OAS commitment to Haiti.

• Author: Ochoa, Gina
• Position: OAS - Organization of American States

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THE ORGANIZATION of American States (OAS) has dedicated its frill efforts and capacity to the task of caring for the victims of Haiti's devastating January 12 earthquake and to supporting plans to rebuild the country.

Representatives of the member states who met in the OAS Permanent Council expressed their commitment and willingness to coordinate urgently needed aid in Haiti. Secretary General José Miguel Insulza said: "It is in these moments when the people, governments, and leaders of this continent, as neighbors and as brothers and sisters of the people of Haiti, must show our solidarity and support in real, effective, and immediate ways, guided by the Haitian government, which understands best where the needs are most urgent."

OAS support to Haiti began with the decision to channel aid through the Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF), an OAS-affiliated organization with more than 25 years of experience in Haiti. The PADF has more than 150 people in the country working in numerous projects related to local development, disaster relief, and human rights protection. The OAS has given a preliminary donation of USS 100,000 to aid the victims of the earthquake and has also organized and supported a series of events to raise funds for the same purpose.

From Port-Au Prince, Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin, who is leading the group of Friends of Haiti, emphasized the extraordinary emergency assistance being provided to the country by OAS member states, permanent observers, and inter-American institutions. He also proposed strengthening the executive capacity of the Working Group for Haiti by creating a technical coordination unit to organize all OAS efforts in the country. 'I see the OAS role in short and long term assistance to Haiti in the following areas: support for democracy; state institutions and governance; civil registry and electoral processes; and capacity building for trade, tourism, the judicial system, and investment promotion," said Ramdin, who also advocated for recognizing that the people of Haiti must be the ones to determine their own future.

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In order to maintain continuity in coordination and to centralize information, the OAS has established an operations control center in its Washington headquarters to monitor the response of the inter-American system to the catastrophe. Representatives...