Because of you

Youth for Christ seeks to reach young people in Haiti using the following ministries:

  • camps
  • clubs
  • counseling
  • drama
  • life skills training
  • music teams
  • Project Serve mission teams
  • rallies
  • Rock Solid program
  • schools ministries
  • sports ministries
  • street kids ministries
  • Y-One (music) program
  • young leader training
  • youth centre
  • outdoor programs
  • Korean community outreach
  • migrant outreach
  • ministries to single mothers


About Haiti

Haiti

Introduction

The native Taino Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by COLUMBUS in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010 with an epicenter about 15 km southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. An estimated 2 million people live within the zone of heavy to moderate structural damage. The earthquake is assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years and massive international assistance will be required to help the country recover.

Geography

Location

Location: Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic
Geographic Coordinates: 19 00 N, 72 25 W

Area

Total Area: 27,750 sq km Rank: 147
Land Area: 27,560 sq km
Water Area: 190 sq km
Comparison: slightly smaller than Maryland
Land Boundaries: 360 km
Bordering Countries: Dominican Republic 360 km
Coastline: 1,771 km

Climate

tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds

Terrain

mostly rough and mountainous

Elevations

Lowest Point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
Highest Point: Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m

Natural Resources

bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower

Land Use

Arable land: 28.11%
Permanent Crops: 11.53%
Other: 60.36% (2005)
Irrigated Land: 920 sq km (2003)
Renewable Water Resources: 14 cu km (2000)
Total Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): 0.99 cu km/yr (5%/1%/94%)
Freshwater Withdrawal Per Capita: 116 cu m/yr (2000)

Environment

Natural Hazards: lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts
Environmental Issues: extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel); soil erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environmental Agreements: Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection

Geography Notes

shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)

People

Population: 9,035,536 Rank: 89
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2010 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 years: 38.1% (male 1,735,917/female 1,704,383)
15-64 years: 58.5% (male 2,621,059/female 2,665,447)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 120,040/female 188,690) (2010 est.)
Median Age: 20.9 years

Population Growth

Growth Rate: 1.838% (2010 est.) Rank: 69
Birth Rate: 29.1 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 49
Death Rate: 8.65 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) Rank: 85
Net Migration Rate: -2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 133

Urbanization

Urban Population: 47% of total population (2008)
Rate of Urbanization: 4.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Life and Death

Infant Mortality Rate: 59.69 deaths/1,000 live births Rank: 37
Life Expectancy at Birth: 60.78 years Rank: 181
Fertility Rate: 3.72 children born/woman (2010 est.) Rank: 49

Health and Disease

HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalence Rate: 2.2% (2007 est.) Rank: 28
People living with HIV/AIDS: 120,000 (2007 est.) Rank: 43
HIV/AIDS Deaths: 7,200 (2007 est.) Rank: 38
Degree of Risk for Major Infectious Diseases: high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne Diseases: dengue fever and malaria
Water Contact Diseases: leptospirosis (2009)

Nationality and Culture

Noun: Haitian(s)
Adjective: Haitian
Ethnic Groups: black 95%, mulatto and white 5%
Religion: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3%
Note: roughly half of the population practices voodoo
Languages: French (official), Creole (official)

Education

Literacy (Meaning, age 15 and over can read and write): 52.9% Male: 54.8% Female: 51.2% (2003 est.)
Education expenditures: 1.4% of GDP (1991) Rank: 175

Government

Country Name

Conventional Long Form: Republic of Haiti
Conventional Short Form: Haiti
Local Long Form: Republique d'Haiti/Repiblik d' Ayiti
Local Short Form: Haiti/Ayiti
Government Type: republic
Capital: Port-au-Prince Geographic Coordinates: 18 32 N, 72 20 W

Administrative divisions

10 departments (departements, singular - departement); Artibonite, Centre, Grand 'Anse, Nippes, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, Sud-Est
Independence: 1 January 1804 (from France)
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1804)
Constitution:
approved March 1987
note: suspended June 1988 with most articles reinstated March 1989; constitutional government ousted in a military coup in September 1991, although in October 1991 military government claimed to be observing the constitution; returned to constitutional rule in October 1994; constitution, while technically in force between 2004-2006, was not enforced; returned to constitutional rule in May 2006
Legal system: based on Roman civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Chief of State: President Rene PREVAL (since 14 May 2006)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Jean-Max BELLERIVE (since 7 November 2009)
Cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held on 7 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister appointed by the president, ratified by the National Assembly
Election Results: Rene PREVAL elected president; percent of vote - Rene PREVAL 51%

Legislative Branch

bicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale consists of the Senate (30 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies (99 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); note - in reestablishing the Senate, the candidate in each department receiving the most votes in the last election serves six years, the candidate with the second most votes serves four years, and the candidate with the third most votes serves two years
Elections: Senate - last held on 21 April 2006 with run-off elections on 3 December 2006 (next regular election, for one third of seats, to be held in 2008); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 21 April 2006 with run-off elections on 3 December 2006 and 29 April 2007 (next regular election to be held in 2010)
Election Results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - L'ESPWA 11, FUSION 5, OPL 4, FL 3, LAAA 2, UNCRH 2, PONT 2, ALYANS 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - L'ESPWA 23, FUSION 17, FRN 12, OPL 10, ALYANS 10, LAAA 5, MPH 3, MOCHRENA 3, other 10; results for six other seats contested on 3 December 2006 remain unknown

