THE UNITED Nations has finally acknowledged that it played a role in the 2010 Haiti cholera outbreak that has killed almost 10,000 Haitians and infected more than 770,000.
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U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged on Thursday that reckless waste disposal played a role in the 2010 outbreak that killed and infected thousands of Haitians and said the organization will implement a “significant new set of U.N. actions” in the next few months to address the epidemic.
Haq wouldn’t say whether reparations were under consideration.
A class action suit was brought on behalf of victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti contending UN peacekeeping forces from Nepal brought the disease to the island nation following a massive natural disaster in January 2010, which killed more than 220,000 people and displaced 1.5 million.
“In many ways, cholera is more a justice issue than a medical issue”, Brian Corcoran, director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, told Dhaliwal. A US federal appeals court has upheld on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, the United Nations¿ immunity from a damage claim filed on behalf of 5,000 cholera victims who blame the U.N. for an epidemic of the deadly disease in Haiti.
Haq said the announcement of United Nations plans for new action to address cholera was made in response to a draft report by the United Nations special investigator on extreme poverty and human rights.
Speaking to reporters at a press briefing from United Nations headquarters in NY on Thursday, Farhan Haq said the United Nations. According to the Times, the strongly worded report argues cholera “would not have broken out but for the actions of the United Nations” and laments how the organization’s cholera eradication program in Haiti has failed.
Five U.N. human rights experts criticized the United Nations in a letter to top U.N. officials late past year for its “effective denial of the fundamental right of the victims of cholera to justice”.
He said details of the package are still under discussion.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and without sufficient water and sanitation infrastructure, the country was uniquely vulnerable. Sewage is rarely treated and safe water remains inaccessible to many.
He said the organisation’s constant denial of its involvement in the outbreak “upholds a double standard according to which the United Nations insists that member states respect human rights, while rejecting any such responsibility for itself”.
“We will decide how to proceed based on whether the U.N.’s actions fulfill the cholera victims’ rights to an effective remedy”, Concannon said in a statement.
But in a reversal, the United Nations this week acknowledged it did play a role in starting a deadly epidemic that has cost more than 10,000 lives since 2010 and continues to sicken Haitians. In March, an average of 37 cholera deaths a month were recorded.
But he said repeated appeals to the worldwide community have left the effort “seriously underfunded”. But he said cholera won’t be eliminated without stepped up efforts from the Haitian government and global community “and crucially, the resources to fulfill our shared duty”.
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On Thursday, the United Nations has had a sudden shift in attitude. According to a report last November, only $307 million has been received.
