YouSaid · the spoken record

Jovenel Moïse

lines on the record: 39
first: 2017-09-24
most recent: 2018-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“From this rostrum, I would like to say to our technical and financial partners that together we must muster the courage to rethink development aid for Haiti and other countries in similar situations, using the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the 2008 Accra Agenda for Action as our guides. With the Republic of Haiti’s meagre financial resources, we have begun to rebuild the country. Today more than ever, we need that synergy to build the future of our country. We must work together, while scrupulously respecting Haiti’s priorities. The fight against corruption that began on 7 February 2017 cannot remain wishful thinking. It is a battle that will allow us to bequeath to future generations a better country in which life is worth living.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“With regard to education, we need 15,000 classrooms to enable the 500,000 children who are not yet in school to have access to a good basic education. We need approximately $450 million to build those classrooms. Moreover, we need 122 health-care centres to fill the deficit across communes, which will cost $20 million. I also take this opportunity to challenge the international community on the obligation to mobilize resources to eliminate cholera, which was introduced by MINUSTAH in Haiti, and to compensate the victims. In addition, in order to connect and renovate the 146 communes of Haiti and improve certain sections of roads, we need $800 million.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Unfortunately, only 5 per cent of that land is irrigated, meaning that we need $675 million to make an additional 450,000 hectares viable. We need only 220 million cubic metres of water each year to make household tap water available across Haiti. Yet 40 billion cubic metres of surface water are dumped into the sea every year. Approximately $300 million would enable us to treat the 220 million cubic metres needed to serve all of Haiti’s communes. We need to produce 50 million fruit and forest tree seedlings each year to be able to reforest the country. The construction of 14 germplasm and plant propagation centres, which would be able to produce 63 million seedlings a year, costs approximately $35 million.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“How can we speak of sustainable development when there is no water for the irrigation of agricultural land? How can we speak of sustainable development when there are no good roads linking cities and villages? How can we speak of sustainable development when there is no electrical or digital infrastructure? How can we speak of sustainable development when there is no adequate school or sanitary infrastructure? It is those questions that we ask ourselves, the answers to which we are tirelessly striving to find for the Haitian people. In order to build a suitable electrical and digital transmission and distribution network over Haiti’s 27,750 square kilometres, we need approximately $400 million. The Republic of Haiti has nearly 1 million hectares of agricultural land, half of which can be easily irrigated.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In particular, they require an allocation of resources better adapted to the real needs of recipient countries, taking into account their structural vulnerabilities. This resource allocation must be more flexible and less subject to conditions that could ultimately undermine the very viability of reforms and key development goals, including long-term stability. Access to good electrical, digital, school, health, environmental, hydraulic and road infrastructure is a prerequisite for any country that aims to achieve sustainable development. The Republic of Haiti received nearly $11 billion in donations and loans between 2006 and 2016, and yet some of that infrastructure is still not in place. How can we talk about sustainable development when there is no drinking water in families’ taps?”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“At this crossroads, I urge our partners in the international community to continue to offer the Haitian people active solidarity, within the framework of a renewed, coherent and substantial assistance programme, which will be aligned with national priorities and implemented in close collaboration with national institutions and the private business sector, and thereby better adapted to the realities on the ground. This paradigm shift will significantly strengthen national efforts and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals that we have set for ourselves as a first step and to eradicating poverty by 2030. We cannot repeat it often enough — peace, development and security go hand in hand . They must be adequately supported by appropriate long-term investment.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“They include immediately improving the living conditions of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable segments of the population through innovative programmes; improving the business climate; reviving public and private investment for growth and the creation of jobs, in order to foster the expansion of the middle class and significantly reduce social inequality and exclusion in all its forms; pursuing further reforms aimed at consolidating the rule of law, strengthening the justice system and the national police force, alongside the ongoing remobilization of the Haitian armed forces; fighting corruption in all its forms and manifestations; holding legislative elections in October 2019, as planned; and intensifying measures to strengthen the promotion and defence of human rights.