Obama Pledges Continued Support for Haiti, Warns of ‘Dire’ Situation Remaining

From Sunlen Miller:

President Obama warned today that although there has been a incredible response of the international community to Haiti's devastating earthquake, that the situation "remains dire" and that more help would be needed to prevent a second disaster.

“The situation on the ground remains dire, and people should be under no illusions that the crisis is over,” the president said from the Rose Garden this afternoon with President Rene Preval by his side. “Many Haitians are still in need — desperate need, in some cases — of shelter and food and medicine.  And with the spring rains approaching, those needs will only grow. The challenge now is to prevent a second disaster.”

The president had just emerged from an Oval Office meeting with President Preval where he received an update from the Haitian president about the status of relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts. President Obama pledged continued support with the “daunting challenges” ahead.

“Even as the U.S. military responsibly hands off relief functions to our Haitian and international partners, America's commitment to Haiti's recovery and reconstruction must endure. This pledge is one that I made at the beginning of this crisis, and I intend for America to keep our pledge.  America will be your partner in the recovery and reconstruction effort.”

The president said that no nation could respond to such a catastrophe alone – and offered some perspective of the scale of Haitian loss.

“It's as if the United States, in a terrible incident, lost  nearly 8 million people, or it's as if one-third of our country — 100  million Americans — suddenly had no home, no food or water.  That gives you a sense of, relative to the populations, what has happened in Haiti.”

In the audience were representatives of non-governmental organizations and foundations involved in the relief effort; Haitian-American community leaders; U.S. government personnel who served in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, including from the USNS Comfort, International Medical Surgical Response, and Disaster Assistance Response Teams; and members of Urban Search and Rescue teams from Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Fairfax, and Virginia Beach.

The president praised the US responders and said he was “extraordinarily proud,” of the US contributions.

“I think you represent what's best in America, and I could not be prouder of the response that all of you engaged in during this humanitarian crisis.”    

Mr. Obama also noted that there were many Americans who gave generously even in difficult economic times.

President Preval thanked Mr. Obama for not only the material aid but also for the “moral support, the psychological support that helped us realize that we were not  alone and that provide us great comfort in our distress.   

He said that the world must draw lessons from what occurred in Haiti, “the massive, spontaneous, generous help was a good response to the disaster.  However, its effectiveness must be improved, because effectiveness depends on the quality of coordination.”

The Haitian president again endorsed the ideas of eth “red helmets” within the United Nations a humanitarian force that would work in a coordinated manner as soon as the first minutes after a disaster.

On March 31st there will be a United National international conference in order to support the reconstruction of Haiti. Preval said he hopes that all participants will share his vision for rebuilding Haiti better than it was before the earthquake.

-Sunlen Miller