Success: UN Takes Responsibility for Cholera Crisis in Haiti

Target: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Goal: Commend the U.N.’s decision to finally admit accountability for the deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti and provide funds for treatment and life-saving resources.

Hundreds have died in the wake of the devastation Hurricane Matthew has brought down on Haiti, and it has only exacerbated the cholera epidemic that has been raging since 2010. The hurricane has displaced hundreds, cut off their access to food and clean water that was already extremely difficult to come by, and destroyed the infrastructure that was already in place to deal with cholera (which was already a flimsy, temporary infrastructure that had not been updated since it was put up six years ago). The U.N. has finally responded to this by allocating $5 million in emergency funds, along with $8 million to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to combat the disease. This is following a long-overdue statement of responsibility and apology in August by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, partly in thanks to petitions like this one.

In 2010, Haiti — an a nation already stricken with poverty — was devastated by an earthquake that killed over 200,00. The U.N. sent in a peacekeeping force, and scientific evidence clearly shows that those U.N. staff brought cholera to Haiti for the first time. Cholera is a diarrheal disease that is spread through food or water contaminated by human stool, and clean water and food have long been in short supply in Haiti. In the past six years, the infection has killed almost 10,000 people, and the U.N. was denying responsibility. Sign below to support the fact that the U.N. has finally seen its moral obligation to admit culpability and provide aid to the thousands affected in Haiti.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Secretary General Ki-moon,

I would like to formally thank the U.N. for finally taking responsibility for the cholera epidemic in Haiti, and for aiding the much-needed relief efforts. As you said in your statement in August, Haiti has suffered greatly, and the U.N. has a moral obligation to the victims.

Especially in light of the devastation Haiti is now enduring due to Hurricane Matthew, which has rendered cholera an even greater danger than before, the situation cannot be ignored. Clean water, food, sanitation systems, and especially medical treatment are all necessities. Thousands have died since the cholera crisis began, while U.N. was denying its culpability for bringing cholera to Haiti with its peacekeepers after the earthquake in 2010, and not providing the help that it should have. Now, that number is only expected to increase. Accountability and assistance on the part of the UN are rare sources of hope in the midst of so much devastation and destruction. I commend the UN’s efforts to make things right and to help the thousands of people suffering in Haiti.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Marco Dormino