Rapporti verbatim tad-dibattiti

It-Tnejn, 22 ta' Novembru 2010 - Strasburgu

15. Għajnuna urġenti lil Ħaiti (dibattitu)

  El Presidente. − El punto siguiente del orden del día es la declaración de la Comisión sobre la ayuda de emergencia a Haití.

  Maria Damanaki, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, the Commission is deeply concerned by the deterioration of the cholera situation in Haiti.

The number of casualties among the hospitalised cases is increasing sharply day by day. The number of people admitted to hospitals comes to more than 20 000. At the end of last week more than 1 100 people had already lost their lives. But it is feared that these figures are severely underestimated. The fatality rate is very high and shows that people arrive too late at health centres.

Cholera treatment is simple, but early access to treatment is key to limiting fatalities. Treating cholera patients also requires considerable human resources. The Haitian public health system is now seriously overstretched, despite substantial support from the international community.

Médecins sans Frontières, as one of the front-line medical actors, is calling on all groups and agencies present in Haiti to step up the size and speed of their efforts.

The whole country is now affected. The epidemic is spreading at an alarming rate in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Slums such as Cité Soleil are especially prone to contagion due to very bad hygiene conditions and poor access to clean water.

We are focusing on saving lives through prompt treatment of those affected, increasing access to clean water, promoting better hygiene behaviour and supporting epidemiological surveillance in order to know where and how the epidemic is evolving.

The Commission has reinforced its humanitarian presence with relevant medical expertise and mobilised funds – EUR 12 million – to support partners in Haiti.

The European mechanism for civil protection has also been activated through the Monitoring and Information centre of the European Commission and has already co-financed the transport of in-kind assistance provided by France.

Another offer from Austria has just entered the pipeline. An EU civil protection and technical support team with Member States’ experts is to be deployed early this week. Experts from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have been deployed by DG SANCO to assess the best way to reinforce epidemiological surveillance in Haiti, and further cooperation is under consideration.

After the recent incidents related to civil unrest in Cap Haitien and Port-au-Prince, we are following closely the security situation with our partners and the relevant UN agencies, particularly ahead of the presidential elections of 28 November.

The Commission was in touch with the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordination, Baroness Amos. We fully support her in stressing the importance of allowing national and international aid workers to continue lifesaving activities without disruption.

Considering the serious and rapid deterioration of the cholera situation, further contributions are urgently required to fill gaps in health, water, sanitation, hygiene and logistics. Priorities include medical personnel and other personnel specialised in water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as medical supplies, beds, water purification units and tablets. The Commission is therefore in contact with the Belgian Presidency and the Member States to encourage further EU support to help Haiti at this very critical and difficult time. EU support can be channelled through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

The endless efforts of Haitian and international aid workers to meet the current challenges on the ground are commendable, but it is clear that the sheer scale of the crisis requires even more assets and resources. We are therefore now working hard on stepping up our emergency response together with our partners, but difficult times are certainly ahead, due to the rapidly evolving situation.

The continued solidarity of the international community with the Haitian people remains absolutely essential. This is why I call upon you all to do your utmost to scale up the support of the Member States in order to avoid a major humanitarian disaster.

  Michèle Striffler, au nom du groupe PPE. – Monsieur le Président, chers collègues, Madame Damanaki, l'épidémie de choléra a déjà fait plus de 1 200 morts et plus de 52 000 personnes sont infectées. Donc, malgré la forte présence d'organisations internationales en Haïti, la situation se détériore de jour en jour et l'épidémie pourrait infecter, dans les prochains mois, quelque 400 000 personnes.

Je me félicite bien sûr des 12 millions d'euros dégagés par la Commission européenne et je soutiens l'appel lancé par Mme Georgieva aux États membres en vue d'apporter une aide en nature pour permettre la purification de l'eau et en vue de fournir des équipements. L'approvisionnement en eau potable et en installations sanitaires est la seule manière de réduire le nombre d'infectés.

Une des actions prioritaires est de rassurer la population effrayée par cette maladie, qui est inconnue dans le pays. La communication aux populations est essentielle pour informer sur la maladie et la prévenir, mais également pour éviter que des violences internes se développent, d'autant plus que le pays est en période électorale.