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“I would like to reiterate here, before the Assembly, the solemn commitment I have made to the Haitian people and the international community to spare no effort in resolutely guiding the country on a path to a sustainable development that is based on the rule of law, political stability, the tireless, relentless and persistent struggle against corruption in all its forms, the modernization of institutions, socioeconomic progress and the consolidation of democratic gains and achievements in the field of human rights, which, I am convinced, are irreversible. The newly formed Government of National Unity has embarked on that task with a renewed plan of action and a number of priority objectives and benchmarks.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In other words, the success of the strategy for sustaining peace and the gains made, which is vitally important to us, depends largely on our ability to obtain the additional resources that will enable us to overcome our structural handicaps, including boosting public investment in critical infrastructure and overcoming obstacles to growth that keep nearly three quarters of the population below the poverty line.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“While I do not wish to assign blame, I should note that the recent uprising was in large part the result of an overly narrow vision of development aid that does not always allow our international partners to recognize the need for a less fragmented and rigid, more integrated and more coherent approach to interrelated development and security issues that is much more in line with the five principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“It acutely highlighted the key issue of the risks associated with extreme socioeconomic insecurity and a lack of economic prospects, as well as the fragility of the gains we have made so far. However real and indisputable those hard-fought gains may be, they may be jeopardized without adequate long-term support. One of the lessons that we have learned from the crisis is that while structural reforms are essential, they are lengthy processes that cannot be accomplished in a short time or subjected to the often overly rigid conditions that are imposed by technical and financial partners without taking into account the socioeconomic realities of each country.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The 2010 earthquake, the Assembly will recall, caused damage equal to 120 per cent of our gross domestic product (GDP). On top of that, the damage from Hurricane Matthew was equivalent to 32 per cent of GDP. This structural and environmental vulnerability is not without consequences. In July, following the enforcement of a law on a fuel price adjustment backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we experienced an unfortunate and painful popular uprising in response to the requirements of the IMF-backed staff-monitored programme. Haiti, which does not produce oil, is therefore dealing with the difficult requirement of having to continue financing Government fuel subsidies. The violent expression of discontent from some parts of the population cannot be underestimated.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The social, political and economic modernization processes undertaken by the Government have achieved numerous tangible results over the past 18 months. In this regard, I need only refer to the Secretary-General’s latest report on Haiti (S/2018/795), which highlights the important progress made in terms of political and institutional stability, the protection of human rights, strengthening the judicial system and improving the security environment. However, despite these advances, we must recognize that our sluggish economic growth continues to weigh heavily on the national strategy for development and sustaining peace. The fact is that we are facing interrelated and wide-ranging challenges that are compounded by population pressure, major urbanization, environmental degradation and extreme vulnerability to natural disasters.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Since assuming the presidency of the Republic of Haiti, I have worked tirelessly to consolidate the rule of law, deepen democratic gains and promote human rights, as I am firmly convinced of the absolute necessity of modernizing our economic, social and political structures in order to enable my country to emerge from the trap of underdevelopment. I have spared no effort to ensure that institutions are stable and create a safe and stable environment that is conducive to investment and restarting growth. In the face of ever scarcer resources and the strong pressure of the population’s needs, the Caravan of Change is, in this respect, an innovative strategy that aims to put all the State’s resources at the service of the Haitian people.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We should point out that the world’s most vulnerable countries, especially small island States, and above all those in the Caribbean, including the Republic of Haiti, emit few greenhouse gases, and yet suffer most of the damage caused by increasingly frequent and violent hurricanes. The promises made at last year’s One Planet Summit in Paris to enable those countries to adapt their environments and mitigate the ravaging effects of climate change must be kept. I would like to shed some light on the situation in Haiti one year after the closure of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which was succeeded by the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The 2016 Paris Agreement on Climate Change was a milestone in this regard. Every effort should also be made to ensure that international obligations and the commitments that arise from them are respected. We are well aware that climate-change adaptation and mitigation regimes and precautionary measures to alleviate damage are extremely costly. One component of any sustainable development strategy, the mitigation of natural hazards, is essential as an investment today in anticipation of events that may occur tomorrow. However, to date, the funding is clearly inadequate to a response that matches the scope of the challenges before us. Mobilizing new resources for climate change is a top priority.