Haiti one year on

It’s a year since the disastrous Haiti earthquake killed a quarter of a million people, and twelve months on, the pace of reconstruction has been disappointing, with at least 800,000 people still living in temporary shelters. This is a particular nightmare for the women and girls who live in the camps, as rape and sexual assault are daily occurrences.

With so many people finding it hard to get access to clean water, 3,500 have died of cholera over recent months, and political deadlock has made the situation worse. There were complaints of fraud and intimidation in November’s indecisive elections, and the second round has still not been held.

Last March, international donors promised more than £1.25 billion, but by the end of last month, nearly 40 per cent of that had still not been spent. Former US President, Bill Clinton, now a UN envoy to the country, admitted his frustration, but said he hoped the pace would now pick up.

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Haiti earthquake + 6 months

It’s six months today since the Haiti earthquake. It was not one of the most powerful in history, but it was one of the most deadly because of its epicentre’s proximity to major centres of population.

Even before the quake struck, Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and we now know that it killed more than 222,000 people, and left more than 2 million homeless. Thousands of civil servants and hundreds from international relief agencies were among the dead. Only one government ministry building was left standing.

In spite of this almost total destruction of what Haiti had in the way of an administrative infrastructure, food was provided for more than four million, and nearly one million were vaccinated, helping to avert the epidemics and starvation that so often come in the wake of disasters.

Six months on, though, 1.5 million people are still living in temporary camps, and the hurricane season is about to begin. Bill Clinton, co-chair of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Committee, has complained that 90% of the $5 billion pledged by the world’s governments to help has still not been handed over.

(See also my blogs of Jan 14, 15, 19, 22, 23, 24; Feb 2; April 22.)