Cette nouvelle crise a mis en exergue une fois de plus l'incapacité des autorités haïtiennes et du système de santé à faire face à cette crise. Ce pays subit de multiples catastrophes depuis des années. Le tremblement de terre en Haïti a montré l'incapacité presque totale des autorités locales. Suite au séisme, il y avait une réelle volonté politique de reconstruire Haïti autrement et les promesses de don ont été nombreuses. Presque un an après, la reconstruction peine à démarrer et les acteurs du développement sont pessimistes. La Commission européenne doit jouer un rôle moteur dans la reconstruction afin qu'Haïti sorte enfin de ce chaos.

  Corina Creţu, în numele grupului S&D. – Apreciez, şi de această dată, promptitudinea intervenţiei umanitare a Uniunii Europene. În paralel cu aceasta, însă, consider că efortul nostru în această ţară trebuie să se concentreze asupra construirii unui minim de stat funcţional, în condiţiile în care statul haitian este acum doar o ficţiune. Acesta nu reuşeşte să-şi îndeplinească misiuni de bază, precum organizarea taberelor de refugiaţi, menţinerea ordinii, asigurarea igienei şi a apei potabile. Această vulnerabilitate a făcut posibilă răspândirea rapidă a epidemiei şi moartea a peste 1200 de oameni.

În Haiti este nevoie de un stat care să poată face ceva pentru săracii săi. 3 din 4 haitieni supravieţuiesc cu mai puţin de 2 dolari pe zi. Peste 1,5 milioane de cetăţeni trăiesc în tabere de refugiaţi, ceea ce reprezintă o gravă sursă de risc pentru sănătatea şi ordinea publică.

Cred că slăbiciunea statului haitian este acum principalul factor de risc. Lipsa sa de autoritate face ca nemulţumirile populaţiei să se îndrepte către forţele ONU, iar organizaţiile neguvernamentale riscă să nu-şi mai poată îndeplini misiunea. De aceea sunt cruciale alegerile din 28 noiembrie, care nu trebuie amânate, aşa cum cer unele voci.

  Charles Goerens, au nom du groupe ALDE. – Monsieur le Président, bien sûr il y a les cofacteurs qui, sans aucun doute, ont favorisé le développement du choléra en Haïti. Ce n'est certes pas une réponse, mais c'est une explication. La réponse à ce fléau, il faut la donner en deux temps.

Dans l'immédiat, les humanitaires sur place nous confirment qu'il faut du savon, des substances permettant de rendre l'eau potable et une éducation adéquate concernant l'hygiène. Le long terme, lui aussi, se prépare dans la situation actuelle. Dans un pays où tout reste à faire ou à refaire, la reconstruction est nécessaire après le tremblement de terre et doit privilégier la réalisation d'infrastructures destinées à améliorer tant l'hygiène individuelle que collective.

J'ose croire que huit mois après la conférence de New York sur la reconstruction d'Haïti, on ne pourra plus prétexter d'un manque de fonds pour expliquer les faibles progrès enregistrés à ce jour, étant donné que tous les intervenants s'accordaient à reconnaître que la phase humanitaire devait encore être prolongée pendant de longs mois. Il faudra nommer aussi les responsables de la lenteur sans prendre trop de précautions oratoires.

  Franziska Keller, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, we see in Haiti one of the hugest humanitarian aid operations ever. We have to make sure that we do not lose the battle against this catastrophe and that we manage to get results and help Haitians to build their future.

Apart from being an individual disaster for millions of people, a failure would also be a backlash for the international community’s effort and capacity to conduct a joint effort in humanitarian aid. I believe that we have to put all our experience, all the lessons we have learnt in Haiti and elsewhere, and also enough money, into the pot. Therefore I very much welcome the Commission’s announcement that it will put an additional EUR 12 million into the fight against cholera.

We have to make sure that this support reaches Haiti immediately, that it arrives in full and not just in part, and that we support the right initiatives in order to make it effective. We also have to make sure that we do not neglect the efforts for the earthquake reconstruction because, without that, fighting disease will be impossible.

I have two questions to the Commission. Firstly, I would like to know whether the pledged money has arrived – the money that was promised – and whether it was disbursed and absorbed. Secondly, I would like to know what you think about postponing the elections, because that is again on the agenda.

The Haitian revolution has never managed to enter the history books. Let us hope that the difficult time in Haiti at the moment will enter the history books as the starting point for preparing a better future for all Haitians. I hope it can also be mentioned that the EU played a very positive role in this.

  James Nicholson, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, two months ago I co-chaired the delegation under the ACP to Haiti and this was probably one of the greatest and most moving experiences of my life. First, there are tremendously dedicated people there doing the work to try to help the Haitians, and second, the Haitian people are a very proud people and we should recognise that at the beginning of this debate.

