Former Prez Clinton is new UN Special Envoy to Haiti

[magbana]

Yeah, get those sweatshops in there, Billy.
magbana


Former President Clinton Appointed U.N. Special Envoy for Haiti By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 18, 2009 6:25 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR2009051802579_pf.html


UNITED NATIONS, May 17 -- Bill Clinton has been appointed U.N. special envoy
for Haiti, a part-time position in which the former U.S. president will aim to
attract private and government investment and aid for the poor Caribbean island
nation, Clinton's office and a senior U.N. official said Monday.

Clinton has long shown an interest in Haiti, where he played a role in
restoring to power the ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1994.
Aristide was forced out of office again a decade later.

The appointment comes more than two months after U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon, Clinton and a delegation of business leaders traveled to Haiti to
highlight the important of restoring economic security there. The country has
been buffeted over the past year by soaring oil and food prices and a
devastating series of hurricanes.

A U.N. official said that Clinton would act as a "cheerleader" for the
economically distressed country, cajoling government and business leaders into
pouring fresh money into a place that is largely dependent on foreign
assistance. It is similar to a role he played, alongside former president
George H.W. Bush, following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

U.N. officials said that they planned to announce the appointment Tuesday, but
Clinton jumped the gun, issuing a statement Monday that he was honored to
accept Ban's offer. "Last year's natural disasters took a great toll, but
Haiti's government and people have the determination to build back better," he
said in the statement, which was published in the Miami Herald.

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Print This Article
Posted on Mon, May. 18, 2009
Former President Bill Clinton named special U.N. envoy to Haiti

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/v-print/story/1054374.html

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
[email protected]

Former President Bill Clinton, who has committed his philanthropic efforts to
helping hurricane ravaged Haiti, has been named a special envoy to the
Caribbean nation on behalf of the United Nations.

The honor comes two months after Clinton visited Haiti along with U.N.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in an effort to raise global attention to the
country's effort to rebuild following a year of natural disasters that wreaked
havoc on the Haitian economy, its people and its already fragile landscape. The
four back-to-back storms left almost 800 dead and created nearly $1 billion in
damage.

Last month, foreign donors agreed to donate $324 million toward Haiti's
rebuilding efforts at a donors conference in Washington, where Clinton
encouraged donors to not just donate money but to encourage investments. A few
days later, his call to action was joined by that of his wife, Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton. She visited the country to emphasize President Barack
Obama's commitment to the country's rebuilding efforts.

''It is an honor to accept the secretary general's invitation to become special
envoy to Haiti,'' former President Clinton said in a statement to The Miami
Herald. 'Last year's natural disasters took a great toll, but Haiti's
government and people have the determination and ability to `build back
better,' not just to repair the damage done but to lay the foundations for the
long-term sustainable development that has eluded them for so long.''

Following his 24 hour visit to the country, Clinton told The Herald he plans to
use his Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together the world's top
business and government leaders every September, to talk about what he has seen
and heard from students, laborers, government leaders and business people.

''I believe Haiti is better positioned to make progress for all its people than
at any time since I first visited in 1978,'' he said Monday. ``It offers unique
opportunities for public and private investment to improve health and education
in ways that will be good for Haitians and all their partners in our
interdependent world.''

The Clinton Foundation works in more than 44 countries, including Haiti, to
address issues such as HIV/AIDS, climate change, sustainable economic
development and childhood obesity. Overall, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
has helped raise more than $46 billion, inspired more than 1,200 projects and
impacted more than 200 million lives in 150 countries.

A U.N. official confirmed the appointment but declined to comment until
Tuesaday when it will make an official announcement. But those familiar with
the appointment say it's been in the works for a while and that the goal is to
keep the world spotlight on Haiti by having one of the world's most
recognizable faces and fundraisers involved in its rebuilding efforts.

Clinton previously served as U.N. special envoy for tsunami recovery following
the 2004 tsunami, during which he helped raise tens of millions of dollars. The
U.N. currently has no special envoy for Haiti, and it is expected that Clinton
will travel to Haiti at least four times a year.

He was only the second sitting U.S. president to have visited Haiti when he
traveled there in 1995. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first in 1934.


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Forwarded By Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
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[Judi Lynn]

1. If he pops in and out of Haiti periodically,he just MAY accidently bump into some of the poor people

who live there who are NOT wearing neatly pressed little uniforms like the ones on the school children at the private school he visited: people like the crowd of Haitians who tried so hard to get close enough to see him before, but were kept far away, blocks away, and out of sight.