UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos to join political champions for disaster resilience in Haiti
WHO: Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
WHAT: Mission to Haiti
WHEN: 21 to 22 April 2013
WHERE: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos will join the Co-chairs of the Political Champions for Disaster Resilience, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening, on a visit to Haiti next week.
The group of Political Champions was formed in 2012 to promote a resilience-based response to climate and natural disaster related crises. They expect to meet Government officials and community leaders, including President Michel J. Martelly, senior Government officials, and representatives from civil society and the private sector, to discuss ways of making disaster risk reduction and management a critical priority for investment and development in Haiti.
On 21 April, the group will visit a Government-led project to rehabilitate a neighbourhood in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which suffered massive destruction during the 2010 earthquake. The project, part of the Government’s 16/6 initiative, focuses on relocating families in six camps into 16 rehabilitated neighbourhoods, allowing them better access to safer homes, infrastructure, jobs and social services.
Other members of the group who are expected to be a part of the delegation include:
Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General of CARICOM, Nancy Lindborg,
Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Rachel Kyte,
Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank, and Jean Louis de Brouwer, Director of Humanitarian and Civil Protection Operations at ECHO.
A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. (EST) on 22 April 2013 at the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince. Please contact George A. Ngwa at +509 3702 5192 or ngwaanuongong@un.org in Haiti, for further details.
For further information, please call:
- George A. Ngwa, OCHA Haiti, ngwaanuongong@un.org, Tel.+509 3702 5192
- Devi Palanivelu, OCHA NY, palanivelu@un.org, Tel. +917 650 9782
- Jens Laerke, OCHA Geneva, laerke@un.org, +41 79 472 9750 OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int.