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16 January 2010
Former U.S. Presidents Team Up for Haiti Relief Fund
Washington – Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton teamed up to spearhead a global fundraising effort to rebuild Haiti in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that has killed tens of thousands and injured even more.
“By coming together in this way, these two leaders send an unmistakable message to the people of Haiti and to the people of the world. In these difficult hours, America stands united,” President Obama said at a televised White House press conference January 16 with Bush and Clinton at his side. “We stand united with the people of Haiti, who have shown such incredible resilience, and we will help them to recover and to rebuild.”
Bush and Clinton created a Web site, http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org, which is designed to begin a fundraising campaign that will be needed to support immediate relief efforts and to address long-term recovery efforts.
“Our immediate priority is to save lives,” Bush and Clinton said in an open letter on the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund site. “The critical needs in Haiti are great, but they are also simple: food, water, shelter, and first-aid supplies. The best way concerned citizens can help is to donate funds that will go directly to supplying these material needs.” Bush said that most people’s first thought is to gather supplies to send to Haiti, but he said the better approach is to donate to the relief fund, where the money will be accounted for and spent as it is needed.
Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on January 12, and preliminary Red Cross estimates put the loss of life at between 45,000 and 50,000 people, though no accurate accounting will be possible for weeks. Because of the dangers associated with so many killed, Haitian authorities are forced to bury many of the dead in mass graves with little time for accounting and identification. The United States and nations around the Western Hemisphere and the world are rushing relief supplies and teams to Port-au-Prince in a race against time to save lives, effect rescues and help survivors recover.
By early January 16, the U.S. military had begun a massive air bridge to supply food and water, along with medical assistance. At least 600,000 humanitarian daily rations — providing basic nutrition packages of 2,300 calories each — are arriving at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport at Port-au-Prince, according to White House coordinator Tim Callaghan. Water purification units have arrived and have begun working to produce up to 300,000 liters of water daily.
Obama said he called on the former presidents to lead this effort because of their personal commitment as noted humanitarians both in office and in their private lives, but also because of their widespread influence across the globe. Clinton, whose wife is the secretary of state, is the U.N. special envoy to Haiti. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Port-au-Prince with Administrator Rajiv Shah of the U.S. Agency for International Development to assess the situation firsthand and to confer with Haitian President Rene Preval and U.S. and international officials.
Former President Clinton, reflecting on his personal knowledge of Haiti and its people, said that it is still possible for Haitians to “escape their history and build a better future.”
Help save lives in Haiti: Visit the White House Web site for options. The International Committee of the Red Cross provides a service to help people find loved ones and the State Department has a Person Finder where people can post information about persons missing in Haiti.