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“And how can we translate the need for international solidarity into a much more effective system of cooperation, capable of promoting sustainable development and eradicating poverty in the world? The United Nations has rightly shed light on the close links between the eradication of poverty and the promotion of sustainable development, peace and security. Similarly, the fight against poverty is inextricably linked to the promotion of human rights. Extreme poverty is a denial of human dignity and must therefore be at the heart of United Nations efforts, allowing hundreds of millions of men and women to cherish the hope of one day seeing its eradication. Intensifying the fight against global warming, which is one of the most serious threats to humankind, must also be one of the international community’s urgent priorities.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“At the outset, allow me to congratulate President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés on her election as President of the General Assembly. Her unanimously recognized qualities and talent will certainly guarantee the success of the work of the Assembly at its seventy- third session. I would also like to welcome the presence of the Secretary-General and to acknowledge his courageous efforts to improve the effectiveness of the United Nations system, as part of the collective search for, in the words of Pope Francis, the “common good of humanity”. Over the years, the General Assembly has been confronted with two underlying questions related to the main topics on its agenda. How can we optimize our mechanisms for maintaining international peace and security?”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Moreover, in the coming weeks, my Administration will begin a national consultation in all sectors with a view to achieving the stability required to undertake a programme of economic and social development over the next 25 years at least. Economic, political and social stakeholders in Haiti are aware of the overriding obligation they have to promote social peace in order to fulfil the destiny that has been reserved for our noble and great nation, a cradle of liberty, equality and fraternity, the Republic of Haiti.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The new leadership of Haiti will spare no effort to foster the great transformations necessary to bring the State out of its traumatic and painful lethargy. The Haitian Government is working tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of its people. These are vital prerequisites for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Political stability is the most important of all public goods, as I said in my election campaign. In that regard, I intend to continue the dialogue I began last week on building robust institutions in the political sphere, a dialogue in which almost all the political parties in Parliament and all local authorities took part.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We therefore align ourselves with the urgent appeal launched by Secretary-General António Guterres to establish a trust fund to fully implement the two components of this new approach. We also welcome the decision taken by the General Assembly to reallocate $40.5 million from the MINUSTAH budget for 2015-2016 to the fight against the epidemic. We would like to see other international partners follow that example. We want to ensure that the sick receive adequate care, that the victims and their children get due compensation, and that drinking water and sanitation systems in Haiti are developed under the auspices of the National Directorate for Drinking Water and Sanitation. The Republic of Haiti is resolutely committed to making progress and strengthening the rule of law. Of course, these objectives remain works in progress.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Improving the health-care system, including by eradicating cholera, is a priority of the Haitian Government. Despite the recent progress, the number of victims stands at approximately 10,000 and, regrettably, continues to grow. There are tens of thousands of cholera orphans. The time has therefore come for the United Nations to truly live up to its noble ideals, based fundamentally on respect for human rights, by assuming its full responsibility for remedying a situation that has done serious harm to the Haitian people. It is high time that the United Nations honoured the commitments it has made under the new approach to fighting the cholera epidemic recommended by the Secretary-General and approved by the General Assembly.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“All our endeavours at the economic level are focused on making rational use of our scant resources and doing everything we can with them. While we are deeply grateful to the United Nations for its commitment to Haiti, I would be remiss if I did not recall two lamentable situations that have arisen from its presence in our country. On the one hand, we have seen odious acts of sexual exploitation and violence committed by certain peacekeepers or other members of United Nations staff; and on the other, we have witnessed the introduction of a cholera epidemic into Haiti. The harmful consequences of these demonstrations of international solidarity imply, as the United Nations has already recognized, a moral obligation to enact measures to provide the resources necessary to eliminate cholera in Haiti.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“In one area of Artibonite, and in the South, in Grand’Anse and Les Nippes, we have already launched a strategy whereby the once moribund State will relaunch long- neglected but essential work. We intend to do our all to halt the accelerated degradation of the environment and make Haiti more resilient to climate change, improve basic essential public infrastructure, increase the provision of basic services, and stimulate the private sector and foreign direct investment. What is really at stake here, and what is crucial, is creating an enabling environment for strong, sustained and inclusive growth that will create jobs. Our long- term goal is to make Haiti a magnet for investment. The Haitian people are acutely aware that they are primarily responsible for taking ownership of and organizing the country in a sovereign fashion.