PORT-AU-PRINCE, 23 February 2007 – Yesterday, the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) support plan was launched in Port-au-Prince. The EPI support plan aims to reinforce routine immunization in a country with the poorest child survival rate in Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, one of 17 infants in Haiti dies before his or her first birthday.

The support plan brings together an unusual partnership between Canada, Brazil and Haiti. The government of Brazil will be supporting the introduction of new vaccines, the Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA) will provide 17.5 million Canadian dollars in funding over the next five years to further strengthen routine immunization, and the Haitian government will provide coordination and implementation support. “This is an innovative collaboration between a North American, South American, and Caribbean country; we hope the first of many more to come”, said Darren Schemmer, Director General of the Haiti Programme at CIDA.

The initiative complements other major contributions. "I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Japanese Government who, for the past three years, has provided the necessary funding to ensure vaccine availability for routine vaccination throughout the country", said UNICEF representative Adriano Gonzalez-Regueral. “We estimate that the combined effort will save 100,000 lives annually.”

Vaccination has proven to be one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions. From 2002 to 2006, vaccination coverage in Haiti has been steadily rising; no cases of either measles or polio have been reported since September of 2001. According to the latest demographic and health survey (EMMUS IV), the infant mortality rate has dropped from 80.3 to 57 per 1000 from 2000 to 2005.

However, cost and distance of basic heath care services continue to be a challenge to children living in both urban and rural areas. Political instability has been a major setback in reestablishing Haiti’s health network. Only 54 per cent of Haitian children under the age of one received vaccinations for measles, compared to over 90 per cent for the rest of Latin America and 66 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa. “At a point in time when diseases are ravaging the country and destabilizing generations, especially children; we have the obligation to respond with efficiency and solidarity», said UNICEF representative Adriano Gonzalez-Regueral.

The initial focus of the plan, administered by the Minister of Public Health and Population with the support of WHO and UNICEF will vaccinate 300,000 children under the age of one and one million women of child-bearing age. The EPI support plan has three main goals: to reinforce and support routine vaccination; to control vaccine-preventable diseases; and to introduce a range of newly available vaccines. Dr Joseline Marhone Pierre, from the Ministry of Public Health and Population added, “In Haiti, 5.7 per cent of children die within their first year of life and 8.6 per cent before the age of five. This situation involves us all, and we are obliged to look for new strategies to solve this problem.”

WHO and UNICEF will assist the government in designing and implementing a strengthened sustainable national immunization programmes that meet the specific needs of Haiti’s people.

Millions of African farmers and livestock keepers who make up the majority of the continent's poor are being bypassed by international aid, according to international development charity, Practical Action.

The charity has launched a new website - African Voices in Europe - to expose the failures of European aid and set out a new agenda for Improving aid for Africa's poorest communities.

Stuart Coupe, Practical Action's African Voices Manager, said: "African Voices in Europe is a call for an urgent new agenda for getting European aid to where it is needed most."

The new website highlights the plight of small-scale farmers and livestock keepers in remote and deprived areas of Africa who are struggling to cope with worsening drought, HIV/AIDS pandemic and conflicts.

It brings African Voices to life through videos, photo stories and diaries and calls for assistance to basic resources such as irrigation bore holes and seeds and features the findings of in-depth EC aid research.

Mr Coupe added: "International donors such as the European Commission should target these areas with aid, but instead are focussing on supporting large-scale commercial farming to grow export crops. "Aid which specifically targets support to agriculture and alternative livelihoods in resource poor areas, in a manner similar to the European Union's Less Favoured Areas scheme, could ensure EC aid achieves meaningful poverty reduction and prevents the poorest communities from falling into another emergency."

Linda McAvan MEP, who visited a remote region of Western Kenya with Practical Action last year, said: "Donor aid is either focused on developing commercial agriculture or attending food emergencies, leaving a vast gap in assistance to subsistence farmers and pastoralists, especially in remote and deprived districts."

European aid to Africa is no exception according to in-depth research by Practical Action. There is little clear evidence of poverty reduction for African small-scale farmers from the 9th European Development Fund of €13.5 billion.

The budget for the 10th European Development Fund (2008 - 2013) has increased to €22bn. But unless EC aid programming is reformed, this money will fail to reach the continent's neediest people, and sometimes even be returned unspent.

"If the European Commission is serious about reducing poverty in Africa, it must target 'less favoured areas' of the continent and reach those poorest communities," added Stuart Coupe.

Decreasing dependence on food aid is another priority for farmers talking on the website. Fremont Mangube, a farmer from Zambia, says: "Without food aid my family may not survive, but I need more than just food to get back on to my feet. I need seeds and fertilisers which will enable me to grow crops next year so that I can support my family."

The project has brought African MPs together with European MPs to lobby for effective strategies to ensure development assistance reaches less favoured areas throughout Africa.

* 'Less Favoured Areas' is a European Union term, used to identify areas where the physical landscape and conditions heavily restrict agricultural productivity. Often LFAs are more remote areas disadvantaged further by a lack of support for infrastructure and services, and where private investment is also unlikely.

