'Shameful': UK and US under fire over blocked funds for Haiti cholera victims

[Judi Lynn]

China, France and Russia also among major UN donors resisting appeal to spend $40m of UN money on victims of cholera epidemic, claim lawyers

Karen McVeigh

@karenmcveigh1
Thursday 2 November 2017 10.17 EDT

Human rights lawyers have accused the UK and other large donors of blocking the release of a multimillion-dollar UN fund to provide relief to victims of a cholera epidemic that has killed 10,000 people in Haiti.

The outbreak, which affected hundreds of thousands of Haitians, was caused when infected UN peacekeepers from Nepal brought the disease to the country in 2010.

In June, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, asked member states to allow him to repurpose $40.5m (£30m) of leftover money to the Haiti cholera fund, which he said could have an “immediate impact in saving lives”.

The appeal to reallocate unspent money designated for Haiti in 2015-16 has met with strong resistance from major donors. None of the five UN security council’s permanent members, which includes the US and the UK, approved the proposed funding reallocation. The UN Haiti cholera multi-partner trust fund, which gathered more than $2m, now lies almost empty.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/nov/02/shameful-uk-us-blocked-funds-haiti-cholera-victims-un-donors-china-france-russia

LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141904243