Population

  • Haiti has a population of 10.5 million (World Bank, 2015).
  • Over half – or 54% - of the population is aged under 25 (CIA Factbook, 2015).
  • Life expectancy in Haiti is 63.5 years. In Ireland, life expectancy is 80.3 years (CIA Factbook, 2015).

Poverty

  • Haiti ranks at 163 of 188 on the Human Development Index (UNDP, 2015).
  • Haiti is one of the most unequal countries in the world: the richest 20% of its population holds more than 64% of its total wealth, while the poorest 20% hold hardly 1% (World Bank, 2014).
  • 2.5 million people in Haiti - or 24.7% of the population - are experiencing extreme poverty, meaning they live under $1.25 a day (MDG,2015).
  • Poverty is largely rural, affecting 75.2% of those in rural areas and 40.8% in urban areas (MDG, 2015).
  • The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Haiti is just $824 per capita. This compares with an average GDP of $9,091 per capita in nearby Latin American and Caribbean countries, and a GDP of $54,374 per capita here in Ireland (World Bank, 2015).
  • 30% of the population in Haiti continues to have significant challenges in meeting their basic food needs: 165,000 are in severe food insecurity, and 860,000 would require urgent assistance if their situation worsened any further (World Food Programme, 2015).

Water and Sanitation

  • Just 27.6% - of the population in Haiti has access to improved sanitation facilities (World Bank, 2015). In fact, 80.8% of the rural population and 66.4% of the urban population only have unimproved sanitation access (CIA Factbook, 2015).
  • Over half – or 52.4% - of the rural population and 35.1% of the urban population only have access to unimproved drinking water sources (CIA Factbook, 2015).
  • Over 762,000 cases of cholera and almost 9,000 deaths as a result of the disease have been reported in Haiti since 2010, the epidemic spreading as a result of poor sanitation (OCHA, 2016).

Health

  • 60% of the health system was destroyed during the 2010 earthquake, and 10% of Haiti’s health staff were either killed or left the country in the aftermath of the event (MSF, 2015). This left a huge gap in health service provision, which still has to be fully closed.
  • Every year, malaria affects almost one in twenty – or 500,000 – people in Haiti. Still, just 23% of children under five sleep under a treated mosquito net (MDG, 2014).
  • 69 children out of every 1,000 never see their fifth birthday. This compares to the world average of 46 (World Bank, 2015).
  • An estimated 1 in 285 births in Haiti will result in a woman’s death (Partners in Health, 2014).

Education

  • 4,992 schools in Haiti were affected by the 2010 earthquake, with 80% of these forced into closure due to the damage incurred (UN, 2012).
  • The adult literacy rate in Haiti is just 49% (UNICEF, 2015).
  • Just 73% of children in rural areas in Haiti and 86% in urban areas are enrolled in primary education (MDG, 2014).
  • Only one third of all children aged 14 in Haiti are in the appropriate grade for their age (World Bank, 2015).
  • Just 29% of people in Haiti aged over 25 attended secondary school; in fact, people of that age group received just 4.9 years of education on average (USAID, 2015).
  • Almost 80% of teachers in Haiti have not received any pre-service training (USAID, 2015).

Shelter

  • The 2010 earthquake damaged or destroyed 175,682 homes in Haiti (TAP, 2015), leaving 2.1 million people homeless.
  • 60,801 people affected by the 2010 earthquake are still living in 45 camps or camp-like situations across the island (CIA Factbook, 2015). On average, 82 people are forced to share one toilet in these camps (Amnesty, 2015).
  • Following the earthquake, an estimated 302,000 children were displaced to departments other than the one they lived in previously (UN, 2012).
  • Only 11% of people in the Haitian countryside have access to energy compared with 63% in the island’s cities (World Bank, 2014).

Employment

  • Employment is extremely vulnerable in Haiti: over two-thirds of the labour force do not have formal jobs (CIA Factbook, 2015).
  • The working population includes an especially high proportion of self-employed (34.7%) and family (7.8%) workers, reflecting the insecurity of the labour market (MDG, 2014).
  • Employment is still not always enough to empower people to meet their basic needs: 44.9% of workers still live on less than $1.25 a day (MDG, 2014).

About Haven

Haven is an Irish non-governmental organisation (NGO) that is strongly committed to empowering Haitians to build strong and sustainable livelihoods.

Haven works solely in Haiti to facilitate the provision of adequate water and sanitation, training and shelter solutions for its people. Working in partnership with project participants and the Government of Haiti, Haven includes community development and sustainability at the very core of all that it does.

Launched in January 2009, Haven quickly moved from a house-building charity to one providing emergency relief in the aftermath of the earthquake which took place just one year later. That catastrophic event has shaped the Haven that exists today. The ongoing turmoil experienced in the country encourages Haven to regularly review activities, continually ensuring all efforts are focused and ultimately benefit the most vulnerable in Haiti.

To date, Haven has facilitated the training of over 78,000 Haitians, empowering them to build strong and sustainable livelihoods and to live free from poverty. It has also brought over 1,400 Irish volunteers to Haiti to assist with the building of houses through its Volunteer Programme; homes and shelters for over 19,800 people have already been built or upgraded.