But we were told by the President and the Prime Minister how lucky the Haitians were that they had good sanitation and that they had no disease – and the sad thing now is that disease has hit them. This is not a terribly hard disease to cure. But you have got to be there to see the conditions under which the aid workers are working and when you talk about a health service, I am sorry, Mr President, Haiti does not have a health service like the rest of us and you know it: they are dependent on Médecins Sans Frontières, the British Red Cross and many other organisations from all around the world.

As far as the election is concerned, it is true that Haiti does not need an election at this moment. But until they get a President and a Prime Minister who can lead them, they will have no chance of moving forward. I want to commend – because when I was there I saw it for myself – the brilliant men and women of the European Commission Office, under terrible circumstances, trying to keep a European presence in Port-au-Prince and they have done a fantastic job.

  Marie-Christine Vergiat, au nom du groupe GUE/NGL. – Monsieur le Président, je voudrais d'abord remercier l'ensemble de mes collègues, et notamment la Conférence des présidents, d'avoir accepté ce débat sur Haïti, proposé par mon groupe. C'était une urgence.

En janvier dernier, après le tremblement de terre, la communauté internationale s'est fortement mobilisée pour Haïti. Pourtant, entre les promesses faites et les aides effectivement arrivées sur le terrain, il semble qu'il y ait un fossé, pour ne pas dire un gouffre. En mars dernier, Mme Ashton s'engageait, au nom de l'Union européenne, pour une aide de 1,235 milliard, afin d'aider le peuple haïtien à construire un meilleur avenir.

Dès le mois de juillet dernier, les ONG, et notamment MSF, Madame la Commissaire, tiraient la sonnette d'alarme et dénonçaient les conditions de vie pathogènes de centaines de milliers de personnes. Dès lors, la situation n'a guère évolué et l'on s'étonne que l'épidémie de choléra se développe à grande vitesse. Et la communauté internationale recommence à s'apitoyer. Il y a déjà eu plus de mille morts et le nombre des personnes atteintes ne cesse de progresser, alors que les spécialistes disent que les mesures pour éviter que la maladie soit mortelle sont relativement simples à prendre. Mais les personnels de santé sont mal formés à cette maladie et les produits sanitaires de première nécessité ont du mal à arriver.

Comment, dans un tel contexte, ne pas comprendre que des émeutes aient eu lieu. La population haïtienne est en plein désarroi. Elle a du mal à garder confiance dans la communauté internationale. Alors, Madame la Commissaire, mes questions seront simples:

Où en est précisément l'ensemble de l'aide promise à Haïti par l'Union européenne, et pas seulement l'aide humanitaire?

Si elle était arrivée plus vite, ne pensez-vous pas que cette nouvelle tragédie aurait pu être évitée?

Comment se fait-il qu'une nouvelle fois, les conférences internationales semblent n'avoir débouché que sur des promesses non tenues?

Pourquoi les démarches du Président Préval concernant la transformation de la MINUSTAH en appui à la reconstruction ne trouvent aucun écho?

Enfin, la population haïtienne souhaite que les élections aient lieu, mais dans quelles conditions auront-elles lieu et quel sera le soutien de l'Union européenne?

ΠΡΟΕΔΡΙΑ: ΣΤΑΥΡΟΣ ΛΑΜΠΡΙΝΙΔΗΣ
Αντιπρόεδρος

  Licia Ronzulli (PPE). - Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, nonostante tutti gli appelli rivolti per non abbassare la guardia sul destino di Haiti dopo il terremoto di gennaio, le notizie degli ultimi giorni sembrano dimostrare che l'isola è stata abbandonata dalla comunità internazionale proprio nel momento più delicato, quello della ricostruzione.

Si sta infatti propagando in questi giorni il virus del colera, qualcosa che ad Haiti pochi conoscono e a cui tutti finiscono per attribuire un valore mistico, religioso. Si accusano i caschi blu delle Nazioni Unite di essere gli untori del contagio. È bastato che un soldato nepalese sull'isola finisse contagiato per indurre centinaia di persone, donne e bambini, a cingere d'assedio il quartier generale delle forze di pace. Anche gli operatori umanitari si sentono minacciati e molti stanno lasciando il paese.

La tensione è altissima e gran parte delle macerie provocate dal violentissimo terremoto del 12 gennaio restano sulle strade e nelle piazze. Abbiamo sentito che manca l'acqua e quindi è impossibile lavarsi e proteggersi dai contagi.

