KINGSTON, Jamaica – During his Official Remarks at the Haiti Stakeholders Meeting, on June 11, 2023, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis alluded to the revolutionary fight for independence of the Republic of Haiti, led by Toussaint Louverture, and compared it to the reason for the region’s leaders coming together that day.
“During those 12 years of conflict, there was no guarantee of victory except the knowledge that their fight was for a just and noble cause,” Prime Minister Davis said, during the meetings held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade headquarters building, in Kingston, Jamaica. “And so, it is today.”
“Today, the fight is to end the suffering of the people of Haiti,” he added. “We have heard the many, many stories of the killings; the rapes; the kidnappings; the wanton acts of violence; the robberies and lootings; and the intimidation of the gangs, which currently plague large parts of Port-au-Prince and other areas of the country.
“My friends, we are here to help.”
Prime Minister Davis stated that, ultimately, there must be a Haitian solution led by the Haitian people.
“We have heard the many cries for help, and we cannot, in good conscience, stand by and watch the continued suffering of the Haitian people,” he said. “To do nothing violates every notion of decency, every idea of what it means to be a good neighbour, and a fellow human being.”
“We believe that a solution can be found, and we are determined to do all that we can to find that solution, and support its success,” Prime Minister Davis added. “We believe in the Haitian people; and we believe in the Haitian cause.”
He pointed out that those leaders gathered that day believed that they could support Haiti to restore it to a state of normalcy.
Prime Minister Davis said: “This is why we have come. We have come to help – and not because the task is easy. We have come here precisely because the task is extremely difficult.”
“Others can resolve the easy things.”
He noted that a critical responsibility of leadership was to address those issues which were extremely difficult.
“The responsibility falls to all of us – to all of you – to make a supreme effort to find an effective solution,” Prime Minister Davis said. “The challenges and struggles taking place in the Republic of Haiti have been present for far too long.”
He stated that, if there existed a perfect solution, it probably would have been found by now.
Prime Minister Davis noted: “And so, I think it is important that we recognise that what we are striving for, may, in the end, not be perfect, but will likely be something that, in the immediate term, is effective.
Something that saves lives.
Something that brings an end to the killings.
Something that brings an end to the rapes.
Something that brings an end to the kidnapping and violence.
Something that brings an end to the looting, and the robberies and the gang warfare.”
He said that what lied short of perfection was something that requires all to hold some degree of an open mind.
“Within each of us, we have to think it possible, that our own ideas may not perfect,” Prime Minister Davis said. “We have to think it possible, that listening, empathy and compromise is the most likely path to a solution, one which is not perfect for any of us, but by far the best for the Haitian people, and the survival of the Republic.”
“Think it possible, and I believe we may find it,” he added. “Your success is not just that of a people and of a country.
“It also means the success of us all, your friends and neighbours, who identify with you in common humanity.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that he was raised in the Christian Faith; and The Bible, tells that each human being was created in the image and likeness of God.
“I believe, therefore, that to gaze upon every human face, is to see the face of God,” he said. “This biblical injunction tells us that every person has something of the divine within them. In doing so, we also recognise that God’s divine purpose is sometimes overwhelmed by all-too-human weaknesses, and by actions that cause harm.”
“And so as leaders, we are fully conscious that we are called to make some difficult choices, choices which may themselves require an infringement on that God-like likeness,” Prime Minister Davis added.
He noted that that was especially difficult when the forces of trouble and strife “may be no more than children themselves, with little moral compass, and armed with weapons that can cause great harm”.
Prime Minister Davis said: “Friends, human beings are capable of great things. We are able to look at an empty field, and imagine a grand house. We can then build that house, and inspire hundreds of other people to help us with the construction. Human beings are able to gaze at the moon and the stars, and then inspire thousands of people to help build a flying machine to help us to travel there. And so it is with the Republic of Haiti.”
“We see a land and a people brought to their knees, and yet know that we can inspire the people of this region to help to rebuild that once-magnificent land,” he added.
Prime Minister Davis encouraged those in attendance to commit “to try, and keep trying, and keep on trying until we find a workable solution”.
“We mustn’t give up,” he stated. “Failure is not just an absence of success.”
“Failure equals more suffering and death,” Prime Minister Davis added. “Failure cannot be an option.
“My thanks to you once again for coming.”
