Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on the loss of UN personnel in the earthquake in Haiti

Susan E. Rice
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 
U.S. Mission to the United Nations 

New York, NY

January 16, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Haiti, Hedi Annabi, his deputy, Luiz Carlos de Costa, and the Acting Police Commissioner of MINUSTAH, Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
  
With Mr. Annabi’s death, the UN and the international community have lost one of their most experienced, seasoned and dedicated public servants.  He helped plan and manage dozens of UN peacekeeping operations over the past two decades.  He had deep knowledge, an extraordinary breadth of experience, and an abiding commitment to both the United Nations and the cause of recovery and progress for the Haitian people. Many of the UN staff members serving in MINUSTAH and the UN Agencies in Haiti are among the organization’s most dedicated and long-serving.  This included the Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, Luiz Carlos da Costa, who served the UN for four decades in numerous critical positions at UN Headquarters and in field missions in Kosovo and Liberia. 

Under the leadership of Mr. Annabi, Mr. da Costa and Acting Police Commissioner Doug Coates, and with the dedication of their 1,690 international and Haitian staff, 200 UN volunteers, and 9,000 troops and police from dozens of countries around the world, MINUSTAH, in partnership with the people and leaders of Haiti, helped the country turn a corner after the suffering it endured in recent years.  This is an effort now set back by this unimaginable catastrophe. Our hearts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those killed, and with those who now are still standing vigil awaiting word of the missing. We grieve with them, with the United Nations family, which has once again lost cherished and admired colleagues in the service of peace, and with the Haitian people. We also stand with them to offer our full support and we will seek to honor their memory with renewed determination to help Haiti recover and rise from this terrible sorrow toward a brighter future.

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