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Haiti cannot continue to see its young people flee in search of opportunities, driven by the corruption and the destruction of national institutions that have significantly widened the gap between citizens and the State. We wish to thank all friendly countries of the region who have taken in Haitian migrants and will therefore contribute actively to international efforts in 2018 to adopt a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The Haitian Government has undertaken efforts to give its agricultural sector new momentum through the Caravan of Change. All of the country’s departments will benefit from the public authorities’ efforts to develop their potential for social and economic development.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Similarly, through its dynamic policies, my Administration is taking necessary if politically controversial measures to get Haiti’s economy back on a path to growth and to create decent jobs, particularly for young people concerned about their futures. In that regard, our human resources management office is working in a framework of State reform, through public examinations, to recruit 12,000 young civil servants in order to give new impetus to the growth and development of public administration, and will be replacing civil servants who are on the brink of retirement. We are determined to provide other alternatives and opportunities, particularly to the most vulnerable sectors of our society, to ensure that they are not tempted to leave the country, sometimes putting their lives in danger, in search of better living conditions.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Secondly, we will launch an aviation unit for training young people in aeronautical mechanics and pilots able to fly helicopters in the wake of natural disasters; and thirdly, we will have a medical unit able to care for the victims of natural disasters and residents of the most remote areas of our country. On the economic front, despite our lack of national resources, the Government is mobilizing all levers at its disposal to get the economy back on a path to growth. This year, through a legislative agenda based on the joint efforts of the political parties, we have enacted eight of nine laws geared to improving the business climate.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“At the same time, we are remobilizing Haiti’s armed forces, which are working in accordance with a new development framework and strictly in line with the Constitution. The international community has been supporting national and public security in Haiti for 13 years, and with every national disaster, friendly countries have had to come to the aid of the Haiti people, showing why we need a strong defence force and why Haiti, following the departure of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), will gradually establish a military force to accomplish three key mandates. We will first create an engineering unit able to contribute to major public-works projects and intervene promptly following natural disasters.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“This policy has been given tangible form through the Caravan of Change, a strategy aimed at providing electricity 24 hours a day through clean energy. We are looking to manage groundwater, irrigate agricultural land and tend to our rivers, which, if not cared for, pose an environmental threat. We are also striving to overcome our housing deficit and to provide 12,000 more classrooms throughout the country. With regard to the rule of law, measures currently under way aim to guarantee the independence and increase the effectiveness of our judicial apparatus. We are strengthening our fight against corruption, contraband and impunity. We are reinforcing public security by continuously improving and building the capacities of the Haitian National Police.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Corruption deprives the Haitian Government of the resources it needs to provide basic services to the population. If it is not stopped but rather continues to spread, it will fuel political and social instability. It deprives the vast majority of Haitians of adequately distributed electricity, a quality education for their children, clean drinking water and social and economic opportunities. With the aim of reversing this devastating trend, the new Haitian leadership is waging a determined struggle against corruption. As regards the public administration, the Government is working on five priorities based on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are working with Parliament to strengthen our republican institutions in order to provide citizens with better access to public services.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“First, the Haitian Government has been uncompromising in tackling corruption — overbilling for public contracts, misuse of State property and cheques made out to fictitious employees, all facilitated by corrupt individuals who, through such despicable crimes, steal the fruits of education from the children of the Haitian people. Corruption, in all of its forms, plagues and atrophies the economy. It has deeply weakened our political foundation and destabilized the country’s social fabric. Corruption is a crime against development. The millions of dollars spent Haiti in recent decades were sometimes channeled into contracts that destabilized the national economy to our people’s detriment. It is therefore high time that official development assistance and our domestic resources served the interests of the entire Haitian nation.