Tracking Ed Monroe as he travels to Haiti and other exotic(?) places

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Haiti At A Glance

From Maimi Herald 5/18/06

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. The U.N. Human Development Index ranks it 153 of 177 nations.

Poverty and Income Distribution:

75-80 percent of Haiti's 8.3 million people live on less than $2 per day.

The poorest half of the country survives on average on $0.44 per day.

The wealthiest 20 percent take in 68 percent of the nation's income.

Health:

Half the population has no access to safe drinking water.

Life Expectancy at birth is between 49 and 51 years

More than 5 percent is estimated to have HIV/AIDS.

23 percent of children suffer from malnutrition, 13 percent from acute malnutrition.

Under-five mortality rate is more than 12 percent.

Education

Half the population is illiterate.

An estimated 500,000 children do not have access to primary education.

Less than 60 percent of children are in primary school.

Only half of Haiti's 45,000 teachers have a 9th grade education

Infrastructure

Only 10 percent of the population has electricity, often for just part of the day.

In a 10,667-square-mile territory, there are only 380 miles of paved roads, most in terrible condition.

In the capital, only 20 percent of households have piped water.

Only 20 percent of the capital's inhabitants have telephones, much less in the countryside.

Economy and Land

Only 45 percent of adults are employed, two thirds of them in informal jobs.

Nearly 25 percent of household income comes from remittances from Haitians living abroad.

97 percent of the country's forests have been cut down.

80 percent of farmers -- half the country's working population -- cannot satisfy the basic needs of their family.

Government and Justice.

80 percent of prisoners in Haiti have not been charged with a crime.

4,500 under-equipped, under-trained police officers patrol a country with the population of New York City.

The national police chief has estimated 25 perce

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