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

What I saw in the South of Haiti - After the Earthquake of August 14, 2021

What I saw in the South of Haiti - After the Earthquake of August 14, 2021

COEH representative Colette Lespinasse visited the Great South, the peninsula hit by a devastating earthquake on August 14. She has written a moving account of what she has seen, and concludes that Haiti must rethink its building system, the development of its territory , risk and disaster management aimed at a better protection of its population. After this new disaster and an extremely difficult and volatile political context, will the Haitian people still find the necessary strength to recover?

Read more.

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Communication from the Steering Committee of the Europe Haiti Coordination in solidarity with the Haitian people, after the assassination of Mr. Jovenel Moïse

After the assassination, on July 7, 2021 of Mr. Jovenel Moïse, de facto president of Haiti, the Coordination Steering Committee of the CoEH wishes to express its solidarity with the Haitian people, for months victim of a spiral of violence, corruption, destruction of institutions of which Mr. Jovenel Moïse became one of the many victims, after having been an important actor.

Read more.

Stop silence Haiti! (2)

More than 150 Haitian, European, Latin American, Canadian and African organisations
(trade unions, NGOs, associations, peasant movements, feminists, citizens), among them the COEH, are calling for a
change in international policy towards Haiti.

Read more.

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Haiti between two fires: gang violence and covid-19 infections are on the rise

The situation in Haiti has been turbulent for quite a while, but covid-19 infections fortunately remained few during the past year. This now seems to be changing as the number of infections is increasing rapidly, while vaccines are not yet available. Meanwhile, armed gangs are blocking the major access roads of the capital Port-au-Prince. The government is taking no actions. The residents are trapped. This article is taken from the Dutch website La Chispa (www.lachispa.nl ).

Read more.

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HAITI : A REFERENDUM TO AGGRAVATE THE POLITICAL CRISIS

The political crisis in Haiti continues as Mr. Jovenel Moïse, whose mandate as president, according to many, ended in February 2021, has plans to organize a much criticized referendum amid an increasingly insecure and violent situation. Colette Lespinasse explains how the referendum will further aggravate the situation.

Read more.

Inquiry by the European Parliament into crisis situation in Haiti

Inquiry by the European Parliament into crisis situation in Haiti

On January 25, four Members of the European Parliament (three from France and one from Germany) of the Greens/European Free Alliance have written to Vice-President Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, about the crisis situation in Haiti.

Read more.

Political crisis in Haiti - Appeal from the COEH to the European Union

Political crisis in Haiti - Appeal from the COEH to the European Union

In view of the current developments in Haiti, the COEH is appealing to the European Union and its member states to distance themselves from Mr. Jovenel Moïse, unlawfully holding power in Haiti since February 7, 2021, the anticipated date of his resignation according to the constitution. We ask that the European Union instead listens to and supports the Haitian civil society, which for the last two years has been proposing alternatives for a peaceful transition towards a truly democratic and open society.

Read more.

CoEH press release on the occasion of the international day of peasant struggles - Free zone project in Savane Diane

The current degradation of food security in Haiti is of great concern for the members of the CoEH (Europe Haiti Coordination), who reiterate their full support to local farmer organizations. They denounce Jovenel Moise's illegal and inappropriate decision to re-assign lands initially dedicated to the country's food security for the production of export goods. This decision will indeed deprive many families from a land access that is essential to their survival.

Read more.

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B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

                       

 

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