22748: (Chamberlain) Canadian aid for Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

(Caribbean Update, 19 July 04)


Canada announces multi-million dollar aid for Haiti



OTTAWA - The Canadian government says it is going to provide more than $180
million over the next two years to boost reconstruction and development in
Haiti.

Ottawa announced the donation on Sunday, but it will be formally made at a
conference in Washington this week.

Haiti's transitional government has developed an assessment (the Interim
Co-operation Framework, or ICF) of what it needs, which will be presented
to a donor's conference.

Canada's donation is intended to address the needs outlined by the
transitional government.

The Canadian contribution includes: Nearly $147 million to support the ICF;
and about $33 million for policing.

"Canada has been there in the past for Haiti and we will continue to be
there in the years to come," Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said in a
statement.

The money will come from the Canadian International Development Agency.

anada has 500 soldiers in Haiti as part of a UN stabilization force put in
place after president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted on Feb. 29. Those
soldiers are coming home at the end of August, but 100 police officers will
be sent to maintain order and train Haitian police.

Since February, Canada has committed nearly $16 million to Haiti, mostly
through international organizations like the United Nations and
Organization of American States.