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For Imme­di­ate Release
Mon­day, July 26, 2010

Con­tact:

Suzanne Offen, Amer­i­can Jew­ish World Ser­vice, 212.792.2889
Elise Young, Action Aid USA and Gen­der Action, 202.631.6335

Haiti: Groups to Press Array of Concerns

From Edu­ca­tion to Gen­der Vio­lence
Lineup to Address Gaps in Reconstruction

WASHINGTON, DC — As Haiti passes the six month mark of its attempts to recover from a mas­sive earth­quake, Haiti Civil Soci­ety and Dias­pora mem­bers cov­er­ing dif­fer­ent aspects of the recov­ery will press their cases Tues­day, July 27 on Capi­tol Hill. Insti­tute for Jus­tice & Democ­racy in Haiti (IJDH) board mem­bers Ira Kurzban, Esq. and Dr. Paul Farmer will both testify.

Haiti’s recov­ery has been viewed as halt­ing and in dis­ar­ray by a grow­ing vari­ety of observers. Civil soci­ety orga­ni­za­tions (CSOs) have been alarmed at the con­di­tions for dis­placed per­sons, vio­lence against women, forced dis­place­ment of camps, lack of Haitians in the deci­sion mak­ing process and more.

Civil Soci­ety is call­ing for a place in recon­struc­tion plan­ning, imple­men­ta­tion and assess­ment. CSOs say every aspect of Haiti’s recov­ery is threat­ened by fac­tors that include a trickle of aid pledged by nations world­wide, Haiti’s social gaps prior to the dis­as­ter and bureau­cratic short­com­ings in the coor­di­na­tion of aid.

Tuesday’s event will present CSO lead­ers speak­ing to all major aspects of Haiti’s recov­ery, offer­ing pre­scrip­tions for both imme­di­ate needs and sys­temic cor­rec­tions they say are vital for a sus­tain­able and com­pre­hen­sive recovery.

WHAT: “Focus on Haiti: The Road to Recov­ery — A Six Month Review” Spon­sored by the Con­gres­sional Black Cau­cus and Sup­ported by the Haiti Advo­cacy Work­ing Group

WHEN: Tues­day, July 27, 2010, 2:00pm to 4:00pm

WHERE: 2141 Ray­burn House Office Build­ing, Wash­ing­ton, DC

WHO: Con­gress­woman Bar­bara Lee, Chair­woman, Con­gres­sional Black Cau­cus
Con­gress­man Don­ald Payne, Chair­man, CBC Task­force on For­eign Pol­icy & Inter­na­tional Rela­tions
Dr. Rajiv Shah, Admin­is­tra­tor, U.S. Agency for Inter­na­tional Devel­op­ment
Dr. Paul Farmer, Deputy Spe­cial Envoy for Haiti, United Nations
Marie St. Fleur, For­mer Mass­a­chu­setts State Rep­re­sen­ta­tive
Loune Viaud, Direc­tor of Strate­gic Plan­ning and Oper­a­tions, Zanmi Las­ante / Part­ners in Health, Haiti
Camille Chalmers, Direc­tor, Hait­ian Plat­form to Advo­cate for Alter­na­tive Devel­op­ment
Ira Kurzban, Esq., Board Chair, Insti­tute for Jus­tice and Democ­racy in Haiti

About the Organizations:

The Haiti Advo­cacy Work­ing Group (HAWG) formed shortly after the dev­as­tat­ing Jan­u­ary 12, 2010 earth­quake to coor­di­nate advo­cacy efforts for effec­tive and just dis­as­ter relief, recon­struc­tion and long-term U.S. devel­op­ment pol­icy toward Haiti. Com­posed of more than 30 diverse groups rep­re­sent­ing a wide cross-section of the NGO com­mu­nity, the HAWG has focused on the fol­low­ing pri­or­ity areas:

• Pro­mot­ing Hait­ian civil soci­ety inclu­sion and lead­er­ship in relief and reconstruction
• Pri­or­i­tiz­ing rural and agri­cul­tural devel­op­ment needs
• Encour­ag­ing local pro­cure­ment and decen­tral­iza­tion of aid
• Sup­port­ing fair immi­gra­tion pol­icy for Haitians
• Rais­ing aware­ness on gen­der and women’s issues
• Ensur­ing sup­port through U.S. and mul­ti­lat­eral aid com­mit­ments and full debt relief
• Pro­mot­ing safe, san­i­tary and ade­quate shelter

Who is the Haiti Advo­cacy Work­ing Group?

• Action­Aid USA
• Amer­i­can Friends’ Ser­vice Committee
• Amer­i­can Jew­ish World Service
• Bread for the World
• Cen­ter for Eco­nomic and Pol­icy Research
• Cen­ter for Human Rights and Global Jus­tice at New York Uni­ver­sity School of Law
• Church World Service
• Envi­ron­men­tal Jus­tice Ini­tia­tive for Haiti
• For­eign Pol­icy in Focus
• Gen­der Action
• Grass­roots International
• Groundswell Inter­na­tional
• Habi­tat for Humanity
• Haiti Reborn/Quixote Center
• Hebrew Immi­grant Aid Society
• Insti­tute for Jus­tice and Democ­racy in Haiti
• Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
• Jubilee USA Network
• Lambi Fund of Haiti
• Latin Amer­ica Work­ing Group
• Lutheran World Relief
• Men­non­ite Cen­tral Com­mit­tee U.S. — Wash­ing­ton Office
• National Lawyers Guild – Envi­ron­men­tal Jus­tice Center
• Out­reach International
• Oxfam Amer­ica

The Insti­tute for Jus­tice & Democ­racy in Haiti (IJDH) fights for human rights and jus­tice in Haiti and for fair and just treat­ment of Haitians in the United States.

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