By bringing the voices and views of African farmers into Europe, the African Voices project aims to raise awareness of the need to improve the quality and quantity of European aid to deprived rural areas in African countries

SAN FRANCISCO, 17 mar. (OneWorld) - politiciens à Washington discutent la question de l'immigration cette semaine. Beaucoup de démocrates veulent créer un programme de travailleur immigré par lequel les immigrés non documentés pourraient gagner la légalisation avec le temps. Les républicains conservateurs ont leurs propres idées--d'intensifier des déportations, à construire une barrière le long des États-Unis - frontière mexicaine, à punir les employeurs qui louent les ouvriers non documentés. Parlant à côté du Président mexicain Felipe Calderon mercredi, le Président Bush a dit qu'il travaillerait avec le congrès pour passer une loi que « respectera la règle de la loi » et « respecter l'humanité. » Mais à travers le pays ces machinations politiques ont été éclipsées par une série d'incursions effectuées par le service d'immigration et d'application de douane (GLACE) du département de la sécurité de patrie. Dans le Colorado, les incursions aux usines d'emballage de viande de secteur et un service de nettoyage ont effrayé loin un grand pourcentage des travailleurs migrants. « Nous avons vu de bon 40 pour cent de la diminution de main d'oeuvre, » lasso de Harold du centre Centro OneWorld dit par Humanitario de travail à la journée de Denver. « Nous recevons des nouvelles les fermiers locaux qu'ils ont perdu beaucoup de main d'oeuvre, » il nous sommes ajoutés. « Le peuple qui est resté dans les domaines travaille de doubles postes. Il essaye de compenser la perte de la main d'oeuvre. » L'état du Colorado a répondu avec un plan pour utiliser le travail de prison dans les domaines. Dans le cadre du plan, les fermiers payeraient à l'état un salaire environ de $10/hour chaque détenu. Les prisonniers obtiendraient à la norme de l'état le crédit de 60 cent-un-jours pour le travail de prison, alors que le reste de l'argent irait vers leur logement, nourriture, transport, et gardes tandis qu'ils travaillent. Le lasso pense qui est une idée « immorale ». « D'une part vous arrêtez les ouvriers, et puis quand ils deviennent des prisonniers que vous les envoyez aux champs au travail, » il a dit. « Qui est comme l'esclavage moderne. » Dans la région de Baie de San Franciso, les agents d'immigration et d'application de douane ont emporté plus de 800 personnes en février et mars. Les incursions étaient répandues et diverses à travers la région. Elles se sont produites en dehors des écoles, près des stations de souterrain, aux maisons, et des lieux de travail proches. La GLACE a indiqué que les incursions faisaient partie de « retour d'opération à l'expéditeur » et aux criminels non documentés de cibles et des immigrés qui évitent des démarches de déportation. Mais les groupes de droits d'immigré et beaucoup de fonctionnaires élus ont vu la situation différemment. Dans la ville de Silicon Valley de la ville de séquoia, les agents de GLACE ont arrêté les parents latins au hasard tandis qu'ils laissaient tomber leurs enfants au loin à une école primaire. Après, maire Barbara OneWorld dit Pierce de la ville, « il y avait une descente dans l'inscription, » ce qu'elle a appelé un « sujet d'inquiétude. » Percer a ajouté les incursions a rendu sa ville moins sûre. « La manière nous maintenons notre communauté entière sûre--immigrés, non documentés, chacun--est par des personnes se sentir confortable appelant la police, » elle a dit. « S'il y a une crainte de la police, nous ne pouvons pas les maintenir sûres. » À San Francisco, maire Gavin Newsom a libéré un rapport dans l'anglais et l'Espagnol condamnant les incursions. « Ces incursions compromettent la santé publique et la sûreté de la ville en inculquant la crainte dans ceux qui peuvent venir en avant avec des informations sur un crime ou ceux qui ont besoin de traitement médical, » le rapport lu. Arnoldo Garcia d'Oakland, de réseau national Californie-basé pour l'immigré et de droits de réfugié a indiqué que la polémique entière est dirigée vers le besoin de ce qu'il appelle réforme complète d'immigration. « Ce qui est en jeu est la manière que notre pays est formé, » il a dit OneWorld. « Est il un qui va être basé sur l'égalité et l'equitabilité--c'est daltonien ? » Garcia a noté cela en Californie, un dans quatre résidants est né à l'étranger. « Celui qui arrive à ce un quatrième va affecter les trois autres quarts, » il a dit. Le lasso de Harold des droits par Humanitario d'immigré de Centro que les activistes continueront à pressuriser des législateurs donnent aux immigrés non documentés une manière de devenir légal. Centre de médias indépendants de © L'année dernière, les millions d'immigrés se sont rassemblés dans le pays le 1er mai. Le congrès forcé par démonstrations enterrent une proposition qui lui aurait fait un crime pour être un immigré non documenté aux Etats-Unis ou pour aider ceux qui restent aux Etats-Unis illégalement. Ils auraient également exigé des églises et les organisations à but non lucratif pour exiger la preuve du statut juridique avant de fournir la charité et elle auraient exigé la construction d'une barrière géante frontière le long d'États-Unis - Mexique. Cette année, lasso dit, immigrés mettra en scène un boycott économique d'une semaine. « Si tout va bien, le congrès sentira la pression et faire quelque chose avant les extrémités d'année, » il a dit.

SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 17 (OneWorld) - Politicians in Washington are debating the issue of immigration this week. Many Democrats want to create a guest worker program through which undocumented immigrants would be able to earn legalization over time. Conservative Republicans have their own ideas--from stepping up deportations, to building a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border, to punishing employers who hire undocumented workers.

Speaking alongside Mexican President Felipe Calderon Wednesday, President Bush said he would work with Congress to pass a law that "will respect the rule of law" and "respect humanity."

But across the country those political machinations have been overshadowed by a series of raids carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service of the Department of Homeland Security.

In Colorado, raids at area meat packing plants and a cleaning service have scared away a large percentage of migrant workers.

"We've seen a good 40 percent of the workforce decrease," Harold Lasso of the Denver day labor center Centro Humanitario told OneWorld.

"We hear from the local farmers that they lost a lot of manpower," he added. "The people who stayed in the fields are working double shifts. They're trying to make up for the loss of the workforce."

The state of Colorado has responded with a plan to employ prison labor in the fields. Under the plan, farmers would pay the state a wage of about $10/hour for each inmate. Prisoners would get the state's standard 60-cents-a-day credit for prison labor, while the rest of the money would go toward their housing, food, transportation, and guards while they are working.

Lasso thinks that's an "immoral" idea.

"On one hand you arrest the workers, and then when they become prisoners you send them to the fields to work," he said. "That's like modern slavery."

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took away more than 800 people in February and March. The raids were widespread and diverse across the region. They occurred outside schools, near subway stations, at homes, and near workplaces.

ICE said the raids were part of "Operation Return to Sender" and targets undocumented criminals and immigrants who are avoiding deportation proceedings.

But immigrant rights groups and many elected officials saw the situation differently. In the Silicon Valley town of Redwood City, ICE agents stopped Latino parents at random while they dropped their children off at an elementary school.

Afterwards, the city's Mayor Barbara Pierce told OneWorld, "there was a drop-off in enrollment," which she called a "cause for concern."

Pierce added the raids made her city less safe.

"The way we keep our entire community safe--immigrants, undocumented, everyone--is by people feeling comfortable calling the police," she said. "If there's a fear of the police, we can't keep them safe."

In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom released a statement in both English and Spanish condemning the raids.

"These raids jeopardize the public health and safety of the city by instilling fear in those who may come forward with information about a crime or those who are in need of medical treatment," the statement read.

Arnoldo Garcia of the Oakland, California-based National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said the entire controversy points toward the need for what he calls comprehensive immigration reform.

"What's at stake is the way our country is being shaped," he told OneWorld. "Is it one that's going to be based on equality and fairness--that's colorblind?"

Garcia noted that in California, one in four residents is foreign-born. "Whatever happens to that one fourth is going to affect the other three fourths," he said.

Harold Lasso of Centro Humanitario said immigrant rights activists will continue to pressure lawmakers to give undocumented immigrants a way to become legal.

© Independent Media Center
Last year, millions of immigrants rallied around the country on May 1st. The demonstrations forced Congress to shelve a proposal that would have made it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant in the United States or to help those who remain in the United States illegally. It would have also required churches and non-profit organizations to demand proof of legal status before providing charity and it would have mandated the construction of a giant fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

This year, Lasso said, immigrants will stage a week-long economic boycott. "Hopefully, Congress will feel the pressure and do something before the year ends," he said.

SI ON DOIT FAIRE UNE RETROSPECTIO SU LA QUALIFICATION DE L'éQUIPE HAITIENNE DANS LE CHAMPIONNAT DE LA COUPE CARAIBEENE DES NATIONS NOUS VERRONS QUE CETTE EQUIPE EST QUALIFIE AVEC UN PETIT POINT ARRACHE A LA DERNIERE MINUTE POUR POUVOIR GAGNER LES BARRAGES.CECI EST L'ASPECT SPORTIF.SI L'ON DOIT CROIRE LE PRESIDENT DE LA FEDERATION NATIONALE DE FOOT BALL,LES FONDS N'ETAIENT PAS SUFFISANT POUR PERMETTRE A L'EQUIPE DE FAIRE LE DEPLACEMENT AU TRINIDAD .TOUT SE JOUAIT CONTRE NOUS A L'EXEPTION DE LA COUPE QUI NOUS REVIENT DE FOT BELLE MANIERE.JE DIS BRAVO! AUX JOUEURS DE LA SELECTION ET UN GRAND MERCI !