94 % of the French people are favorable to the creation of Red Helmets at the UN
Results of the survey Red Helmets/OpinionWay on the management of the disaster in Haiti and the creation of the Red Helmets at the UN - Le Figaro, January 27th, 2010
The natural disaster that struck Haiti and its population has cost the lives of more than 100 000 persons and has profoundly moved French people. 91% of them say they are concerned by the situation and are concerned about the assistance given to the suffering population.
Because of the terrible death toll and the extreme poverty of the country, the majority of French (87%) considered sending emergency aid useful. Those later have also appreciated the quick response of the relief teams and the large amount of resources supplied (74%).
However, the public is well aware of the problems of organization and coordination that have significantly slowed the rescue operations in the first crucial hours of the disaster. 63% of French believe that international aid is poorly coordinated and 60% think it is disorganized.
The rivalries between aid actors and the leadership race for the reconstruction gave a large majority of French (80%) the idea that cooperation between all actors on the field were difficult.
Still, without organization and coordination, the actions of governmental and non-governmental organizations, lose significantly their efficiency. The French are now fully aware of that. They wish (94%) that an international humanitarian task force would be created, at the UN, to coordinate the rescue teams involved in major disasters.
In this perspective, the "Red Helmet" Foundation, established and chaired by Nicole Guedj, former French Minister, fought for years for the birth of "humanitarian brothers" of the Blue Helmets, the Red Helmets that will have the task of improving the organization and coordination between all the rescue teams deployed in an emergency.
Since the Tsunami of 2004, Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, has accepted the idea and this proposal is currently under consideration. It is urgent to create Helmets Reds in the UN, 89% of French people believe that if this international humanitarian task force had been deployed in Haiti, humanitarian aid would have been more effective.
According to Nicole Guedj, former Minister and Chairman of the Red Helmet Foundation: "We may not have learned from the tsunami, but we will remember the lessons of Haiti. Because of the lack of organization and coordination, we have lost many time and thousands of lives. During my visit to Port-au-Prince, President Rene Preval, joined me in this fight and has launched an international call for the creation of Red Helmets at the UN. "
For more information including the results of the study Red Helmets/ OpinionWay, please contact:
Red Helmets Foundation
Sarah AIZENMAN (head of communication)
sarah.aizenman@casques-rouges.org
+33 (0)1.56.79.51.32 / +33 (0)6.15.89.91.85
www.casques-rouges.org
OpinionWay
Bruno Jeanbart (head of political research)
bjeanbart@opinion-way.com
+33 (0)1.78.94.90.14
