The UN has not done enough in Haiti to honor its promises to the victims of the epidemic of cholera, bacteria imported into the country in 2010 by peacekeepers, independent human rights experts denounced this Thursday.
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"The serious shortfalls in funding and spending make the promises of the United Nations illusory," said the group of independent human rights experts of the United Nations, in its letter addressed to the secretary general of the UN. "Although initially seeking $ 400 million over two years, the United Nations only raised $ 20.5 million in about three years and spent a paltry $ 3.2 million. This result is very disappointing following the loss of 10,000 lives, ” denounce the experts, referring to the plan drawn up in 2016 by the United Nations to help the victims of the disease.
In response, Antonio Guterres "reiterated the deep regrets of the United Nations for the loss of life and the suffering caused by the cholera epidemic" . Through his spokesperson, the UN secretary general recalled on Thursday that, since the start of the epidemic, the organization and its agencies have mobilized more than $ 139 million.
The moral responsibility of the United Nations recognized in 2016
In October 2010, cholera was introduced into Haiti following poor management of wastewater in a UN base of Nepalese soldiers located in the center of the country. The bacterium quickly spread throughout the territory and, faced with precarious sanitary conditions and insufficient medical structures in Haiti, the deaths were counted by hundreds during the first weeks.
The UN only recognized its moral responsibility in 2016 but has always denied its legal responsibility, a position decried by human rights defenders. "There is a fundamental difference between appealing for charitable donations from UN member states and being legally forced to donate money," the experts said in their letter to Antonio Guterres.
No case of cholera has been recorded in Haiti in the past 15 months, but it is necessary to wait three years without a diagnosed patient to consider the epidemic as over. Since October 2010, 10,000 Haitians have died from cholera and more than 800,000 others have been infected with the bacteria.