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The fund would be financed based on a percentage of the gross domestic product of the affected countries and by developed countries that emit greenhouse gases. Haiti would like to take this opportunity to appeal to States Members of the United Nations that are affected by climate change to take this approach as well. This year unquestionably marks a break with the instability that has been such an obstacle to the development of the Republic of Haiti. Since my accession to the presidency on 7 February, my Administration has worked to consolidate democracy and the rule of law by making efforts to create conditions conducive to socioeconomic development and political and social stability.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“I call for an increase in insurance coverage for hurricanes and other natural disasters. The small Caribbean countries, with severely limited economic resources, need an insurance system that is proportionate to the threat. To that end, in January 2018, when Haiti assumes the presidency of the Caribbean Community, we intend to organize a regional conference to set up an inter-State commission to agree on an appropriate strategy. It will be a logical follow up to Haiti’s call at the fifth summit of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Cancún, Mexico, in May, for the creation of a regional fund to finance programmes to mitigate the effects of natural disasters in the region.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We firmly believe that we must honour the pledge to equip the most vulnerable countries with the means to help them make the energy transition to renewable energies and bolster their resilience to the adverse effects of climate change. In the Caribbean, and in Haiti in particular, the latest events have reminded us of the extent to which climate change affects our countries. And at the same moment, the spectacular power of Hurricane Maria threatens us again. But the fact is that what happens to us is not fated, but is rather a result of human beings’ actions on their environment, which we have a shared responsibility to repair. The victim countries, including the Republic of Haiti, do not have the spare resources to respond adequately to the tragic consequences of climate change.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“In that regard, the Republic of Haiti would like to express its solidarity with the victims in general and the people of the Caribbean in particular. We also stand with the victims of natural disasters and the people and the Government of Mexico. In that regard, my country attaches particular importance to the fulfilment of commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, especially since the prospects for sustainable development are shrinking in the wake of environmental crises and climate degradation. We therefore hope that major greenhouse-gas-emitting countries will contribute the necessary resources for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“As I address the Assembly for the first time, I recognize our immense responsibility for addressing the environmental challenges and threats confronting the planet. The Republic of Haiti is committed to the environmental dimension of sustainable development. As an island State, Haiti is determined to strengthen its resilience in the face of the natural disasters that affect the Caribbean region every year. The Haitian people are making tremendous efforts to recover from the damage caused by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. Similarly, the unprecedented scale of destruction by consecutive hurricanes inflicted on our sister Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, as well as parts of Texas and Florida in the United States of America, shows the adverse effects of global warming on our planet.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The Republic of Haiti calls for an honourable exit from the present situation that can benefit our brother people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and urges all the parties involved to engage in dialogue and negotiation. The successful negotiated outcome of the conflict in Colombia shows that it is not armed confrontation and blind violence that resolve disputes. May the victory in Colombia serve as an example to us all. The Republic of Haiti, true to its ideals of peace, dialogue and friendliness among peoples, would very much like to see a window of opportunity offered to the Republic of China on Taiwan, so that it can participate in the major decisions that we, the Member States, have adopted to improve the human condition on planet Earth.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The Republic of Haiti fully supports any initiative that reduces international tensions, defuses crises and achieves peaceful settlements to disputes. We believe that the United Nations must act in the context of conflict prevention. The Republic of Haiti has always spoken out against the proliferation of nuclear weapons and firmly condemns any tension generated by the desire to possess and produce nuclear weapons. In the Middle East, the Syrian crisis continues to shock our universal conscience. In this very Hall, numerous resolutions have been voted on calling for an end to that inhumane tragedy, which has left countless dead. The prevailing status quo in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, punctuated by intermittent violence, will obviously not produce a solution.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“At the outset, I would like to convey our sincere congratulations to you, Mr. President, on your election to preside over this session of the General Assembly. Today, all eyes rightly turn to the United Nations, whose mission has never been so essential. That is why we must pursue the reform process started years ago, in order to better adapt our Organization to modern reality so that it can effectivelyattain the goals enshrined in the founding Charter of the United Nations. In that connection, I welcome the vision and leadership of Secretary-General António Guterres. I hope that under his able leadership, the Organization can honour the commitments and initiatives aimed at improving living conditions for everyone on our planet and enabling the United Nations to confront global threats and prevent and resolve conflicts.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)