Haiti, 2011

First of

all, I would like to congratulate Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz

Al-Nasser on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. I also want to use

this occasion to commend the leadership of Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon and to laud the dynamism and

wisdom he brings to the management of world affairs.

From this rostrum, I extend a brotherly welcome

to our sister nation, South Sudan, which just

proclaimed its independence on 9 July. We share in

their pride, and we welcome them with great respect as

the 193rd Member State of the great family of the

United Nations. On behalf of the Republic of Haiti, I

send warm congratulations and our hope that the

country may enjoy peace, happiness and prosperity. I

honour the memory of those who died in the struggle

before seeing the dawn of a new day shining in that

part of the African continent.

Speaking here today on behalf of Haiti, I join my

voice with those of all the Member States that, like us,

have known the heavy burden of post-disaster and

post-conflict circumstances, in saying that even among

the weakest and most vulnerable hope lives on. They

carry the hope of rebirth, because they know that the

pre-crisis reality is no longer a possibility. They know

that change — change in their mentality and change in

their political, economic and social affairs — must be

their creed. They cannot afford not to change. In the

case of Haiti, it is precisely because an entire people

were firmly convinced of the need for change that I

was elected with a very clear mandate, namely, that of

bringing about that change.

I am convinced that that leap in awareness that

resulted from suffering is what will lead to a new

global order. That was the case at the beginning of the

nineteenth century, when Saint-Domingue broke its

chains and brought about the birth of Haiti. It was the

case in 1945, when countries of good will, including

Haiti, came together to bring about this body which

brings us together this week around noble ideals. It

also seems to be the case in the light of the political

changes affecting North Africa.

In a country of the South where the human

development index is still of concern, a major disaster

unfortunately arises, the great question of

responsibility comes brutally to the fore again, whether

the responsibility be local in terms of governance, or

whether the responsibility lies with the global order.

Today’s world and the United Nations in particular will

be more and more called upon, because those post-

disaster situations include both situations resulting

from natural disasters and those of a passing nature or

those that are simply caused by human folly.

When on top of that, in some of those cases, all

of these factors come together, the response must be

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more carefully designed, more responsible, more

coordinated, bolder and more determined.

I strongly believe that, first of all, it is for the

affected countries to seek and find solutions, because

any solution that is imposed from the outside, however

generous it might be, will, in the medium term, only

produce adverse effects. It is up to the people of the

South to determine how they use their wealth, their raw

materials and their future. In the case of Haiti, I have to

say that the international community, through the

United Nations, showed by supporting, six months

after the earthquake, presidential elections in a difficult

context, that it understood the urgency. I would like to

thank it for that.

But I also strongly believe that it would be

irresponsible for a country that has been hit by disaster

to deny itself the assistance, expertise and cooperation

of sisterly nations, whether they be from the emerging

South or from the North, which is supposedly well-off.

It is that balance, as I was saying, between

mature governance and well-conceived international

assistance that should be sought after and codified,

genuinely and without any embellishment. I would cite

as an example the various peacekeeping and

stabilization missions of the United Nations in

numerous places around the globe, including Haiti.

The same situation arises everywhere: a country

initially welcomes the missions, but in the medium

term, they lose steam. Why? Problems arise because

the expectations of the host country are excessive.

Furthermore, missions cannot operate when they work

under inflexible terms of reference. That is to be

regretted, because nothing would more irresponsible

and dangerous than to let missions leave before an

effective national alternative is in place.

In the case of Haiti, what would the United

Nations Mission have accomplished if today, suddenly

and without any warning, it were to be withdrawn? Of

course, I am aware of the fact that unacceptable errors

have been committed and have affected the prestige of

the Mission, but the trees must not be allowed to hide

the forest. I believe that political stabilization goes

through a number of stages. It cannot be based simply

on an intervention force or a more or less neutral

observer presence. That would reflect a very simplified

view of the primary role of the United Nations.

Stabilization is more than that. Thus, the Government

policy that I stand for consists of four main pillars:

education, employment, environment and the rule of

law.

How can we build peace unless there is universal

and free basic education in a country where there is

massive illiteracy? How can we promote sustainable

development without high quality education that

promotes citizen values, ensures gender equality,

values cultural identity and openness to the world, and

leads to tolerance?

With respect to jobs, allow me to say that we can

talk as much as we like about human dignity and

human rights, and about stabilization and peace, but an

empty stomach is deaf to words. It is by creating

decent jobs that are properly paid and that respect the

rights of vulnerable categories of people that justice

begins. It is by a fair distribution of the income from

raw materials that we will stop smothering the

countries of the South and put an end to the speculation

that undermines democracy.

On these major themes, nations must come

together and come still closer together. They must be

committed to combating deforestation and climate

change. We must also seriously take into account the

problem of water. There will be no peace in the world

as long as the living conditions of countries such as

mine are so poor that they lead to natural disasters

becoming even more tragic, floods even worse, drought

even more deadly and the rural exodus even more

widespread.

Stabilization today also means, above all,

establishing the rule of law, but the rule of law

requires, inter alia, an independent, responsible and

strong justice system. It also means the ongoing and

difficult but necessary establishment of strong

institutions that are stronger than privilege and group

interest.

The world will become more beautiful when we

stop talking about condemning or accusing people.

Haiti has been witness to that fact. But Haiti can also

say that in post-disaster assistance, the disbursement of

funds that are not subject to inflexible, complex and

clumsy red tape are those that are best adapted to

needs. Therefore, those procedures, even if they are

supported, allow the affected countries to take

ownership of the strategic initiatives concerning their

future. Specifically, in terms of the resources made

available to the affected populations, it is also desirable

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that pledges be followed up with action and that

reconstruction projects be actually implemented.

In a word, I would say that it would be very sad

to see the left hand taking back what the right hand had

given. The temptation exists; it is the result of a

difficult global economic context. But, once again,

truth alone must prevail, because when reconstruction

is left to wait, the long wait can lead to impatience and

bring harm. In the case of Haiti, as in other post-

conflict situations, the United Nations and friendly

nations should come to our aid to help us to reconstruct

more than just a physical space, but reconstruct men

and women, to whom we must give hope. Beyond

concepts and abstractions, this is above all a human

story. This is the new order we are here to speak of

today: putting human beings back into the heart of the

central debates of our time. This is the momentum in

which we are caught up and which is shared by billions

of people in the grip of disasters, forced exoduses,

conflicts and epidemics.

In solidarity with those other victims, the Haitian

people wish to send a very clear message from the

platform of the United Nations. As long as there are

men and women of good will, there will be hope. As

long as there are nations united in solidarity, there will

be hope. We in Haiti have experienced every

conceivable kind of catastrophe: every form of man-

made disaster and all the natural ones, aggravated by

the systematic, irresponsible destruction committed by

human beings. We have known epidemics and hunger,

even marginalization, but Haiti is now back on its feet,

ready to rebuild and ready for a new start. Nothing is

predetermined. It is this new Haiti that is open to the

world, this new Haiti that is open to new investments

and collaborations, to reconstruction, dialogue and

peace. And it is this new Haiti that says thank you to

all those assembled here.