RESULTS
Statistics:
• 222,570 people died and 300,572 were injured
• 1.5 million children under 18 were directly or indirectly affected by the quake
• The total value of damage and losses caused by earthquake is estimated at US$7.8 billion — US$4.3 billion represents physical damage and US$3.5 billion are economic losses — some 120 percent of the 2009 gross domestic product (GDP) of Haiti
• 60 percent of government, administrative and economic infrastructure has been destroyed, as well as parliament and the judicial sector
Source: The United Nations’ Special Envoy to Haiti reported October 1, 2010
Haiti: A government with very little power and resources
The Haitian government’s lack of preparedness for earthquakes despite the fact that earthquakes are common to the region is indicative of the governments inability and lack of resources to properly plan and protect it’s population against natural disasters. This lack of preparedness is not an isolated incident. Prior to the disaster, the World Bank and others were working with the Haitian government to incorporate disaster risk management into Haiti’s development strategy and to develop its capacity for disaster response. This capacity building was in its early stages of development when the earthquake hit, on January 12, 2010, and was mainly focused on hurricanes, which are the most common cause of natural disaster on the island (Margesson, 2010, p. 4).
Historically Haiti’s government has not been a provider of services to its population. One study found that even before the 2010 earthquake, NGOs provided 70 percent of healthcare and private schools funded by NGOs accounted for 85 percent of the national education (Ramachandran, 2012, p. 2). Charities and NGOs have become t...
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... B., & (2013, January 7). Hundreds of Thousands Homeless in Haiti Three Years after earthquake. Dissident Voice. Retrieved April 2, 2014, from http://dissidentvoice.org/
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Sontag, D. (2012, December 23). Rebuilding in Haiti Lags After Billions in Post-Quake Aid. The New York Times, pp. 1-14.
UNDP Haïti Rapport National Sur Le Developpment Humain, 2002
Watkins, T. (2010, January 13). Problems with Haiti Building Standards Outlined. Retrieved May 1, 2014 from http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/13/haiti.construction/
Zanotti, L. (2010). Cacophonies of aid, failed state building and NGOs in Haiti: setting the stage for disaster, envisioning the future. Third World Quarterly, 31(5), 755-771.
In David Brooks’ op-ed “The Undying Tragedy,” he discusses four main hypotheses regarding poverty and aid in Haiti. His ideas about poverty, as viewed through the modernization, dependency/world-systems, and post-structural theoretical perspectives lead to three different conclusions. Specifically, as viewed through a modernization lens, the “truths” Brooks puts forth seem fairly in accordance with the perspective, with some minor addendums needed. The dependency and world systems theories again agree with some of Brook’s hypotheses, but would disagree with some of the assumptions he makes in regards to culture and paternalism. Finally, the post-structural theory would find the most problems with Brooks’ claims, likely disagreeing with his assumptions about the effects of culture on poverty and his view of the development process.
Mont-Reynaud, Marie-Josée. "The Failure of the American Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934." Haiti Forever, Mar. 2002. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. .
According to Climate Risk Index, Haiti is the 3th country most affect by severe weather events. More than 50% of Haitians economy depend on agricutural, but in recently year people face with losting
Casimir, J, & Claypool, M 2012, ‘Going Backwards Toward the Future: From Haiti to Saint-Domingue,’ The Global South, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 172-192.
“Human Rights Violations In Haiti On The Increase.” Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio, 1994. ProQuest. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
Several of the problems that Haiti faces today have their genesis in the country’s colonial history. The country was like a toy being fought over by spoiled children. The first of these children arrived in the early sixteenth century in the form of Spanish settlers in search of gold. They enslaved the native Taino population and, poisoned by avarice, nearly eradicated the indigenous work force. Thousands of African slaves were brought in to take their place. Eventually, the Spanish left the island to grab their share of newly discovered treasure in other lands. Tiring of their toy, the Spanish
The economics of Haiti has deceased in the last 4 years after the devastating earthquake that struck it 4 years ago. The Haiti economy has become very poor and one of the poorest country in the south, Central America and Caribbean region making it ranked 24 out of 29 countries in this area and its overall score is below average. Haiti’s economic freedom is 48.1 making it economy the 151st freest country while in the last several years Declines in the management of government spending, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom make its overall score 2.6 points lower than last year. Recovering from the disastrous earthquake in 2010 with the support of the U.S. recovering efforts “Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction efforts continue, assisted by substantial aid from the international community. Governing institutions remain weak and inefficient, and overall progress has not been substantial. The parliament has not renewed the mandate of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which had been tasked with overseeing reconstruction efforts but was unpopular.”( .heritage.org). The open market of Haiti trade weighted to be 2.1 this is because the lack of tariffs hamper the trade freedom of Haiti. Foreign investors are given national treatment but the investment is small and the financial sector is remained underdeveloped and does not provide any adequate support.
