Haiti: Hope depends on human security say churches

A high-level meeting to urge the strengthening and continued presence of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti was held on 14 July in New York, hosted by the Canadian government in collaboration with the UN liaison office of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and World Vision.

The world's first black-led republic and the first Caribbean state to achieve independence, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. Since the renewal of its mandate in 2005, the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, has reduced the levels of violence in a country which remains plagued by gang warfare and criminality which has left hundreds dead.

Representatives of the Haitian churches and several international non-governmental organizations, including Caritas Haiti, World Vision, the International Crisis Group and Action Aid, met with member states of the Security Council, friends of Haiti member states and senior staff at the UN Department of Peace Keeping to highlight the ongoing insecurity in the country. For decades, the WCC has been at the forefront of international church efforts to nurture peace and development in Haiti.

"Haiti is being called on to make a choice between two paths," said Rev. Edouard Paultre, General Secretary of the Haitian Federation of Protestant Churches, who represented the WCC at the event. "The path of peace and durable development, or the path of warfare. The road toward peace is the most difficult. It demands sacrifices, it demands the application of restorative justice, it requires a high and ambitious perspective, but also the recognition of the wrongs committed against the country."

Alongside the urgent need for security, a key message to come from the speakers was also one of hope and the opportunity that lies in the renewal of the mandate for a UN force to help support the Haitian people.

Despite the extraordinary difficulties faced by this country, Rev. Paultre remains hopeful. "Haiti remains a challenge for the international community. But there are so many human, financial and material resources mobilized for the stabilization and normalization of the situation in Haiti that the international community does not have the right to fail."

Related external links:
(WCC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites)
- International Crisis Group - Haiti reports

Haiti: Hope depends on human security say churches

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