Tuesday at the Primature, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe has proceeded with the installation of the members of the Joint High Level Committee for the Eradication of Cholera, in the presence of members of the Government, representatives of several UN agencies and international organizations including UNICEF and WHO.

The establishment of the Committee follows the plea of Prime Minister Lamothe, 28 September 2013 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9552-haiti-politic-laurent-lamothe-talked-about-cholera-and-election-with-ban-ki-moon.html to the rostrum of the United Nations https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9532-haiti-politic-haiti-is-now-resolutely-and-permanently-engaged-on-the-path-of-progress.html in favor of a research framework of sustainable solutions for the eradication of cholera throughout the country.

"I will never menage my efforts to support the Haitian people in their difficult times. I will never shrink from the mandate that people have entrusted me to work to improve their living conditions," insisted the Prime Minister Lamothe, who stressed that "the crisis linked to cholera has a social, economic, environmental and especially moral dimension with political and legal implications indisputable."

This Joint High Level Committee is composed for the Haitian part of Florence Duperval Guillaume (President). Minister of Health, Duly Brutus, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jacques Rousseau, Minister of Public Works, Marie Carmelle Jean Marie, Minister of Economy and Finance and Marie Carmelle Rose Anne Auguste, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of human rights and extreme poverty. For the UN part, Sandra Honoré (co-chair), Representative in Haiti Secretary-General United Nations, Peter Declercq, Pedro Medrano, Edouard Beigbeder and Jean Luc Poncelet.

At the first meeting, the Government of Haiti and the United Nations provided an update on current efforts in the fight against cholera.

The High-Level Committee discussed also, its administrative procedures, the launch of a national sanitation campaign as well as a social communications campaign. Participants at the meeting also touched upon the Committee operational perspectives.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Sandra Honoré, emphasized the determination of the United Nations to continue to support the Government of Haiti in its efforts to improve public health and access for the population to drinking water and sanitation. She referred to the upcoming launch of the total sanitation campaign which "will allow schools and health centers of targeted communities to have adequate water and sanitation infrastructures."

Welcoming this first meeting, members of the United High-Level Committee welcomed reciprocal commitments for the intensification of efforts in the fight to eliminate cholera in Haiti.

HL/ HaitiLibre