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Haiti

U.S. will participate in March 18 Donors' Conference for Haiti meeting to be held in French Guyana

By Eric Green, Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States, Canada, and a number of Latin American nations are participating in a March 18 international donors' conference for Haiti, to be held in the South American city of Cayenne, the capital of French Guyana.

Participants at the meeting are considering a number of projects that can help the Haitian people with health care, education, rural development and infrastructure improvements.

Officials from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development are at the conference.

The United States has pledged a $230-million aid package to Haiti at the conference. The funds will be used for: job creation and economic growth; budget support to Haitian government ministries; assistance in security improvements and judicial reform; support for conducting free and fair elections in the country; and support for improved health care, nutrition, and education activities.

The United States said the $230-million pledge was in addition to the ongoing U.S. contribution to international peacekeeping efforts in the Caribbean nation.

The meeting is a follow-up to a conference held in Washington in July 2004. Co-hosted by the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations, and the World Bank, it drew representatives from 30 countries and 32 international organizations. More than $1 billion was pledged to help Haiti.

Since that meeting, Haiti has scheduled municipal elections for October 9,followed by two rounds of presidential and legislative elections on November 13 and December 18, respectively. A new Haitian president is expected to take office February 7, 2006.

The United States is providing $15 million to support the Haitian elections -- part of a $44-million commitment from the international community to promote democracy and stability in the Caribbean nation. The United States had already provided $8.7 million in 2004 to support Haiti's electoral process.

Also, a United Nations multinational peacekeeping force in Haiti known as MINUSTAH, which has been credited with improving security in the Caribbean nation, announced it would remain in Haiti until June 1, 2005, and could remain longer, as needed.

On the issue of security, the U.N. announced March 16 that more than 200 MINUSTAH peacekeepers carried out an operation to help clean up and make safe a poor suburb of Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince.

The U.N. said a contingent of Jordanian peacekeepers in MINUSTAH began operations in Cité Soleil, a low-income neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, with the help of 14 armored vehicles, as well as trucks, tractors, and water tankers. MINUSTAH peacekeepers from Ecuador and Chile also helped in the operation.

The U.N. said MINUSTAH will maintain a visible presence in Cité Soleil to try to deter violence in a neighborhood long wracked by crime, often involving armed gangs, and by poverty.

The MINUSTAH troops removed large piles of garbage that had obstructed road traffic and presented a health threat to residents. They also distributed food and water to the local population.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)