Haiti > Country Background and Current Challenges
On 12 January 2010, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Haiti.
Large aftershocks followed, causing further injury and damage. The earthquake caused massive destruction in a country already struggling with chronic poverty and the effects of devastating hurricanes in 2008.
An estimated three million people were seriously affected by the earthquake, primarily with the loss of shelter, but also with lack of access to water, food, and basic health care.
Hundreds of thousands of people still need help and support. They lost family members, homes, livelihoods, and much of their country’s infrastructure. Basic needs that existed previously were aggravated by the 2010 earthquake.
About 80 percent of Haiti’s population live in poverty [1], with more than half of the population (54 percent) earning only one dollar (USD) a day [2].
Four-and-a-half million Haitians are struggling with food insecurity and, of those, 800,000 have no regular access to basic staples [3].
Current Challenges
A cholera epidemic started on October 2010 and cholera has now become endemic in Haiti. Infection figures surged in the wake of rainy season flooding.
The numbers of Haitians living in camps has fallen from 1.5 million to 550,560 (November 2011). Some of those leaving are returning to unsafe housing [4].
Haiti lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and is subject to severe storms from June to October, occasional flooding, earthquakes, and periodic droughts. Extensive deforestation makes Haiti even more vulnerable to the effects of storms [5].
When hurricanes strike, forceful winds and flooding are of great concern for the safety of camp residents. Hurricanes also damage livelihoods across the country.
The late onset of the rainy season in 2011 has jeopardised food production from the spring harvest and therefore jeopardised food security in areas [6]. Haiti’s rate of employment is 40.6 percent, and more than two-thirds of the labour force do not have formal jobs [7].
Income generation remains vitally important through cash-for-work programmes.
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[1] World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html [copy and paste link to browser]
[2] World Bank. siteresources.worldbank.org/INTHAITI/Resources/Haiti.AAG.pdf
[3] UNOCHA Humanitarian Bulletin, 18 October 2011,
haiti.humanitarianresponse.info/Portals/0/Information%20Management/Humanitarian%20Bulletin/OCHA%20Haiti_Humanitarian%20Bulletin_11_ENG.pdf
[4] 30 September 2011; www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/erc-amos-concerned-over-humanitarian-gaps-haiti; UN Office for the Special Envoy to Haiti: www.haitispecialenvoy.org/press-and-media/press-releases/camp-population-falling-challenges-remain/
[5] World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html [copy and paste link into browser]
[6] OCHA. www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/haiti-late-rainfall-increases-food-insecurity
[7] World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html [copy and paste link to browser]