Il vibrione si sta diffondendo rapidamente e i morti crescono in modo esponenziale. I numeri sono stati già detti, ma voglio ripeterlo: ad oggi le vittime sono 1.130, il numero dei ricoverati è salito in un mese a oltre 18.000, ma ce ne sono altre migliaia che denunciano i sintomi del contagio ogni giorno.

Qualsiasi ulteriore indugio da parte della comunità internazionale non è più possibile. La soluzione deve essere trovata subito, altrimenti ogni ulteriore contagiato rimarrà per sempre sulle nostre coscienze.

  Michael Cashman (S&D). - Mr President, I would like to start by congratulating Commissioner Georgieva on the effective coordination work that she has undertaken and indeed the discussions that she is having with Baroness Amos at the UN.

The easiest and cheapest thing for this House to do now is to criticise. I would like us to be positive and place the pressure where it needs to be. I say this to all Members of this House. We need to put pressure on our own Member States to bring forward more aid, and more aid in kind. If you look at the list of countries, these are countries – such as Spain, Ireland, Italy, France, Austria, Hungary – currently facing grave economic situations, yet they have dug deep. Therefore I urge each and every one of us to contact our own governments and ask them to commit. If there are questions as to whether aid is getting through or not, let us build the capacity to get the aid through.

Finally, I should like to thank the Commissioner and congratulate her on the commitment of the extra EUR 12 million. The great tragedy is the earthquake. The even greater tragedy now is this cholera epidemic.

  Niccolò Rinaldi (ALDE). - Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, signora Commissario, prima l'epicentro di un terribile terremoto, esattamente nel punto più povero e peggio governato dell'emisfero americano, e ora il colera nel paese che ha una maggiore assistenza internazionale pro capite. Che paradosso! Non è solo una terribile combinazione della cattiva sorte: ad Haiti, tra queste strade piene di bambini e di tende stipate tra i rifiuti, non si sa da che parte cominciare.

La classe politica locale è spesso avida e concentrata sui giochi di potere anziché prendere in mano la ricostruzione e la macchina burocratica, decimata dal terremoto, ha una cultura amministrativa debole e in alcuni casi è arrivata perfino a ostacolare la ricezione degli aiuti. Le organizzazioni internazionali sono tante, spesso poco coordinate, e di fatto hanno fallito nella protezione della popolazione.

Già lo scorso giugno, visitando il paese con la delegazione del Parlamento europeo, era chiaro che la concentrazione di campi sfollati, macerie non rimosse e rifiuti lasciava intravedere gli scenari peggiori. E ora è arrivato il colera.

La Commissione ed ECHO hanno fatto finora quanto dovuto, ma adesso occorre raddoppiare gli sforzi. La mia impressione è che ad Haiti occorra ormai non solo un'energica azione di risanamento, ma anche una maggiore tutela a livello politico internazionale.

  Nirj Deva (ECR). - Mr President, this is a tragedy that does not bear talking about. When the disaster struck in January last year, the international community descended on Haiti with great fanfare. Military helicopters came to lift heavy pieces of masonry that had fallen down. They have all gone. They suddenly left. Those pieces of masonry are blocking roads and there is no access, and the road network has broken down. Commissioner Georgieva has been trying hard to coordinate the activities.

Why did this happen? Why did all those people – including Secretary of State Clinton, who suddenly turned up there in January – suddenly disappear? Why is the United Nations now being asked to disappear? When are they going to ask the EU to disappear? This is ridiculous. We need the international community back there at the level at which it was working, and should let ordinary Haitians be depoliticised from this nonsense going on in the capital.

  Anna Záborská (PPE). - Pani komisárka, ďakujem za správu, ktorú ste nám predniesli o aktuálnej situácii na Haiti. To, že na Haiti vypukne ďalšia epidémia, sa dalo očakávať. Od začiatku roku, od zemetrasenia, sme pracovali veľa, ale práce nenapredovali tak rýchlo, ako by sme si želali. Často sme sa vyhovárali na situáciu, ktorá bola na Haiti pred zemetrasením.

Určite by nám pomohlo, keby na Haiti bol fungujúci štát, ale nie je a kým bude, prejde ešte veľa času. Je to beh na dlhé trate. Teraz treba urgentne konať, lebo riskujeme ďalšie a ďalšie epidémie aj násilie.

