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August 21, 2021
Haitian Prime Minister ARIEL HENRY chose COODAH to represent the Haitian Diaspora in the government committee that oversees the recovery and rebuilding process.
TrueNewsReport
By: JOCELYN DESROSIERS
TrueNewsBlog – After a 7.2 earthquake struck Southwestern Haiti on Saturday, August 14, 2021, the administration of Prime Minister ARIEL HENRY decided to include the Haitian Diaspora in the recovery and rebuilding efforts, something that was done in the earthquake of 2010 in Port-Au-Prince that killed over 300,000 people.
COODAH, the French acronym for “COALITION DES ORGANISATIONS DE LA DIASPORA HAITIENNE,” is a national non-profit organization that has taken the lead to ensure that international aid goes to the victims of the earthquake.
On Wednesday, August 18, 2020, Ms. JUDITH NAZARETH AUGUSTE, the Minister of Haitian Living Abroad (MHAVE), held a zoom meeting with more than a hundred Haitian organizations worldwide to decide which organization will represent the Haitian Diaspora. The organizations that participated in the meeting were the Haitian Federation, LAHAN, HRA, AMHE, and others.
The invitation to the zoom meeting that the well-known organizations received read as follows:
“The Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad (MHAVE) would like inform you that on the direction of the Prime Minister, a sub-committee will be set up to represent the Haitian Diaspora within the government committee” to oversee the recovery and rebuilding process, as such the Minister wants to discuss the terms under which the Haitian Diaspora will be represented in the committee.
On Friday, August 20, 2021, Minister Auguste announced that COODAH has been picked to represent the Haitian Diaspora. A member of the executive committee of COODAH will be chosen to join the government committee overseeing the recovery and rebuilding process. Unlike 2010, this time, the Haitian Diaspora through COODAH will voice how rescue efforts and aid distribution are conducted.
COODAH, a coalition of Haitian organizations from all over the world came together to represent the interests of the Haitian Diaspora. Since its inception early this year, COODAH has been active in the Haitian Diaspora in the United States and other countries like Chile, Brazil, France, Dominican Republic, and Haiti.
The goal of COODAH, said his executive director PIERRE J. ANDRE “is to ensure the total integration of the Haitian Diaspora at all levels of the Haitian government. Considering that more than 80% of Haiti’s brainpower is outside of Haiti, it is suicide for the Haitian government to continue to believe that Haiti can survive without its Diaspora. We are determined to work together as partners with the Haitian government because we believe with collaboration, another Haiti is possible.”
Past administrations had been very reluctant to include members of the Haitian Diaspora in positions of power. Still, Prime Minister ARIEL HENRY, a neurosurgeon who inherited Haiti’s ongoing turmoil since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, may be different. Still, only time will tell whether he is serious about Diaspora integration.
Mr. Pierre J. Andre and another member of COODAH’s executive committee will travel to Haiti early next week to meet with Haitian government officials to discuss the terms under which COODAH will serve as representative of the Haitian Diaspora in the Haitian government.
