Posted on 03/31/2010 2:54:16 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
Britain has pledged no new aid for the reconstruction of Haiti and will be the only big economy not represented at ministerial level at a landmark donor conference in New York today to plan the country’s future, The Times has learnt.
As Hillary Clinton and the former President Bill Clinton lead a top-level American delegation to the conference, Britain will be represented by Philip Parham, the Deputy Ambassador to the UN. Brazil, France, Canada, Spain, Japan and the Irish Republic as well as the US are sending senior ministers.
Nearly three months after one of the worst natural disasters of modern times, a Haitian government report places the death toll at 220,000 while the people believe that twice that number were killed. More than a million homeless Haitians are still in urgent need of basic humanitarian aid, yet the UN has reported a slump in donations to its top-priority relief fund.
Aid agencies expressed bewilderment at Britain’s low-key presence at a conference that could determine the fate of ambitious plans to lift Haiti out of its cycle of poverty and crisis.
“Frankly it’s inexplicable why the UK would not send someone at ministerial level,” Louis Belanger, of Oxfam International, said. “Perhaps it has felt sidelined because it has not been one of the top three organisers of this conference,” he added, referring to the US, the UN and the EU. “But this was one of the worst humanitarian disasters in decades. We need leadership. We need vision, and certainly the UK needs to be a part of that.”
Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, is running the Labour Party’s election campaign and will not be in New York. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, was in Canada yesterday for a G8 foreign ministers’ meeting but he, too, was not expected in
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
The UK is tired of getting the finger from Obama and the DOS. They are finally giving a finger back at us.
Can’t blame the UK at all. They know any money they commit would simply be pissed away by the corrupt government of Haiti.
Yeah, thats gonna happen /rolleyes
I am adding this to the outsanding record of Obama Dip-lunacy:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2470815/posts?page=4
If the UN and the EU want control, then they can take responsibility. Frankly, if those two organizations are going to be calling the shots, most of the money is going to wind up stolen, anyway.
The UK was on-board for the humanitarian relief phase. Now they are talking about a long-term boondoggle, which I don’t blame any country from looking askance at.
The Haitian Government can't steal it if the UN steals it first!
Steve harrigan did a piece on Haiti this morning. The aid hasn’t even been getting to the people who need it.
Why? Haiti has only asked for $11 billion...
Show me how much money the Muslim countries have contributed.
Especially the oil rich ones.
Since the Arabs sold the blacks to the Europeans into the slave ships, the least they could do is pay reparations. /s
Typical.
Meanwhile, in Chile, it seems to have been business as usual for quite awhile.
It's probably the same corruption as was the case following 9-11-01.
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