FORMER US president Bill Clinton has been named United Nations special envoy for Haiti, the western hemisphere’s poorest country, which suffered four hurricanes last year.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said Mr Clinton’s appointment would help to galvanise international efforts to help the Caribbean island to recover.
“I am confident that President Clinton will bring energy, dynamism and focus to the task of mobilising international support for Haiti’s economic recovery and reconstruction,” he said.
Mr Clinton, who as president helped restore Haiti’s former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide following a coup in the early 1990s, remains popular on the island.
He visited Haiti twice as president and accompanied Mr Ban on a UN visit there in March.
“Last year’s natural disasters took a great toll, but Haiti’s government and people have the determination and ability to “build back better”, not just to repair the damage done but to lay the foundations for the long-term sustainable development that has eluded them for so long,” Mr Clinton said yesterday.
Last year’s storms left 800 Haitians dead and a million either homeless or badly affected. Soaring food and oil prices caused further suffering and triggered riots.
Mr Clinton, who will be paid an annual salary of $1, will travel to Haiti at least four times a year and will work to create partnerships between the Haitian government and the private sector, donors and civil society.
“I believe Haiti is better positioned to make progress for all its people than at any time since I first visited in 1978,” he said.
“It offers unique opportunities for public and private investment to improve health and education in ways that will be good for Haitians and all their partners in our interdependent world.”