Currently, almost two years ago Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. It sparked an international urge to help aid and relieve Haiti of its catastrophe. Not only governments in various countries reached out, but independent organizations as well. This disastrous event showed how the world could come together when their neighbor is in need. But prior to this 2010 earthquake, Haiti was already facing devastation other than a natural one - societal.
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
On January 12, 2010, while vacationing in Santo Domingo, DR. Tragedy hit and my strong foundation no longer stood. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 shook and uprooted homes, places of business and my sense of peace. After hearing news of the earthquake, I rush to Port-au-Prince to check on my family. I was reassured that my family was secured and had no life threatening injuries, but the same was not said to my grandparent’s neighbor. Their neighbor suffered from a head injury and deep laceratio...
Haiti is the unequivocally the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, indeed, the country is so poor that its citizen cannot even afford eating foods and Haitian children need to eat dirts to stay alive. [1] Nevertheless, Haiti is the home to the only successful slave rebellion; Toussaint Louverture, last governor of French Saint-Domingue, was born a slave.
The Haiti earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010 just fifteen miles south of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was a severely large-scale earthquake, at a magnitude of 7.0. The initial shock was then followed by a series of aftershocks with magnitudes ranging up to 5.9. Over three hundred thousand people died due to this extreme chaos. Many buildings collapsed and disintegrated under the force of the quake; both the cathedral and National Palace in Port-au-Prince were heavily damaged. In the aftermath of this tragedy, efforts to aid the people of Haiti with medical assistance, water, and food were hampered by the loss of communication lines as well as by roads blocked by debris. Over one million people were left homeless due to this quake. Two days after the earthquake, journalist Leonard Pitts wrote “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” an article describing how the people of Haiti responded to the disaster. In “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” a major theme is that some things are inevitable.
The effects caused by earthquakes are devastating. They cause loss of human life and have effects on infrastructure and economy. Earthquakes can happen at any time anywhere. In January 12, 2010 an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 hit the nation of Haiti. An estimation of 316,000 people were killed, and more than 1.3 million Haitians were left homeless (Earthquake Information for 2010). Haiti was in a terrified chaos. After the earthquake, families were separated because many of the members were killed. Homes, schools, and hospitals were demolished. People lost their most valuable belongings. It will take time for the country to recover from this terrible disaster. The long damages are economic issues, health-state, and environmental issues that effect in the beautiful island of Haiti.
Although Jean-Bertrand Aristide held the position of president, the society still suffered from brutal acts of violence. Due to the fear of being overthrown, the military acted in this way to divest the Haitian people of their freedoms (Americas Watch, 1). However, subsequent to Aristide’s resignation in early 2004, Haiti continued to struggle to gain control and organize law enforcement (2005 Trafficking in Persons Report). As if they did not already suffer from enough internal conflict and discord, the earthquake of 2010 only worsened the circumstances for Haiti. Infrastructure was destroyed, debris littered the streets and obstructed most of Port-au-Prince, families were displaced from their homes, and chaos was ensued. The chaos following the earthquake resulted in an increase in the number of restavek children in Haiti owing to the loss of resources by families and the elevated kidnapping rates. One of the most major effects the earthquake had on Haiti was the economic effect; it stripped possessions and resources from poverty-stricken families who were already struggling to make ends meet. Although they certainly wished to avoid it, sending their children into child labor or giving their bodies away for sex appeared to be the only viable option. Accordingly, the humanitarian crisis of the earthquake intensified the crisis of human trafficking. The presence of the problem of trafficking is familiar within Haiti, yet there is still no marked efforts to address the issue. Understandably, a problem cannot be fixed if there is no guidelines or punishments put in place. As stated in the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, “The national police child protection unit, the Brigade for the Protection of Minors, does not pursue forced labor or forced prostitution cases because there is no statutory
Sherwell, Philip, and Patrick Sawer. "Haiti earthquake: looting and gun-fights break out - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. .