Dear reader,
Even though it has been over six months since our last newsletter, this does not mean the COEH has remained silent. On the contrary, as events in Haiti kept urging us to either take a stand or share information we continued publishing statements and articles on our website. Given the dramatic events of the past six weeks, it is high time to share these articles with you. We also want to briefly bring you up to date on developments within the COEH.
News from the COEH and the Steering Committee
General Assembly: Our next general assembly is scheduled for Tuesday September 21. As our two previous assemblies, this meeting will take place via Zoom. We are currently in the process of setting the agenda. Issues to be discussed are the planning for 2022 and the focus of our lobby activities. Also, the outcome and recommendations of an investigation into the functioning of both the COEH and its Steering Committee, carried out by Vincent Sima Ole, intern at Secours Catholique, will be on the agenda.
COEH Coordinator: In September of last year, Claude Mormont temporarily took over the coordination from his predecessor Barbara Küpper. His term is ending, which means that we are asking candidates willing to succeed Claude to contact the Steering Committee.
Greet Schaumans: We are very pleased to inform you that after many months of rehabilitation Greet has returned home last month, where she will further recover, receiving home care. Greet keeps up to date with everything happening in Haïti and is planning to participate again at our online meetings.
Estelle Miquel: Last month, Estelle informed us that she had accepted another job and would leave Secours Catholique by the end of August. She will start working in Congo-Brazaville. We wish her much success and thank her for her active contributions to the Steering Committee and the COEH.
COEH and Haiti on our website
On several occasions during the past months the COEH published statements with regard to the current developments in Haiti. Last week we published the story of Colette Lespinasse, recounting her visit to the region struck by the earthquake of August 14. Colette talks about the damage and also about the pain she sees in the faces of the people who have lost everything. “After this new disaster and an extremely difficult and volatile political context, will the Haitian people still find the necessary strength to recover?”
After the tragic assassination of former de facto president Jovenel Moïse, the Steering Committee expressed its concerns and its solidarity with the Haitian people. Rising insecurity and increased gang violence was written about in June. We also published an update on the Stop Silence Haiti campaign. The continuing political crisis was analysed by Colette Lespinasse in May.
Earlier this year, a group of five members of the European Parliament asked for an inquiry into the political crisis. As COEH we denounced and condemned the backing of Jovenel Moïse by the Core Group, including the European Union, and asked the EU and its member states to end the support of the authoritarian and unconstitutional regime of Moïse.
On the occasion of the International Day of Peasant Struggles the COEH published a press release, alerting on measures further endangering food security in Haiti.
All articles are to be found below.
The steering committee of the COEH