Written evidence from Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, Vice-Chairman of the APPG on Haiti (APG0001)

For over 10 years I have been the Vice-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Haiti. Mr Peter Bottomley MP is our Chairman. We have met roughly at six monthly intervals with two main objectives. Firstly, to increase the awareness of members of both Houses of Parliament and also of British society at large in the culture, history, economic, social and political life in Haiti. And secondly, to look at opportunities that might flow from better relations between the United Kingdom and Haiti.

No officer or supporter of the APPG is in possession of Parliamentary pass issued for that purpose. All the secretarial and administrative needs of the APPG are provided by volunteers. Though we have a treasurer, no money changes hands. We have occasional visitors who come to address the meeting and, if they need financial support to enable them to travel to us, then we usually put our hands in our own pockets. I have developed a series of occasional lunches to allow the current Haitian Head of Mission to meet other members of Parliament. Once again, this is paid for entirely by me and seeks no support from any other body.

In the past, we’ve had some larger meetings where we’ve invited academics, people from the business community, NGOs and Church representatives for a discussion of the purposes described above.

I’ll be more than happy to provide all the details if required.

28 October 2020