Help us to complete OneWorld Guides
Some developing countries are missing from our range of Country Guides. OneWorld wants to fill these gaps but we need financial help. If there is a country that you would especially like to see included, then you could make it happen...... find out more

Millennium Development Goals in Haiti

Haitian woman © Refugees International

A progress report published in 2004 warned that Haiti’s prospects for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 were bleak, with both economic and human development indicators in decline and promised aid funds not forthcoming. Further years of political and social instability have continued to hinder normal strategic planning for MDGs. Poverty reduction remains elusive and yet more generous promises of aid are largely unfulfilled.

Almost 54% of the population experience extreme poverty (less than US$1 per day) and the economy is one of few in the world to have experienced a prolonged period of contraction. Haiti has the highest malnutrition, child and infant mortality, and HIV/AIDS rates in the Americas. 40% of households are unable to purchase adequate food in a country which the World Food Programme has bracketed with Afghanistan and Somalia for food insecurity.

Haitian school © Noticias Aliadas / Latinamerica Press

However, the UN has appealed to donors to view 2007 as the turning point for Haiti. The economy is under better control and growing once again, and a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) integrating the MDGs is due later in 2008. Whilst there is criticism that the PRSP process has not been inclusive, its approval should enable Haiti to reach completion point under the HIPC debt relief initiative, bringing significant financial benefit and releasing much of the elusive foreign aid.

There have however been many false dawns in Haiti’s recent history and optimism should be tempered accordingly. Furthermore, economic improvement alone is insufficient to address underlying social injustice, such as the deficiencies in the judicial system, inequitable land distribution and the huge wealth gap, especially between the tiny French-speaking elite (about 1% owns 50% of the wealth) and the majority Creole community.

Health in Haiti

Haiti emergency © ICRC

Haiti’s poor health statistics reflect the culture of violence and economic deprivation. Lack of clean water, safe sanitation for only 18% of the rural population, poor housing, and the shortage of doctors contribute to poor health conditions, especially in rural areas. The World Health Organization, UNICEF and other UN and donor agencies are supporting the government in rebuilding its primary health care system. Nevertheless, nearly 50% of health services are provided by non-governmental organisations.

Children in Haiti © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

In the absence of adequate health care, over 75% of births in Haiti take place without qualified assistance, resulting in alarmingly high maternal mortality rates which have increased since the MDG baseline. Children are equally affected, comprising a third of all deaths in Haiti, with malnutrition, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections prevalent among many 0-5 year olds. Despite 60%-80% of Haitians being at risk of exposure to malaria, no national prevention plans are in place.

Progress has been made in halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS with prevalence falling from 5.6% in 2003 to 3.8%. NGO and government initiatives focus on breaking down superstitious attitudes towards the virus and on the stigma which impedes integration of people living with HIV/AIDS. Special attention is also being paid to gender based violence in light of the incidence of sexual violence in a lawless society.
The Environment in Haiti

Haitian hillsides with no trees cannot hold back landslides © Grassroots International

Damaging feedback loops in the relationship between environmental degradation and poverty are particularly acute in Haiti. Many poor Haitians still rely on wood and charcoal for domestic activities which sets off a chain of deforestation, desertification and soil erosion, which in turn reduces farm yields. Widespread deforestation has affected 98% of Haiti’s forests, leaving the country vulnerable to hurricanes which sweep through the region. During the 2004 hurricane season, severe mudslides and flooding claimed thousands of lives whereas in neighbouring Dominican Republic, where forest cover has been preserved, less than 20 lives were lost. The impact of climate change on hurricane and rainfall patterns injects an alarming new dimension to this cycle of poverty. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, UNDP and donor agencies have granted Haiti loans to finance forest preservation projects and a national flood early warning system.
Conflict in Haiti

Jean Bertrand Aristide © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

Haiti’s recent history has been plagued by internal conflict. In 1990, following the collapse of the notoriously brutal Duvalier dictatorship in which thousands of people were killed or exiled, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Roman Catholic priest and champion of the poor, became Haiti’s first democratically elected leader. Hopes for stability and democratic reform were dashed within just seven months when the new president was forced to flee after a military coup supported by the wealthy elite.

