Haiti
Haiti’s underdeveloped physical infrastructure and lack of disaster preparedness leave it vulnerable to frequent natural disasters.
Overview
Haiti is highly vulnerable to natural disasters as well as economic and political shocks. Its urban areas, where the vast majority of the population lives, lack sufficient physical infrastructure and disaster preparedness planning. Resilience activities that strengthen social safety nets, increase urban resilience, and increase off-farm opportunities for the rural population are all part of building Haiti’s resilience.
Risk Environment
Haiti is vulnerable to shocks such as hurricanes and tropical storms, droughts, floods, and earthquakes, as well as shocks resulting from economic and political instability and environmental degradation. Its population is highly urbanized, and these dense populations combined with poor infrastructure and a lack of disaster preparedness leaves Haiti’s population highly vulnerable to the effects of shocks.
Resilience Approach
Given the frequency of natural disasters, building resilient infrastructure and disaster management systems are critical. In addition, strengthening social safety nets, creating off-farm economic opportunities, and empowering women are important to building the country’s resilience.
Haiti has become highly urbanized, so increasing the resilience of its cities are a key part to strengthening its overall resilience. Improved transportation infrastructure would improve access to economic opportunities; improved physical infrastructure would reduce the impact of earthquakes and hurricanes; and stronger municipal capacity and more equitable use of resources would help address the challenges of urban growth.
Opportunities for Strengthening Resilience
Numerous religious and charitable organizations operate in villages across the country. Efforts are underway to organize these in each village to begin the path toward achieving collective impact as a foundation for layering, sequencing, and integrating other humanitarian and development programs to address vulnerabilities resulting in recurrent crises.
More About Haiti
A New Approach to Labor Market Assessments
26 Apr 2023 - USAID , Implementer-Led Design, Evidence, Analysis and Learning (IDEAL)
Examine how Systems Labor Market Assessments identified on- and off-farm opportunities for rural households in Zimbabwe and Haiti.
Haiti Resilience Factsheet
17 Jun 2022 - USAID
Haiti faces multivariate recurring shocks and stresses, including natural disasters, political instability and extreme weather, making it difficult for the country to sustain long- term development gains.
Anchored in Local Reality: Case studies on local humanitarian action from Haiti, Colombia, and Iraq
01 Oct 2021 - Oxfam International , Feinstein International Center at Tufts University
While many buy into the “localization” concept, there is little consensus about what it actually means.
How Inclusive Participation in Cattle Management Strengthens Women’s Resilience in Northern Haiti
07 Apr 2021 - USAID Reforestation Project, Chemonics
Inclusive livestock management is helping mitigate climate change and bolster household resilience in Haiti.