It is around the theme "Men and Women at the service of the humanity" that the United Nations have celebrated for the third year, the World Humanitarian Day to Jacmel on Friday, August 19. A day of reflection was held at the Multimedia Center of the Minustah of the city with representatives of humanitarian organizations working in the department of the Southeast.

This commemoration of the World Humanitarian Day was an opportunity for all humanitarian actors to share their experiences and take stock of the work they have done in the Southeast.

Remy Mauvais, the Representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), praised the courage of humanitarian workers who have contributed to the countries in crisis during 2010, particularly in Haiti during and after the earthquake.

However, other representatives have not hesitated to criticize certain politicians of Southeast, who did everything to divert the humanitarian aid intended for earthquake victims for their personal use.

Ronald Andris, Deputy Mayor of Jacmel, who participated in this activity, indicated that the Town Hall of Jacmel was very present during the earthquake of January 2010 to provide support to the population. He noted that the earthquake that struck Haiti, was an opportunity for the country's authorities to start with the decentralization process, lamenting that this was not the case. Ronald Andris has wished that all Haitians are aware of the current situation and work together in the interest of the country.

Many young people attended the celebration. In their statements, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the work of NGOs in the South East, demanding to the authorities of the city, that they define an action plan with these organizations, before they begin to execute their projects. This, according to them, will allow to the local authorities to have control over the functioning of these NGOs.

HL/ Claudy Bélizaire