Pani komisárka, skutočne treba do Bruselu sústrediť tých najlepších zdravotníckych odborníkov, aby pripravili strategický plán pomoci pre Haiti. Situáciu treba riešiť
v otázke bezpečnostnej, finančnej, ale hlavne zdravotníckej.

  Κρίτων Αρσένης (S&D). - Κυρία Επίτροπε, κατ' αρχήν θα ήθελα να σας συγχαρώ και εγώ για την εξαιρετική δουλειά που κάνετε και στην περίπτωση της Αϊτής αλλά και για όλα αυτά που έχετε κάνει για το Πακιστάν. Ξέρουμε ότι θα είστε παρούσα σε κάθε ανάγκη.

Πραγματικά η καταστροφή είναι τεράστια. Μιλάμε για πάνω από 1.000 νεκρούς, 15.000 ασθενείς και οι αριθμοί συνέχεια αυξάνονται. Οι ανάγκες είναι τεράστιες και βλέπουμε ότι τα χρήματα που έχετε στη διάθεσή σας δεν φθάνουν. Γίνεται όλο και περισσότερο προφανές ότι πραγματικά χρειαζόμαστε και νέα χρηματοδοτικά εργαλεία· ίσως, και προφανώς πρώτα απ' όλα, ένα φόρο στις χρηματοπιστωτικές συναλλαγές. Χρειαζόμαστε άλλα χρηματοδοτικά μέσα που θα μπορούν να ενισχύουν τις προσπάθειες μας να αντιμετωπίζουμε τις αυξανόμενες ανθρωπιστικές ανάγκες.

Επίσης θα πρέπει να δούμε, κυρία Επίτροπε, τι μπορούμε να κάνουμε προκειμένου να μην επαναληφθεί το γεγονός της μετάδοσης ασθενειών από ανθρώπους που δουλεύουν για τον ΟΗΕ.

  Bastiaan Belder (EFD). - Voorzitter, vanmiddag heb ik nog de laatste informatie gekregen van een Nederlandse hulporganisatie die al jarenlang op Haïti aanwezig is, en die informatie bevestigt eigenlijk het sombere, maar realistische beeld dat door de Commissie is geschetst. Tegelijkertijd vertelde de Nederlandse hulporganisatie mij dat ze vooral haar vertrouwen heeft gevestigd op Europa als belangrijke donor. Waarop vertrouwt ze dan? Wel, er is bij de internationale donorconferentie een gigantisch bedrag toegezegd, maar daar is nog maar een klein deel van binnengekomen. Nu wordt er extra geld gevraagd door de Verenigde Naties, maar het geld dat is toegezegd, is voor een groot deel nog niet binnengekomen. Ik hoop dus dat de Europese Unie het voortouw neemt om ervoor te zorgen dat het geld nu echt binnenkomt, want de situatie is schrijnend. Acute zaken zijn natuurlijk de preventie, schoon drinkwater. Ik hoop dat de Europese Unie het initiatief gaat nemen om te zorgen voor een goede watervoorziening in Haïti. Belangrijk zijn vooral deskundigen, waterputten slaan, schoon drinkwater en ook de kwestie van de medische zorg. Overal is tekort aan. Ik zal Nederland erop aanspreken, maar ook de Europese instellingen, om te bewerkstelligen dat zij daadwerkelijk in deze acute noodsituatie onmiddellijk te hulp komen.

  Ricardo Cortés Lastra (S&D). - Señora Comisaria Damanaki, en primer lugar quiero felicitar a la Comisión por los esfuerzos llevados a cabo en Haití.

Sin embargo, la situación exige una reacción urgente y mucho más considerable. Necesitamos más recursos, necesitamos un mayor compromiso internacional, a pesar de las dificultades de movilizar fondos en el actual contexto económico. No es posible que haya fondos para algunos problemas y que no haya fondos para esta situación humanitaria.

Tenemos prioridades sanitarias y humanitarias: informar a la población sobre una enfermedad, conseguir tiendas de campaña, mejorar las condiciones de salubridad en todos los ámbitos, proveer de acceso al agua limpia. Todas estas funciones son urgentes y necesitamos el mayor esfuerzo de la Comisión y de todos los Estados miembros.

