Above: Assistant Secretary General Ivan Simonovic (UN Photo/Ryan Brown)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Haiti will host a visit Wednesday from Ivan Simonovic, the United Nations’ Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights.
Simonovic, who will be in Haiti for a four-day trip, will be discussing “deep-rooted human rights challenges with the government, United Nations officials, the international community and civil society,” according to a release.
“As Haiti focuses its efforts on poverty eradication and social economic development, it is vital to tackle structural human rights challenges for these efforts to achieve the desired results and to benefit all Haitians,” he said. “I am therefore encouraged that the rule of law is one of the government’s priorities.”
Strengthening the rule of law has been a major stated goal for the administration of Haiti President Michel Martelly, along with the United Nations Security Council.
Simonovic’s trip will include meetings with Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, Senate President Simon Dieuseul Desras and Levaillant Louis Jeune, President of the Lower Chamber of Haiti’s Parliament.
His visit will also include meetings with the leadership of MINUSTAH, diplomats and other officials.