access to water is such a basic right that many still lack. As the element of life, everybody should have access to clean, drinkable water. Lenders and politicians should set any different aside and do their best to provide the people with safe accessible water.
Download Right to Water Report
The report, entitled Wòch nan Soley: The Denial of the Right to Water in Haiti will be launched in Port-de-Paix at a later date. French and Kreyol versions will also be available soon.
You can access a pdf version of the report at: http://www.rfkmemorial.org/human_rights/Woch_nan_Soley.pdf
Response to Anonymous
The report directly addresses the concerns raised by Anonymous.
The premise of the investigation was the U.S. role in the withholding of IDB loans which the Haitian government had agreed to and invested in. The Haitian government had signed a contract and paid $5 million in arrears to receive these loans to implement specific water projects in several communities, including the city of Port-de-Paix. The U.S. and IDB did not honor their end of the contract, and violated the Bank's own charter in withholding these water loans.
These actions should be investigated so that they are not repeated. In addition, attention should be centered on ensuring that these specific IDB projects are in fact implemented and that they meet the needs of the local community. Throughout the report, there are strong recommendations that all water projects in Haiti follow a rights-based approach, with the goal of strengthening the government's infrastructure rather than disregarding it, as happens with most projects. As discussed in the report, side-stepping the government only serves to weaken the public sector and Haitians’ ability to secure their rights.
The investigative team that contributed to the report lived in Port-de-Paix during the summer of 2007, and the core team was comprised of two Haitian investigators and one American. While in Port-de-Paix they met with the local community every day, and they have since returned to the community to provide updates on the report’s findings. The team will again return to Port-de-Paix in the next month to seek the community's specific recommendations for each of the institutions that are responsible for fulfilling its right to water.
Monika Kalra Varma
Director, Center for Human Rights
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial
Haiti - Water
$10,000 dollar paintings and dirt roads.
Some 10 years ago I was taken to an art gallery at the intersection of two dirt roads on the outskirts of Port au Prince. It was a small house converted into an artists studio. Within, I was introduced to Fravrange Valcin (nephew of the famous Gerard Valcin) and his collection of artwork that generally ranged in the $5000 to $7500 USD's and currently selling for close to $10,000 USD.
Stepping back outside for a moment, it struck me that within this modest house at the corner of two dirt roads was a perfect illustration of the dichotomy known as "Haiti".
What is lacking in this "scene" is not money (in the form of foreign aid) but infrastructure. The last administration to invest in this "foundation" was Papa Doc in the 1960's. You may know, that many Haitians who lived during his administration now long for the days of his infrastructure improvements.
If you're going to waste time with another "Hate America First" diatribe in order to gin-up donations, then your efforts are simply self-serving. Haitians do not need another group of American Elitists using Haiti as another vehicle in their march towards a "Better America".
Haitians want their "Rights to Water" but only through very specific and targeted water works projects will they get it. No congressional hearings, European meetings in Vienna, etc that will only serve the RFK Center and those "lucky enough" to attend these very pompous gatherings of nothingness.
Relieving debt, increasing foreign aid will only encourage the acquisition of more Valcin paintings and do NOTHING for Haitians Right to Water.
You want to help? Then push for the exclusion of the Haitian government in building these infrastructure projects and do not turn the money over to them. The Haitian government needs less involvement and not more.
By the way, Haitians do not need any more "engineers" flying in to assess the situation and staying at the El Rancho Hotel and awakening to a beautiful, paid (treat them to breakfast in the AM), Haitian women or longing at the Ibo LeLe poolside cabana all afternoon.
Poster un nouveau commentaire