Saturday 12 January 2013

Haiti three years on


It is three years since Haiti was devastated by the earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people on January 12, 2010.  Today more than 350,000 Haitians are still living in tents.

Most of the rubble has now been cleared from the streets, but around 3 million Haitians are without formal jobs.     Over the last two and a half years, more than 7,500 people have died from cholera, which becomes more dangerous every time a tropical storm strikes.

Last year one of those storms inflicted a further blow when it caused huge damage to crops, sending the cost of living spiralling upwards, and now many of the donor programmes set up after the quake have come to an end.

Billions of dollars in aid were promised in the wake of the disaster, but according to the UN Special Envoy, many pledges have not been fulfilled, and now the organisation is launching a new appeal.     One donor who has come up with the goods is President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who provides subsidised oil worth about $400m a year.

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