- Representatives from 54 countries and 35 international organizations to be at summit
- Private sector leader opposed to overthrow of Préval
- MINUSTAH staff and property victims of vandalism
- Gang-related armed robbery and rapes in Pétion-Ville.
- Three kidnapping victims recovered
- Newborn child rescued from a septic tank
- MINUSTAH military patrol pelted with stones
- Humanitarian response faces accountability challenges in camp committees
I. GENERAL SITUATION
With the official start of the six-month Atlantic hurricane season tomorrow, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued an outlook projecting a 70% probability of 23 storms of at least tropical storm strength. Forecasts point toward eight to fourteen hurricanes with top winds of 74 mph or higher, of which three to seven might be major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5) with winds of at least 111 mph. While no tropical development is expected today, scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected across the Caribbean Sea, with the heaviest likely to be over Hispaniola. The storm-watch remains in effect for all of Haiti, but particularly across the south where the departments South, Nippes and Southeast continue to be identified by the Centre National de Météorologie as at greatest risk of overflowing rivers, mudslides, landslides, subsidence and flooding. (http://protectioncivile.gouv.ht/)
Delegations from 54 countries and representatives from 35 international organizations have confirmed their participation in the summit ‘Haiti: Solidarity beyond the crisis’ to be held on 2 June in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The Dominican and Haitian presidents will co-chair the meeting. The meeting will be also be attended by the Haitian prime minister and UN Special Envoy, who co-chair the Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti. The Dominican Republic hosted a similar meeting prior to the conference of donors in New York on 31 March.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti (CHIC) announced his disagreement with the mobilization by various sectors of the opposition to overthrow the Préval government. Emphasizing instead the need to avoid formation of a transitional government that might aggravate current problems, he noted that previous transitional arrangements during the past 25 years only succeeded in creating a climate of instability. The CHIC leader urges politicians to focus on the preparation of credible elections and to engage in constructive dialogue for which the president should take the initiative (Source: www.metropolehaiti.com)
II. SECURITY AND PUBLIC ORDER
Over the last 48 hours, the security situation in Haiti has largely remained stable, but the general security environment continues to be characterized by persistent criminal activity. During the weekend, several crimes involving rape and kidnapping were reported. In addition, MINUSTAH staff and property were increasingly the targets of criminal activity.
On 29 May in Grande Anse, a UN vehicle was vandalized by unidentified suspects. The rear back right window was broken and the wheel key stolen. The same day in Port-au-Prince, unidentified thieves stole a personal bag from a Japanese military officer on Boulevard 15 Octobre, near Camp Charlie. The suspect fled the scene after the incident.
Also on 29 May at about 0100 hours in Pétion-Ville, five suspected gang members broke into the house of a local man living with his niece and a housekeeper. The perpetrators stole several valuables, then physically mistreated and raped the two women. On the same day in Pétion-Ville, a 16-year-old male was arrested for raping a 14 year-old girl. Likewise, in Delmas 2, a 25 year-old male was also arrested for rape.
In Port-de-Paix that day the population of Peralte joined the PNH in ransacking two houses belonging to alleged kidnapping suspects. In each house the search uncovered a child who had been kidnapped. No suspects were arrested, but two homemade firearms were seized by the PNH. Also on 29 May, in Gonaïves a woman who had been kidnapped by two unidentified suspects on a motorcycle in the Savane Désolée area was released by her captors. She was transported to hospital for medical treatment. No arrest was made.
On 29 May, in Croix-de-Bouquets, a local fire-fighting team intervened and extracted a newborn baby boy from a septic tank. The infant was taken to hospital.
In the last 48 hours, two demonstrations were reported. The first, in Jérémie, drew about 5,000 people who peacefully marched to honour the decision of the authorities to liberate the Regional PNH Inspector after 37 days of detention, who had been arrested after physically assaulting a service station worker. The second demonstration occurred in Fort National, where approximately 200 people, mostly women, demonstrated against the continued violence against women. Participants wanted to raise awareness of sexual and domestic violence.
On 30 May in the Cité Soleil area, a MINUSTAH military patrol was pelted with stones. The patrol commander observed established procedures in the rules of engagement, ordering the firing of a non-lethal shot into the air. The aggressors then fled the area, with no physical or material damage reported.
Also on 30 May, the SRSG visited Malpasse. MINUSTAH military elements and UNPOL assisted HNP in monitoring the event. No incident was reported.
During the weekend, UNPOL and HNP conducted 598 joint patrols and 99 checkpoints throughout the country. A total of 49 arrests were reported, including two escaped prisoners in Port-au-Prince. MINUSTAH military conducted 2,030 security operations involving 9,744 troops and 10 maritime patrols, sailing 140 nautical miles.
III. HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS
After two months of working with agencies in Haiti, the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership - International (HAP) team in Haiti has found that the structure and functioning of camp committees are a major accountability challenge for the humanitarian response. Rather than serving as effective accountability mechanisms for camp management agencies in terms of participation, handling complaints and disseminating information, in some cases these governance structures have become a vehicle for subjecting earthquake victims to opaque and corrupt practices.
While the humanitarian community allocates significant decision-making power to these committees, the HAP team found a lack of knowledge about them among camp populations. Committee structures were also found not to reflect community governance structures. Worse, committees have been using their decision-making power for personal gain. Working with a member agency with camp-management responsibilities, the HAP team has been collaborating closely with international and national NGOs over the past two months to conduct training workshops in accountability, provide consultative support and conduct the first of a series of planned camp assessments,. NGO workers have consistently reported the camp committee structures as one of the major challenges to accountability.
While some committees are undoubtedly functioning well and enabling effective participation and representation, others suffer variously from a lack of representation, corruption or manipulation for political or personal purposes. In coming months, the HAP team will advocate for a wider adoption of exercises to assess the representation of committees through examination of such aspects committee makeup, election processes, relations between committees and pre-existing governance structures, committee impartiality and responsiveness to disadvantaged groups. (Source:www.hapinternational.org)
In the last 48 hours, MINUSTAH military have conducted 14 humanitarian assistance missions involving 153 troops. These missions included medical assistance, food and water distributions benefiting about 39,825 people, 207 prisoners and three orphanages.
IV. JOTC
The Joint Operations and Tasking Centre (JOTC) continued to respond to requests for assistance from humanitarian partners, the Government and the Project Management Coordination Cell (PMCC). To date,788 requests for support have been received and 505 completed. Most of the requests pertain to the provision of security and engineering support.
0 comments:
Post a Comment