By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1quakehaiti011210.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 12, updates below -- In the hours after a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, prepared statements were issued by U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and even Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in New York. At the headquarters of the UN, which has 7000 peacekeepers in Haiti, there was silence.
After 7 p.m on January 12, Inner City Press and another journalist covering the Americas ventured down to the new UN Spokesperson's office in the basement. Any communications from the UN Peacekeeping Mission, MINUSTAH? No. Anything from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon? No.
Mr. Ban is on Long Island on retreat, with the heads of regional organizations.
Update of 8:12 p.m. -- after 8 p.m., the UN Spokesperson's Office issued an e-mail to correspondents that Mr. Ban "will meet with press on Wednesday morning at 8:20 am, at UN Headquarters." We'll be there.
Update of 8:40 p.m. -- and at 8:28 p.m., after even Scott Stringer, the UN put this out:
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the earthquake in Haiti:
My heart goes out to the people of Haiti after this devastating earthquake. At this time of tragedy, I am very concerned for the people of Haiti and also for the many United Nations staff who serve there. I am receiving initial reports and following developments closely.
First, given that the UN told not only Inner City Press but also AFP they could not reach MINUSTAH, how Ban is "receiving initial reports," other than CNN, is unclear. But the point, we emphasize, is that the UN has more presence on the ground in Haiti than anyone else. Why hasn't it been the go-to organization for information on the earthquake?
Update of 9:20 p.m. -- and at 9:12 p.m., in greater detail than Ban Ki-moon (why? Because of Francophonie? Lss skeptically, because peacekeeping and civilian personnel are missing? but where else is this done?) DPKO chief Alain Le Roy chimed in:
Statement from the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy:
English:
The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations expresses his deep concern following this afternoon’s catastrophic earthquake. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations is still in the process of gathering information on the extent of the damage and the status of UN personnel. Contacts with the UN on the ground have been severely hampered as communications networks in Haiti have been disabled by the earth quake. For the moment, a large number of personnel remain unaccounted for. The United Nations can confirm that the Headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in Port au Prince has sustained serious damage along with other UN installations. Further information will be provided as it becomes available.
We hope so.
To Gonaives in 2008, it took the UN and others three days to reach those in need. Will response this time be more timely?
When the head of MINUSTAH, Hedi Annabi, came to brief the Security Council in September, Inner City Press asked him what if anything had been done to improve building codes and practices following the deadly school collapse in Petionville. Video here, from Minute 1:50. Inner City Press asked asked what discipline had been imposed on the over 100 peacerkeepers repatriated to Sri Lanka on charges of sex abuse or exploitation in Haiti.
Mr. Annabi, as to building codes, said that the government of Michel Pierre Louis has been "very mindful" and made "special effort to improve the relevant rules and regulations" to make buildings, particularly of institutions, safe. One of the first reports on January 12 was of a collapsed hospital.
Previous UN Spokesperson Michele Montas in November 2008 told Inner City Press, which asked whether the UN given its central role in Haiti might be trying to encourage improvements in building codes, that "there is a government in Haiti... those codes have existed for two hundreds years." That might be the problem.
