Haitians live in a tent city near the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (UN Photo/Marco Dormino)
The National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) has engaged with Haitian mayors around issues related to municipal development in Haiti since 2006. Immediately after the 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, NCBM has been in direct communication with the Minister of Interior for the Republic of Haiti Minister Antoine Bien-Aime. Minister Bien-Aime, the immediate past president of the World Conference of Mayors (WCM), hosted the 23rd World Conference of Mayors held in Haiti in 2007. During that conference, WCM and NCBM entered into an official Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Haiti. As a result, the National Leadership Conference of Haitian Mayors was formed. Sister-city relationships and several successful training institutes have resulted from this MOU.
In 2008, when riots erupted throughout Haiti due to a skyrocketing food shortage, NCBM, through its partnership with the National Leadership Conference of Haitian Mayors, was able to implement direct distribution of rice donated by the Mars Corporation (Uncle Ben’s), one of NCBM’s corporate partners. This relief effort fed over 300,000 families in Haiti. Equal focus is now given to the current humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
The National Conference of Black Mayors, which represents over 650 US mayors, is coordinating relief aid to Haiti through its sister organization, the World Conference of Mayors, a USAID certified Territorial Base Organization (TBO) that represents over 19,000 mayors throughout Africa, Europe, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Its partnering organization on the ground in Haiti, the National Leadership Conference of Haitian Mayors (NLCHM), represents over 500 mayors throughout Haiti. The full network of NCBM partners, in both the private and public sectors, has been mobilized to help the people of Haiti help themselves in their hour of devastating need.
The spectrum of NCBM efforts consists of four focus areas:
(1) Monetary gifts to the WCM Haiti Relief Fund: A dedicated account is open for all contributions to assist NLCHM Member Mayors deliver aid directly on the ground to the citizens in their respective communities. Several special events are currently being planned to also raise funds.
(2) Donations of priority relief items: The Cities of Homestead and Florida City Haiti Relief and Recovery Center has been established as the primary collection center for donations NCBM has distributed a list of priority relief items needed–water, blankets, personal hygiene products and first aid items-through its network. Two warehouses have been donated to NCBM in Florida to house all donations that will be shipped to Haiti. Local and regional collections are currently being coordinated through the city halls of NCBM Member Mayors.
(3) Partnership Resources: The NCBM Business Council has been mobilizing within their respective corporations to coordinate aid to build NCBM relief. Donated resources coordinated thus far include water from United Water, rice from Mars Corporation (Uncle Ben’s), refurbished debris removal machinery from John Deere. Through its partnership with the National Medical Association, NCBM assisted with the coordination of a medical mission of 15 doctors serving on the ground now in Haiti. Additional coordination will be forthcoming with the National Black Nurses Association and the Black Contractors Association. New partners joining the NCBM relief effort include BJ’s Wholesale Club and Job Corp.
(4) Policy Advocacy Letter Writing Campaigns: NCBM and WCM issued a joint letter to President Obama urging the application of Temporary Protected Status to all undocumented Haitian residents in the US, which was recently approved and announced by the Administration. NCBM has also launched a letter writing campaign urging for the Marshall Plan to be instituted for Haiti. The NCBM network is further poised to assist in any additional policy advocacy actions that become necessary to facilitate the relief, recovery and redevelopment in Haiti.
We urge you to support our relief effort.
