On 12 January 2010 the deadliest earthquake ever recorded in the western hemisphere hit Haiti, claiming between 230,000 and 300,000 lives. As aid organisations flooded the country there was an unprecedented outpouring from the international community, and $15.3 billion was pledged for relief and reconstruction.
We will be joined by a panel of experts from the humanitarian aid community and reporters who covered the earthquake and the subsequent reconstruction efforts, to examine why – after three years and $15.3 billion – the country is still in crisis.
In a recent development, cholera victims in Haiti are threatening to sue the UN, accusing them of negligently allowing peacekeeping soldiers to pollute Haiti’s water with cholera. We will be asking how the situation went so wrong and have the lessons been learned.
Chaired by Inigo Gilmore, an award winning journalist and filmmaker who has worked across the world, with extensive experience in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The panel:
Jonathan Katz is a writer and reporter, he is author of The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster. He has written for the AP for six years, stationed in Haiti for nearly three and a half years and was the only American reporter in the country when the earthquake hit on 12 January 2010. He is the 2010 recipient of the Medill Medal of Courage in Journalism and the 2012 winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award for this book.
Andy Leak is professor of French and Francophone Studies at University College London. His current research centres on literature and politics in Haiti since 1986. He is also secretary of the Haiti Support Group – a UK-based not-for-profit which seeks to amplify the voices of progressive Haitian CSOs in Europe and N. America. He is one of the editors of the quarterly Haiti Briefing.
Arjan Hehenkamp is a general director of Medecins Sans Frontieres (for the Dutch section) and has twenty years experience of humanitarian work around the world since starting in Somalia in 1993. Since 2006 he has been ultimately responsible for much of MSF’s work in Haiti as well as many other countries. MSF has been working in Haiti since 1991 and currently runs substantial medical programmes in the country.
Mario Gousse is a Haitian-born science teacher based in the UK. He is a member of the Haiti Support Group Executive Committee. He has helped to found the education charity UHUK (United Haitians in the United Kingdom) and currently serves as their Education Officer. He is a student and observer of Haitian history, politics and culture.
]]>By Allan Williams
Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega has until Monday to appeal against his extradition to Panama. The 77-year-old is currently serving a prison sentence in France after being convicted of money laundering in July 2010.
On Tuesday attention turns to Japan when the Parliament elects its sixth Prime Minister in five years. Incumbent Naoto Kan announced he was stepping down over plummeting approval ratings, following the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.
Wednesday sees Canada release its second quarter GDP figures. Fears of the economy contracting grew following an announcement earlier this month that manufacturing sales declined 1.5per cent in June, to their lowest level since November 2010.
Also on Wednesday South African President Jacob Zuma makes a state visit to Norway at the invitation of King Harald V. The two-day trip includes a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Monument and a meeting with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
In the UK, on Thursday, repatriations of deceased British troops move from RAF Lyneham to RAF Brize Norton. RAF Lyneham and the parade through the nearby town of Wootton Bassett have made the headlines with the dignified way locals have mourned the fallen.
In Thailand that same day, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, editor of the liberal news website Prachatai, has her trial for lese majeste offences recommence. It is alleged that Premchaiporn failed to screen comments on her website that were critical of the Thai royal family, and if convicted faces up to 20 years in prison.
Attention turns stateside on Friday, when a US district court decides whether to order a retrial of former baseball star Roger Clemens, who was accused of lying to Congress in 2008 when he denied using anabolic steroids. The original trial was declared a mistrial on 14 July.
In London on Saturday the far-right English Defence League are expected to demonstrate in the borough of Tower Hamlets, against what it sees as militant Islam. The march is expected to be banned by the Home Secretary, but the action group Unite Against Fascism has arranged a counter-protest against the EDL.
On Sunday the UN Special Representative on Somalia Augustine Mahiga convenes a conference in the east African nation to provide clear timelines and benchmarks for the Transitional Federal Institutions.
And in Germany there’s a test for Chancellor Merkel’s coalition when state elections take place in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with local elections coming under increasing scrutiny as a gauge of popularity for Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.
]]>Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak returns to court on Monday. Along with his sons Alaa and Gamal he appears charged with premeditated murder in connection with the deaths of protesters during the 25 January revolution.
Monday also sees the publication of Japan’s Q2 stats. The country’s GDP shrank 3.7 per cent in Q1, largely attributed to the 11 March disasters, and a similar decline is expected as the country copes with power shortages following the nuclear crisis.
It’s the turn of Europe to brace itself for GDP figures on Tuesday, with the official publication of the euro zone GDP figures. Publication comes amid recent fears growing over the global economy and the recent agreement to give Greece a second bailout.
Eyes are drawn to the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, as former UN employee Callixte Mbarushimana appears charged with five counts of crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009. Mbarushimana is also believed to have been involved in the Rwandan genocide, but has never been charged over the atrocities.
Angola also hosts a summit of the Southern African Development Community in Luanda on Wednesday. The two-day affair is expected to focus on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his refusal to fully implement the Global Political Agreement, as well as the recent fuel protests in Malawi.
Pope Benedict XVI makes an apostolic journey to Madrid on Thursday, to attend a gathering of Catholic youth to mark World Youth Day. Visit includes a Holy Mass at Cuatro Vientos Airport on 21 August.
In the UK, thousands of students learn what their future holds when A Level results are published on Thursday, and students scramble for (often) oversubscribed university places.
Friday sees the last day in office for Romanian Health Minister Attila Cseke, who tendered his resignation earlier this month following a dispute over funds for his brief. Under Romanian law Cseke had to continue his post for 15 days at a maximum until Prime Minister Emil Boc nominated a successor.
On Saturday the UN Panel of inquiry, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, is expected to release its report. The report has been delayed several times, most recently from 27 July, and could well be postponed again.
The 2011 Homeless World Cup begins on Sunday, giving homeless and socially marginalised players from across the world the opportunity to represent their country at the beautiful game.
On Sunday a national memorial service takes place in Norway, commemorating the 77 people who were killed in the 22 July Oslo bombing and Utoya shootings. Ceremony takes place in Oslo Spektrum and was announced by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg ‘to take care of each other and show compassion’.
]]>David Levene spoke at the Frontline Club on Friday to Roger Tooth, head of photography for the Guardian, about videoing and photographing the earthquake in Haiti. We were joined live from Port-au-Prince by Inigo Gilmore, who reported in the aftermath of the earthquake for Channel 4.
If you missed the event you can watch it here.
Upon his return from Haiti, David Levene put together an exhibition and print sale of his work from both before and after the earthquake in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Haiti Earthquake Appeal. You can view some of David’s pictures in the Guardian gallery here. Prints can still be ordered by contacting picture.syndication@guardian.co.uk
]]>The devastation in Port-au-Prince following January’s earthquake sent harrowing images of its victims around the world.
Inigo Gilmore and David Levene were among the scores of journalists whose job it was to document the suffering and chaos in the aftermath of the earthquake.
Following an exhibition of his work from both before and after the earthquake in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Haiti Earthquake Appeal, David Levene, Guardian photographer and video-journalist, will be joined on the Frontline stage by Inigo Gilmore via video link from Haiti. These two accomplished journalists will be in conversation with Roger Tooth, head of photography for the Guardian.
The discussion will focus on the role of photographers and videojournalists in such tragedies and the decisions that are made about what is published.