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Obama Seeks $2.8 Billion for Haiti
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.Staff Writer Washington — President Obama has asked Congress for $2.8 billion in emergency funds for the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti after January’s catastrophic earthquake that killed more than 230,000 people and affected nearly 3 million Haitians. “This emergency funding for Haiti is a must,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said March 24. “It’s a non-negotiable measurement of how the United States responds to a humanitarian emergency.” A portion of the funds will be used to repay the U.S. Defense Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for funds they expended in providing emergency relief immediately after the earthquake struck. The request includes $1 billion in new funding for relief and reconstruction. Money for rebuilding homes, schools, farm and industrial facilities, and the electrical system, and to improve governance and the judicial system is included in the request. The initial crisis has passed, but international experts believe it will take more than a decade to rebuild the Caribbean island nation of approximately 9 million people, one of the poorest nations of the Western Hemisphere. “Even if humanitarian needs remain significant and require the ongoing attention of the humanitarian actors, in particular in terms of shelter and sanitation, our focus must now shift toward the recovery and rebuilding of Haiti,” said Walter Kälin, representative of the U.N. secretary-general on the human rights of internally displaced persons and co-director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement. “The internally displaced persons in Haiti must be provided with the means to rebuild their existence and to resume their life.” “The road toward durable solutions is long and arduous. The full commitment of the international community is needed to support and facilitate the tasks of the national and local authorities in Haiti, which have the primary responsibility to create conditions conducive to durable solutions,” Kälin said. A donors’ conference to mobilize international support for Haiti will be held at the United Nations March 31. Haitian officials have said it will likely take $11.5 billion in reconstruction assistance for the full recovery of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas stricken by the earthquake. “The government of Haiti faces enormous challenges,” the State Department said March 4 in announcing the conference to be held at U.N. headquarters in New York. “Meeting these challenges will require a sustained and substantial commitment from the international community, in support of the government and people of Haiti.” “At the donors’ conference, Haiti will present its vision of Haiti’s future and how international support can assist,” the announcement said. The ministerial-level conference is jointly sponsored by the United States and the United Nations in cooperation with the Haitian government, and also with the support of Brazil, Canada, the European Union, France and Spain. It is being called the International Donors’ Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti. “Donor countries, international organizations and other partners will have an opportunity to pledge resources, to coordinate support of Haiti’s long-term recovery, and to commit to a sustained effort to support Haiti,” the department announcement said. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, hosted an international conference of high-level technical donors March 16–17 to evaluate the economic consequences of the earthquake. And on March 22, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) agreed to forgive $479 million of the country’s $1.2 billion in foreign debt. Former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, at the request of President Obama, are spearheading international efforts to raise funds for Haitian relief. They met with Haitian President René Préval on the grounds of the damaged National Palace in Port-au-Prince March 22 to help focus attention on the need for long-term reconstruction funding for Haiti. The nonprofit Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has raised $37 million for Haitian relief. Obama has personally donated $200,000 to the Haiti Fund from his Nobel Peace Prize award. The IADB said it would provide approximately $2 billion in new financing to Haiti over the next decade. The European Union said it would provide $1.36 billion for Haitian reconstruction in the coming years. And the Group of Seven nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — announced in early February that they would cancel Haiti’s bilateral debt. The World Bank’s board approved a $65 million project to support the recovery of Haiti’s critical infrastructure and the re-establishment of basic state functions. It is part of a $100 million emergency grant announced by the World Bank right after the earthquake. PRELIMINARY STUDY A preliminary study by IADB economists indicates that it could cost as much as $14 billion to rebuild Haiti’s homes, schools, roads and other structures damaged by the earthquake. “The study confirms that the Haitian earthquake is likely to be the most destructive natural disaster in modern times, when viewed in relation to the size of Haiti’s population and its economy,” the development bank said. A more detailed accounting of the cost of reconstruction, which is being conducted by the development bank, the World Bank and the U.N. Development Fund, will be completed in several months, the IADB said in releasing its preliminary report.