Judicial branch

Supreme Court or Cour de Cassation

Politics

Political Parties and Leaders: Artibonite in Action or LAAA [Youri LATORTUE]; Assembly of Progressive National Democrats or RDNP [Leslie MANIGAT]; Convention for Democratic Unity or KID [Evans PAUL]; Cooperative Action to Build Haiti or KONBA [Evans LESCOUFALIR]; Democratic Alliance or ALYANS [Evans PAUL] (coalition composed of KID and PPRH); Effort and Solidarity to Create an Alternative for the People or ESKAMP [Joseph JASME]; Fanmi Lavalas or FL [Rudy HERIVEAUX]; For Us All or PONT [Jean-Marie CHERESTAL]; Front for Hope or L'ESPWA [Rene PREVAL] (alliance of ESKAMP, PLB, and grass-roots organizations Grand-Anse Resistance Committee, the Central Plateau Peasants' Group, and Kombit Sudest); Haitian Christian Democratic Party or PDCH [Osner FEVRY and Marie-Denise CLAUDE]; Haitian Democratic and Reform Movement or MODEREH [Dany TOUSSAINT and Pierre Soncon PRINCE]; Heads Together or Tet-Ansanm [Dr. Gerard BLOT]; Independent Movement for National Reconciliation or MIRN [Luc FLEURINORD]; Justice for Peace and National Development or JPDN [Rigaud DUPLAN]; Liberal Party of Haiti or PLH [Gehy MICHEL]; Merging of Haitian Social Democratic Parties or FUSION or FPSDH [Serge GILLES] (coalition of Ayiti Capable, Haitian National Revolutionary Party, and National Congress of Democratic Movements); Mobilization for Haiti's Development or MPH [Samir MOURRA]; Mobilization for National Development or MDN [Hubert de RONCERAY]; Movement for National Reconstruction or MRN [Jean Henold BUTEAU]; Movement for the Installation of Democracy in Haiti or MIDH [Marc BAZIN]; National Christian Union for the Reconstruction of Haiti or UNCRH [Marie Claude GERMAIN]; National Front for the Reconstruction of Haiti or FRN [Guy PHILIPPE]; New Christian Movement for a New Haiti or MOCHRENA [Luc MESADIEU]; Open the Gate Party or PLB [Anes LUBIN]; Popular Party for the Renewal of Haiti or PPRH [Claude ROMAIN]; Struggling People's Organization or OPL [Edgard LEBLANC]; Union of Nationalist and Progressive Haitians or UNITE [Edouard FRANCISQUE]
Political Pressure Groups and Leaders: Autonomous Organizations of Haitian Workers or CATH [Fignole ST-CYR]; Confederation of Haitian Workers or CTH; Federation of Workers Trade Unions or FOS; General Organization of Independent Haitian Workers [Patrick NUMAS]; Grand-Anse Resistance Committee, or KOREGA; National Popular Assembly or APN; Papaye Peasants Movement or MPP [Chavannes JEAN-BAPTISTE]; Popular Organizations Gathering Power or PROP; Protestant Federation of Haiti; Roman Catholic Church
International Organization Participation: ACP, AOSIS, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OIF, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, PetroCaribe, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Flag Description: two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a centered white rectangle bearing the coat of arms, which contains a palm tree flanked by flags and two cannons above a scroll bearing the motto L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE (Union Makes Strength); the colors are taken from the French Tricolor and represent the union of blacks and mulattoes

Economy

Economy Overview: Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation. While the economy has recovered in recent years, registering positive growth since 2005, four tropical storms in 2008 severely damaged the transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector. US economic engagement under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, passed in December 2006, has boosted apparel exports and investment by providing tariff-free access to the US. A second version of the legislation, passed in October 2008 and dubbed HOPE II, has further improved the export environment for the apparel sector by extending preferences to 2018; the apparel sector accounts for two-thirds of Haitian exports and nearly one-tenth of GDP. Remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling nearly a quarter of GDP and more than twice the earnings from exports. Haiti suffers from a lack of investment because of insecurity and limited infrastructure, and a severe trade deficit. In 2005, Haiti paid its arrears to the World Bank, paving the way for reengagement with the Bank. Haiti received debt forgiveness for about $525 million of its debt through the Highly-Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative in 2009. The government relies on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability.

Gross Domestic Product

GDP (purchasing power parity): $11.99 billion (2009 est.) Rank: 144
GDP - real growth rate: 2.9% (2009 est.) Rank: 68
GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,300 (2009 est.) Rank: 203
GDP - Composition by Sector: Agriculture: 28% Industry: 20% Services: 52% (2004 est.)

Labor Force

Labor Force: 3.643 million Rank: 95
Note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (2007)
Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture: 66% Industry: 9% Services: 25% (1995)
Unemployment Rate: NA est.)
note: widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs

Poverty

Population below poverty line: 80% (2003 est.)

Transnational Issues

International Disputes: since 2004, about 8,000 peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) maintain civil order in Haiti; despite efforts to control illegal migration, Haitians cross into the Dominican Republic and sail to neighboring countries; Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island

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