American military intervention reinstated President Aristide in 1994, and, after giving way to Rene Preval (1996-2001), he was re-elected in 2001. But a violent insurgency led by Aristide’s opponents claimed control over increasing areas of the country until he was forced to resign and flee in February 2004. The exact role of the international community in the downfall of Aristide has never been made clear but a UN peacekeeping force was immediately deployed. Subsequently known as MINUSTAH, and led by Brazil, this force was tasked with creating a secure environment in which fresh elections could take place. The first presidential and congressional elections in Haiti since President Aristide was ousted finally took place in February 2006 following four postponements caused by logistical and security concerns.

A peacekeeper in Bel Air, Haiti © Refugees International

MINUSTAH is a substantial UN force comprising over 7.000 troops and 2,000 police. The UN has been obliged to extend its mandate due to anarchic conditions of chronic gangland violence and incompetent policing. Drugs and arms smuggling continue to fuel the violence with the proliferation of small arms causing particular concern. Efforts by MINUSTAH to disarm the population have been largely unsuccessful. However, in 2007 MINUSTAH adopted a more aggressive strategy in taking control of gang territory and arresting or killing leaders. A tentative calm has returned to the capital, Port-au-Prince, enabling relatively normal social and economic activity.
Politics in Haiti

Election rally, Haiti © Marc French / Panos Pictures

Former President Rene Preval was the victor of the 2006 presidential election gaining just sufficient votes in the first round to claim victory. Although his party, Platform Lespwa (Hope Platform), enjoyed strong backing from Aristide supporters of the former Lavalas Party, Preval has shown no sign as yet of encouraging the former president to return from exile in South Africa. His government, led by prime minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis, depends on support from other minority parties and Preval has appeared willing to consult all shades of opinion both domestically and internationally.

The task of stabilisation and reform is daunting. The Transparency International table published for 2007 rates Haiti as the most corrupt country in the world apart from Iraq, Somalia and Myanmar. The judicial system lies at the heart of this weakness, seemingly unable to carry out its basic function; only 20% of prisoners in Haiti have been tried and sentenced. The Haitian National Police (HNP) is one of the weakest police forces in the world both in numbers (only 63 officials per 100,000 of population) and in vulnerability to bribes.

A vibrant and highly committed group of civil society organisations continue to work on gender, human rights and health issues throughout Haiti. Nonetheless, political crises and eruptions of violence have often affected these organisations, limiting partnerships and undermining aid programmes.
Human Rights in Haiti

Haiti police violence © Groupe Medialternatif

Haiti has failed to improve significantly on its poor human rights record in recent years. Allegations of kidnappings, arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial execution and prison abuses are repeatedly raised against the HNP. Violence against women has mushroomed during the repeated periods of lawlessness and political instability. Human Rights Watch and the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees have found that military forces and paramilitary groups use rape and sexual assault to spread chaos and fear, and to intimidate and punish women for their political affiliation. Even members of the UN force were sent home in disgrace in 2007 for sexual exploitation of young Haitian women.

Press freedom has improved under the Preval government although many journalists practice self-censorship, conscious of the attacks they have suffered in the past. Over 250 private radio stations provide the country’s favoured means of communication.
The Economy in Haiti

Co-operative coffee in Haiti © Cooperativa cafetera en Haití / Intermón Oxfam

The Haitian economy was once dominated by agricultural production, including coffee, cocoa, mangos, and a small industrialised export sector centred on textiles. Demands for economic liberalisation from the US and from the international financial institutions led to a decline in core industries and agriculture. Haitian producers struggle to compete internationally despite the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), a trade agreement with the US.

The economy remains dependent upon foreign aid. International donors have talked in terms of $750 million as initial support whilst the government has mentioned $7 billion as the longer term requirement for rebuilding infrastructure and services. Remittances from Haitians who have left the country in search of better living conditions were estimated to be as much as $1.6 billion in 2006, 35% of GDP. Some of these migrants take risky measures with dire outcomes whilst others face discrimination in their host countries.



The OneWorld Haiti Guide was first published in this format in March 2006 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Renske Hoekstra

---------