At the international conference on responding to the needs of cholera victims held this week in Port-au-Prince, victims ask the Haitian State and the international community to ensure that rights and expectations of victims are at the heart of priorities and all forms of assistance.

This conference brought together civil society organizations, representatives of the Haitian authorities, doctors, sociologists as well as lawyers from Haiti and various other countries.

"Ten years have passed since the start of the cholera epidemic, introduced by Nepalese MINUSTAH soldiers whose sewage was negligently discharged into a tributary of the Artibonite. While the eradication of the epidemic itself is welcome, the reparation and assistance to which the victims are entitled has still not been provided. After consultation, victims say collective projects are useful in helping the country to overcome the ordeal, but such projects must necessarily be complemented by individual measures responding more specifically to suffering and needs of those most affected by the epidemic, including women, children and others who have lost a loved one. They must be listened to, all the more so since a detailed study concludes that such specific support measures for the main victims are feasible," said Me Pascal Paradis, Director General of Lawyers Without Borders Canada (LWBC).

The LWBCrecalls that in 2016, the United Nations presented its new strategy to fight cholera in Haiti, aimed in particular at providing assistance to victims, their families and their community, and recognized the need to conduct a more in-depth review of the possibility of providing for individual measures in addition to a Community approach.

Despite the commitment made by the Secretary General of the United Nations to "consult the victims, their families and the communities in the context of the development of the system", the limited consultations carried out by the United Nations did not allow victims most affected by cholera to speak out on the best ways to remedy the suffering they have personally suffered.

This is why LWBC and the Interuniversity Research and Development Institute (INURED) conducted a survey among cholera victims and Haitian and international experts and studied the feasibility of an individual assistance approach for people most affected by the epidemic.

"The study recommends that the United Nations respond to the priorities, needs and concerns of cholera victims at all times and at all stages, including the provision of any form of assistance. It recommends implementing complementary measures, individual and collective, of assistance to the victims of cholera in order to remedy their suffering, while taking into account the consequences of cholera on their community," specifies Appolinaire Fotso, head of mission of CBSA.

Download the CBSA study (PDF in French) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/ASFC-10-ans.pdf

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2875-haiti-cholera-report-of-the-experts-on-the-origin-of-the-epidemic.html

HL/ HaitiLibre