Washington, DC April 20, 2010--TransAfrica Forum would like to extend its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, who passed away today at the age of 98.  Often referred to as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, Dr. Height’s work for equality for all races and genders went beyond the shores of this country.

TransAfrica Forum welcomes the passage of legislation in the UK on April 8, 2010 aimed at preventing Vulture Funds from profiteering on defaulted debts of the world’s poorest countries.  The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill is the world’s first law to restrict the ability of Vulture Funds to sue some of the world’s poorest countries for full repayment of debts that have been purchased for pennies on the dollar.

As a U.S.-based, Africa-focused human rights and social justice organization TransAfrica Forum is deeply concerned by the high levels of arms flows into Ethiopia and Somalia, which in our view are but one sign of the increased militarization of U.S. government policy toward the Horn of Africa.

 

“The situation in Haiti remains dire. No one should be deceived. Hundreds of people still desperately need medical care, shelter and food. The U.S. needs to remain vigilant and provide effective assistance" --Nicole Lee, President of TransAfrica Forum in Haiti this week 

 

Quoted in the New York Times on Wednesday, March 10th, a spokesman for the United States Southern Command stated, “The situation on the ground in terms of the medical situation has improved.”  Mr. Jose Ruiz goes on to say, “Demand for medical care is not exceeding the capacity of facilities on the ground.” Mr. Ruiz’s statement flies in the face of evidence discovered over the past two weeks by TransAfrica Forum staff and numerous civil society partners in Haiti. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are going without food, shelter and medical care every day. TransAfrica’s President, Nicole Lee, is in Haiti this week and has seen first hand that assistance programs are failing to meet the enormous need.

The Haiti Response Coalition, of which TransAfrica Forum and KONPAY are members, convened a two-day consultation with rural and urban members of Haitian civil society in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 23-24, 2010.  Prior to the January 12, 2010 earthquake conference participants were engaged in a variety of community-based development activities throughout the country.  Since the earthquake, groups have used their previously established relationships with community and neighborhood groups to assist with camp construction for internally displaced people (IDPs), relief distribution, and needs assessment production.

Parc Historique de la Canne A Sucre, February 23-24, 2010

Press Briefing

After the great and incomparable earthquake hit the country of Haiti, on January 12, 2010, more than three hundred thousand (300,000) people, from all areas and of all ages, died.  State infrastructure and all its institutions have been destroyed. 

January 29 the Africanist community lost one our most passionate and effective advocates, Ray Almeida, who passed away from cardiac arrest in a Boston hospital.  Ray, originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts, which is home to the largest community of immigrants from Cape Verde, was active for more than 40 years in a variety of social movements, campaigns, and public policy legislation.  In 2005 he was honored with the presentation of the “Ordem Amilcar Cabral” award by His Excellency Pedro Verona Pires, President and Head of State of the Republic of Cape Verde.  The TransAfrica Forum Board and staff are deeply saddened by Ray’s passing and we send our deepest condolences to the Almeida family.  To read Ray’s obituary and to leave comments, please click here.

Today 80 US religious denominations, human rights groups, and development agencies including the Jubilee USA Network, the AFL-CIO, the ONE Campaign and TransAfrica Forum, sent a letter to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, urging him to negotiate immediate debt cancellation for Haiti by the international financial institutions.

Almost a week after a devastating earthquake in Haiti aid agencies are complaining to TransAfrica that there are huge procedural obstacles to getting food, water and medicine to the people outside of Port-au-Prince. Doctors Without Borders is reporting that the arrival of a twin-theatre inflatable hospital has been delayed because one of the planes carrying it did not get permission to land at Port-au-Prince airport on Saturday and was re-routed to the Dominican Republic.

Summary and Recommendations for Recovery “The country does not have the infrastructure or resources to deal with a crisis of this magnitude, the U.S. and the international community must provide immediate medical, humanitarian, search and rescue, and additional supports as requested by the government of Haiti,”    --Nicole Lee, President of TransAfrica Forum.

Summary: January 12, 2010, Haiti, was hit with a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, its most severe in 200 years. The epicenter of the quake was approximately 10 miles south of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital and home to over 2 million people. The city is devastated and the Haitian Red Cross estimates that 45,000 – 50,000 are dead.