ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN WASHINGTON, D.C., 13-14 APRIL

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon, 13 April, to attend the Haiti Donor’s Conference.  Earlier that day, he met in New York with Michèle Pierre-Louis, Haiti’s Prime Minister, and members of her Cabinet.  They discussed the economic plan to be submitted the next day by the Haitian Government to the Conference, a plan the Secretary-General qualified as focused and prioritized.  They also discussed the reforms undertaken in Haiti and the upcoming senatorial elections in that country.

The following morning, the Secretary-General addressed the Haiti Donor’s Conference at the Inter-American Development Bank, stressing the need to support the plan presented by Haiti’s Government.  This plan, he said, would create thousands of new jobs in agriculture and manufacturing over the next two years, improve basic services and reduce Haiti’s vulnerability to natural disasters.  The international community’s responsibility, he added, is to help translate this plan into action.  By acting now, he said, we will lock in the gains we have made in terms of political stability, and we will forge a renewed partnership built on a mutual commitment to place Haiti on a more sustainable social and economic footing.  (See Press Release SG/SM/12185.)

Praising the work of United Nations peacekeepers, the United Nations country team and the wider international community who have helped to bring stability to Haiti, the Secretary-General urged donors to commit themselves to bring a measure of potential prosperity to the country with the promise of a better life for millions of Haitians.

The Secretary General also held a number of bilateral meetings on the margins of the Conference, meeting on Tuesday morning with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Canadian Minister for International Cooperation Beverly Oda and Japanese State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Shintaro Ito, who were attending the Conference.

The Secretary-General returned to New York early on Tuesday evening.