Madam, – After centuries of wrongs there is a chance to get it right in Haiti. President Bill Clinton will be pivotal to what could be a defining moment in securing a “new deal,” for the Third World.
Mr Clinton has been given responsibility by the UN to co-ordinate relief efforts in Haiti. He has already noted that previous aid efforts have failed to improve life in the poorest nation in the hemisphere. With over $10 billion committed to the disaster zone by western leaders, this time it can be different.
But Mr Clinton must be empowered to commit to rebuilding the country and seeing this transformation through to the end. Responsibility must be centrally invested in him so that he can cede projects to the various countries involved.
For instance, were he to task the US with rebuilding schools; France with health, Germany with roads etc, a modern infrastructural architecture could be put in place which would set a precedent for the Third World.
I am appealing to our Government, which has considerable clout in the aid world, to lobby the UN and world leaders to broaden Mr Clinton’s role so that all relief efforts could come under a single baton. This would cost us nothing, but would win us much credit for seeing the needs of others at a time when we might be forgiven for concentrating on our own. – Yours, etc,