25 March 2010
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Cultural sites reflect U.S. #Democracy: Park Service protects sites that tell both inspiring, painful stories http://ow.ly/1qUwy
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Sec #Clinton travels to Ottawa and Gatineau Mar 29-30 for the G8 FM prepcon of the G8 Summit in Canada June 25-26. http://ow.ly/1qVYG
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#Indonesian Internet penetration expected to skyrocket: Indonesia’s online population grows 49 percent annually http://ow.ly/1qUso
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U.S. Acts to Combat Arms Trafficking in Western Hemisphere
U.S. Department of State Bureau of Public Affairs March 25, 2010 Fact Sheet U.S. Acts to Combat Illicit Trafficking in Arms in the Western Hemisphere “We’re acting boldly, we are acting swiftly, and we are acting in concert to combat threats that are endangering the safety and security of citizens across the Americas.” — President Barack Obama President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are committed to combating threats to the citizens of the Americas. As narco-trafficking and associated crime and violence continue to rise throughout the region, the United States has implemented programs to strengthen partnerships with the states of the Western Hemisphere to combat illicit trafficking in arms. Training • In 2009, the United States, Canada, and the Organization of American States (OAS) hosted the Western Hemisphere’s first customs and law enforcement officials meeting in Vancouver to discuss practical approaches and best practices for combating illicit trafficking in firearms. • In 2009, the United States hosted a workshop in Belize on combating arms smuggling in Central America. The workshop aimed to increase states’ capacity to more effectively address the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms and adopt an operational action plan among the seven Central American states. A South American workshop is expected to take place later in 2010. Tailored Assistance • The United States has offered technical assistance to all states in the hemisphere, outlining available U.S. small arms and light weapons-related assistance programs to combat illicit trafficking. Programs are being designed to address the specific needs of individual states. • As part of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, the United States is partnering with Caribbean states to develop programs that address requests for technical assistance to help tackle trafficking in firearms throughout the region. Marking and Tracing • The United States signed eTrace agreements with all seven Central American states and 14 of the 15 Caribbean states. eTrace is a web-based firearm trace request submission system that provides for the electronic exchange of criminal gun data in a secure environment. Expanding eTrace participation throughout the hemisphere is a priority for 2010, including the introduction of a Spanish version of the eTrace software. • The United States provided the OAS a $1 million grant to supply marking equipment to states in the region in order to increase hemispheric capability to trace firearms and identify illicit trafficking routes and suppliers. Stockpile Management • The United States has assessed and offered stockpile management and destruction assistance to a number of states in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through the destruction of aging and unsafe stockpiles, states are avoiding the potential disaster of an explosion, ensuring an increased level of safety for their citizens. Examples include the following: • As part of the Merida Initiative in Central America, the United States has provided a grant for $1.3 million to the OAS for a program that will offer stockpile management and destruction assistance to the seven Central American countries. • The United States has provided a $450,000 grant to the United Nations’ Regional Center for Peace, Disarmament, and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean to build up the capacity of several Caribbean governments in firearms stockpile management and destruction.
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Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman March 25, 2010 MEDIA NOTE Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas Discussed at the World Urban Forum: Advancing Sustainable Urbanization This week at the World Urban Forum (WUF) in Rio de Janeiro, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims praised Brazil’s efforts, under the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), to promote sustainable urbanization across the Americas. On Friday, March 26, the Secretary of State's Special Representative for Intergovernmental Affairs, Reta Lewis, will deliver remarks at the closing ceremony. Brazil’s initiative promotes green buildings, energy efficient housing, sustainable transport, and greenhouse gas reductions from solid waste, particularly in low-income communities across the region. Efforts today to build sustainable low-income housing could help to lower our carbon footprint for decades to come. The initiative also includes participation from the Governments of Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico. “The United States is delighted to be working so closely with Brazil and our other friends in the Americas to chart a more sustainable future for our continents and the world," said Deputy Secretary Sims. "We have much to learn from each other and in sharing the brightest ideas and cleanest technologies we can reduce our collective carbon footprint, while building more sustainable cities.” At the April 2009 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. President Barack Obama invited all governments in the Western Hemisphere to join the ECPA. ECPA is comprised of voluntary initiatives focused on energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner fossil fuels, infrastructure, and energy poverty. At the June 2009 Americas Energy and Climate Symposium in Peru, the Government of Brazil offered to lead an ECPA initiative, Building with Energy Efficiency and Sustainability, which focuses on urban development in low-income areas. U.S. support for Brazil’s initiative includes collaboration by the Department of State in developing a network of academics, funding policy dialogues with practitioners, launching technical and university exchanges, and developing best practices on urbanization so that all governments may benefit from each others’ experiences. Leaders will discuss this partnership and other ECPA initiatives when energy ministers from across the hemisphere meet April 15-16, 2010, in Washington, DC, at the Energy and Climate Ministerial of the Americas, hosted by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and with participation by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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RT @ONECampaign: Join us for an interactive conference call with Melinda Gates and Melanne Verveer Monday night. RSVP here: http://bit.l ...
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State Dept officials brief on #SecClinton ’s #Mexico trip: Officials discuss #Mérida initiatives & U.S.-Mexico relations http://ow.ly/1qMYN
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