One year ago, more than 2 million Haitians saw their lives changed forever after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked their country.
Building Back Better
The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) task is to help Haiti rebuild into a more resilient country.
In the past year, UNDP has successfully employed – together with the World Food Programme – 240,000 people affected by the earthquake and contributed to the clearance of 1 million cubic metres of debris. Most important, UNDP is working closely with the Government and local communities to put affected Haitians and their institutions at the centre of the recovery process.
The Way Forward
In 2011, UNDP will continue to invest in disaster risk reduction across Haiti as well as continue to play its role in coordinating an early recovery team made up of more than 40 UN agencies and NGOs.
Newly-established UNDP programmes will create more than 6,000 jobs and begin debris removal from 15 neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. UNDP will also contribute to urban rehabilitation and socio-economic revitalization through the promotion of local livelihoods. A pilot initiative, developed in partnership with UN-HABITAT and the International Labor Organization, aims to provide both income and training for Haitians, as well as help them to set up small microenterprises and repair their houses in the cities of Port-au-Prince and Leogane.
In addition, UNDP will focus its efforts on working with the Government on:
- a seismic roadmap;
- rehabilitation to prevent losses during the rainy and hurricane season;
- a long-term programme focusing on the electoral process;
- a joint Rule of Law programme with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
Learn more about the challenges and accomplishments in Haiti:
- Haiti: 1 year after (PDF, 2.9Mb)
- Haiti Recovery Update, January 2011 (PDF, 2.3 Mb)
- Website: Report of the United Nations in Haiti 2010
Key Facts
- Almost 3.5 million people were affected by the earthquake, including the entire population of Port-au-Prince (2.8 million).
- The Government of Haiti estimates that 222,570 people died and 300,572 were injured, but the true death toll will never be known.
- At the peak of displacement, close to 2.3 million people left their homes, including 302,000 children.
- 188,383 houses collapsed or were badly damaged and 105,000 were completely destroyed by the earth-quake. Sixty percent of government and administrative buildings were destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the Parliament and the Cathedral.
- 80 percent of schools in Port-au-Prince and 60 percent in its South and West departments were destroyed or damaged.
- The total value of damage and losses caused by the earthquake is estimated at US$7.8 billion, equivalent to more than 120 percent of Haiti’s 2009 Gross Domestic Product.
- More than 16,000 civil servants died in the quake and many left the country after 12 January. Although many have returned, the Government’s backbone and workforce is now reduced by 33 percent.
Haiti info material
Programme Overviews
- Livelihoods, Cash-for-Work, and Area-based Recovery
- Debris Management
- Disaster Risk Reduction and the Environment
- Rule of Law, Justice and Security for the Crisis and Recovery Phases in Haiti
- Governance: Democratic Process and Public Administration Reform
- Local Governance, Decentralization and Territorial Development
- Strengthening National Capacities for Aid Coordination and Management
