#99 Haiti Earthquake: One year later, a joint effort to create jobs

[스티븐스 대사]

It’s been one year since Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit the country in 200 years.  The images of destruction and human suffering were heart-wrenching, the effects devastating.  More than 230,000 were killed, 300,000 injured, 1.5 million displaced.  Infrastructure damage exceeded Haiti’s annual GDP. 

I still recall how moved I was by Koreans’ response to the earthquake.  Countless Koreans came to me in the days following the earthquake to express their shock at Haiti’s suffering and to discuss how they could help.  The Korean government’s pledge of assistance grew as the need became more apparent.  But what was even more impressive was the outpouring of support – financial, human, and material – from Korean churches, businesses, and NGOs. 

Before the earthquake Haiti was already one of the poorest countries in the world. More than 80% of the population lived on less than $2 a day, there was a 70% unemployment rate, 50% of children were not in school and only 12% of the population had access to electricity.  The earthquake – considered the worst natural disaster in the Western Hemisphere according to the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator – wiped out much, if not all, of the progress Haiti had made in recent years.   Immediately after the tragedy, President Obama called for a “swift, coordinated and aggressive” response, and both civilian and military teams were dispatched. 

Personnel distribute USAID hygiene kits at a Cholera Treatment Center on Oct. 28, 2010 in Verrettes in the Artibonite department of Haiti. The center is run by USAID partner International Medical Corps.  (USAID Image, Kendra Helmer, October 28, 2010)

In addition to the civilian and military support provided immediately after the disaster, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has led a multi-department relief and recovery assistance effort.  To date, the U.S. has provided approximately USD 1 billion in humanitarian assistance and has pledged more than USD 1.15 billion in new money towards reconstruction.  Significant progress has been made.  Importantly, this has been a multinational recovery effort. 

Last year, I posted a blog where I reported what I had heard from President Lee about the Korean commitment to joining international efforts in Haiti. In the last year both the Korean government and the private sector have played an important role in Haiti’s recovery.  Early on, the Korean government deployed, in stages, a multi-agency group of rescuers, medical doctors, nurses and search dogs to assist the Haitian government.  In addition, the Korean government announced $10 million worth of emergency relief aid from the government and private sector.  Other private organizations, such as Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital, were also quick to respond.  

Professor Kim Dong Soo, Department of Pediatrics at Yonsei University Health System’s Severance Hospital, treats a child at Community Hospital in Haiti after the earthquake.  The skill and dedication of Korean medical professionals are making a difference.

But a year after the earthquake, the situation remains very difficult.  That is why it was so important that on January 11, 2011, the Government of Haiti, together with the United States Department of State and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), agreed to build an industrial park in Haiti’s North Corridor with Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd., Korea’s leading garment manufacturer, as the anchor tenant.  Sae-A’s investment will create 20,000 full-time jobs in the first phase, making it Haiti’s largest private employer.

Former President Bill Clinton was at the signing ceremony and said, “Many communities in the United States would jump through fire for 20,000 jobs.”  Sae-A is poised to play a major role in building a new, brighter future for the people of Haiti.  

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Sae-A Chairman Kim Wooungki and Department of State Counselor Cheryl Mills were among those participating at the January 11 signing ceremony for the North Industrial Park project. (USAID Image, Kendra Helmer, January 11, 2011)   

It is significant that the U.S. government and a Korean firm have joined together in the first major public-private partnership to bring permanent jobs to Haiti since the earthquake.  The U.S. Congress’s passage of the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act in May 2010 was a catalyst.  It significantly increased U.S. trade preferences for Haitian apparel, which in turn made Haiti more attractive to companies like Sae-A.  Each signatory has committed to investments in the development of the Park and the surrounding area, including park infrastructure, housing, waste-water treatment, port modernization and electrification.  Park operation and manufacturing activity are projected to begin in the first quarter of 2012.

The Haitian people and all of the multinational groups who have contributed to the relief efforts since January 12 have achieved much.  However, much remains to be done.  Sam Worthington, the head of the charitable alliance InterAction, says, “We have to recognize that building Haiti is in many ways building Haiti for the first time.  It is not rebuilding Haiti.  It is enabling a country, a people, to build a society — the society they want.  And that will take a lot of time."

Despite the daunting challenges, I am encouraged that with the long-term, multilateral commitment of the Haitians, Americans, Koreans and others who are involved in North Industrial Park and other efforts in Haiti, the long-suffering people of Haiti enter 2011 with strong reason to hope for a brighter future.

For more information on the work of the U.S. and Korea in Haiti, please take a look at the following fact sheets:  US Government Fact Sheet and The North Industrial Park Fact Sheet.  

 

[duicleme1]

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