Statement by President Mario Sepi: Earthquake in Haiti: European civil society and all the institutions must provide help and support to Haiti's population

Published: 14 January 2010 y., Thursday

Žemės drebėjimas
As President of the European Economic and Social Committee, I would like, on behalf of all the Committee's members, to express my sympathy to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

We are well aware that a mere statement will not give Haitian civil society the support it needs at this time. However, as President of the Committee that is responsible for expressing the feelings of European civil society, I am calling on all institutions and all European civil society organisations to demonstrate active solidarity.

The European Economic and Social Committee welcomes the European Commission's prompt action to assist Haiti to deal with this humanitarian emergency and calls on the other European institutions and all the Member States to make a significant and sustained commitment towards the reconstruction and development of that country.

The earthquakes that have struck the island over the last few days will have a very severe impact on the economic and social situation in that country, which was already very difficult. Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, has already suffered in recent years from a large number of natural disasters, including Hurricane Jeanne in September 2004 and the four hurricanes in 2008. These tragedies caused many deaths and hampered development.

I appeal to the consciences of our civil societies to ensure that a collective commitment at various levels is expressed practically through the provision of funds and the use of all available resources for projects to support and assist Haitian civil society.


 

Šaltinis: europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Interview with Bálint Szlankó, winner of Parliament's prize for Journalism 2009

On 15 October, the President of the EP unveiled the names of the winners of the EP Prize for Journalism 2009. more »

10 things about the Lisbon treaty you should know

“Lisbon treaty” - you may have heard quite a bit about it recently. Still baffled? more »

World Food Day 2009: EU leading the global fight against hunger

The 2009 World Food Day on 16 October is marked by an EU stronger than ever in its commitment to improve access to food around the world. more »

Lorry drivers’ hours - back to the drawing board

One of the first signs of the new political mood in the European Parliament after the election is the reversal of its position over rules on working times for lorry drivers. more »

Still time to be a trainee in the Parliament! Deadline 15 October!

Do you feel like doing a 5-month traineeship in the European Parliament? If so then Thursday 15 October is the deadline to apply. more »

22 ACP countries to discuss universal access to family planning, safe motherhood and prevention of HIV/AIDS

The European Commission has provided € 32 million in assistance to 22 African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries 1 over a period of 6 years to help fight poverty and to increase access to and quality of sexual and reproductive health services and commodities. more »

Obama vows to end gays restrictions

Challenging a long-standing taboo, U.S. President Barack Obama made a pledge to end restrictions on gays in the U.S. military. more »

MEPs show solidarity with developing countries hit by crisis

The economic crisis has pushed an extra 90 million people into extreme poverty in the developing world and made 23 million people unemployed. more »

China's twins celebrate siblings

In the Chinese capital where the nation's one-child limit is rigidly enforced twins, triplets and quads get together to celebrate the fact they have brothers and sisters. more »

No Lycra please, we're British

It's called the Brompton folding bike world championships but it really is an awfully British affair. more »