United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has given Bill Clinton an additional task, asking him to manage the relief efforts and reconstruction taking place in Haiti.
The poor nation was struck by a devastating earthquake on 12 January, damaging areas of the country and taking the lives of more than 200,000 people, the spokesman for Haiti’s prime minister informed CNN on Wednesday.
Clinton was asked by Ban “to assume a leadership role in coordinating international aid efforts, from emergency response to new construction of Haiti”.
“You have demonstrated extremely important leadership”, Ban said to Clinton, who is currently the UN’s special envoy to Haiti.
A statement released by Clinton’s office at the UN said that the former US president will work with the people and the government of Haiti for the reconstruction and recovery of the nation. The statement also said that Clinton will work with UN agencies and various international partners, which includes private investors, government donors, and non-governmental organisations.
Ban spoke to Clinton saying: “I cannot find any other better suited leader than yourself, Mr. President”. Clinton thanked Ban and said: “I will do the best I can”.
“I think the challenges are great; we still have a lot of emergency problems to deal with”, Clinton stated. “Almost all the infrastructure (is) gone there, so the trick is to get the Haitian people back where they can stop living from day-to-day and start living week-to-week or month-to-month”.
He added, “The leaders there want to build a functioning modern state for the first time”.