  Hannu Takkula (ALDE). - Arvoisa puhemies, haluan kiittää komission jäsen Georgievaa siitä työstä, mitä komissio on tehnyt. On erittäin tärkeää, että Euroopan unioni on mukana Haitissa hyvin voimakkaasti ja näkyvästi. Kysymys on kuitenkin meidän kanssaihmisistämme, meidän lähimmäisistämme. Meillä on myös vastuu heistä, kun heitä on kohdannut tällainen ennennäkemätön katastrofi, ensin maanjäristys ja nyt koleraepidemia.

On tärkeää, että kun sinne suunnataan rahoja ja apua, ne menevät nopeasti perille. Monet kristilliset avustusjärjestöt ovat tehneet siellä hyvää työtä, ja vaikuttaa siltä, että niillä on nopeat kanavat myös viedä apu nopeasti sitä tarvitseville. Tässä suhteessa toivon, että komissio voi myös käyttää näitä tunnustettuja humanitaarisia ja kristillisiä järjestöjä, jotka ovat siellä tekemässä hyvää työtä. Näin voidaan nopeasti saada apu perille ja saada paras mahdollinen tulos aikaan.

  Kristalina Georgieva, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, thank you all for your engagement and discussion on a topic that is, unfortunately, going to be with us for quite some time to come. This is not an easy crisis to resolve.

We have had some estimates about the scale of the problem over the coming months – including from our own experts – and I agree very much with those who said we need to deploy expertise from the European Centre for Disaster Control in Haiti. The estimates are that somewhere between half a million and 720 000 people will be infected before this wave of epidemics is over.

The Pan American Health Organisation estimate of 400 000 is a little lower but of the same order of magnitude. So we will have to mobilise. I agree with each and every one of you who spoke about immediate mobilisation and the need to help right now.

Let me make four points. The first is how we can best help. This is a time when we have to deploy true partner organisations and immediately give them the resources to act. We also have to call on the Member States to provide in-kind assistance. Since Thursday, when I addressed the Member States, we have been seeing support coming through, but more is needed in terms of healthcare professionals, water purification tablets and support for an awareness campaign, because – as many here have said – there is widespread misunderstanding of what this disease is and how it can best be treated. As a result, people die unnecessarily because they are scared to go to treatment centres: they are afraid of catching the disease there rather than being treated for it.

Secondly, a number of speakers have talked about the pledged money and what is happening with reconstruction in Haiti. The pledge made by the Commission has been honoured. The Commission committed EUR 460 million and is delivering according to the timetable which it announced, and the High Representative and Vice-President, Cathy Ashton, and Commissioner Piebalgs are about to take stock with Member States on where we stand with the money we have promised to provide. I can assure you that this is going to be taken very seriously, because the reputation of the international community is at stake at a very difficult time.

However – and this is my third point, which is a very important one – there is a limit to the absorptive capacity in Haiti, which I believe I talked about with some of you. When I first arrived in Haiti I thought that, terrible as this disaster was, it was not Haiti’s worst problem. Haiti’s biggest problem was the many decades of lack of development and the absence of a functional state which, among other things, also means the absence of a functional health service.

I saw people in camps queuing in front of a doctor, not because they were sick, but because they had never seen a doctor in their lives and were taking advantage of a health service being offered in the camps.

This total lack of the skills and capabilities of a functional state creates problems that are making this epidemic worse. We are still struggling to get the government to authorise space for the disposal of dead bodies – without which the epidemics can, of course, spread further – and to dislodge latrines so that sanitation can improve. So I cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is for us to understand that Haiti’s problems are not easy to resolve, because at the heart of this problem is these decades of lack of development and the absence of a functional state.

A question was asked about the elections and whether they should still be held. The Haitian authorities prefer to stick to the timetable. It is difficult for me to give an answer. I have not yet been to Haiti, but my feeling is that cancelling or postponing the elections might actually destabilise a very difficult situation. There may be something to be gained by holding the elections but, as I have said, this is based on what I have heard, not on what I have seen.

My fourth point concerns engagement. You called for the Commission to be very directly engaged: we are and will continue to be so. Baroness Ashton will very probably be in Haiti tomorrow, and I am planning to go myself because at this point, mobilisation, good coordination and, frankly, also giving hope to people there and to our own staff are important. Our own people are struggling with a very difficult situation: they are in places where the Haitian health officials become scared by the epidemic and just leave, and they then have to handle a massive increase in cases.

What we need to do now is to make sure that we retain a calm presence and try to steer the course for people which gives them the most hope. One Member spoke about the Haitian people being very resilient. They are, and they deserve all our help at this very difficult time.

  Πρόεδρος. - Η συζήτηση έληξε.