Save the Children's statement to the special session of the Human Rights Council on the recovery process in Haiti
UN Human Rights Council
13th Special Session, The Support of the Human Rights Council to the Recovery Process in Haiti after the Earthquake
January 27, 2010
Mr. President,
Save the Children welcomes this special session of the Human Rights Council on the recovery process in Haiti. Save the Children has launched one of its largest international responses ever to the earthquake in Haiti. We are working together with the government of Haiti and other international and local organizations to assess the status and needs of children without parental care and to identify, register and reunite separated children with their families. We have also accepted the UN’s offer to coordinate efforts to reunite separated children and co-lead the international response on education. In addition, we are delivering medical supplies to hospitals, distributing food, opening mobile health clinics and creating child-friendly spaces for children.
A large number of children have been separated from their parents or extended families due to death, injury or the chaos created by the disaster and its aftermath. Long experience tells us that it is almost always in the best interests of a child to remain with their relatives and extended family, when possible. Haiti’s infrastructure has been severely damaged by the earthquake, and with it the systems to ensure that children are correctly identified as orphans. In this regard, we ask that no new adoption procedures of children affected by the earthquake begin until every child has been given the best possible chance of being reunited with his or her family.
Our vision is a Haiti where all children realize their rights every day to a basic education, a healthy life, freedom from abuse, and benefit from the support of families who recognize the fundamental needs of their children. In order to make lasting, positive change in the lives of children, both momentum and funding must be sustained for years to come. We call on donors and the international community to commit to meeting Haiti’s immediate and long-term development needs in cooperation with the government and a wide variety of partners including local civil society and children themselves.
Donors must meet the UN flash appeal and go beyond it. Instead of issuing new loans, money for the Haitian government should be in the form of grants and we would urge the cancellation of all outstanding debt for Haiti given the economic impact of this catastrophic disaster.
Haiti’s basic infrastructure must be rebuilt stronger than before. There must be a sharply expanded focus on human development, both skills and institutions. Haiti’s government, civil society and private sector from the local to the national level must be supported to enable Haitians to lead their country into a brighter future, one in which children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled. Thank you.