Haiti
The native Tainos - who inhabited the island of
Hispaniola when it was discovered by CHRISTOPHER 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
post-colonial black-led nation in the world, declaring its independence the
1° January in 1804. Currently the
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has experienced political
instability 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. Continued instability and technical delays prompted
repeated postponements, but Haiti inaugurated a democratically elected
president and parliament in May of 2006. This was followed by contested
elections in 2010 that resulted in the election of Haiti's current President,
Michel MARTELLY. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January
2010 with an epicenter about 25 km (15 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left
homeless. The earthquake was assessed as the worst in this region over the last
200 years.
Geography
Haiti
(which capital is Port-Au-Prince) is situated in the Caribbean Sea, in Central
America. It’s one-third of the island of
Hispaniola (the other two-thirds of the island belongs to Dominican Republic)
which is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Haiti lies in the
middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October,
and there are also occasional floodings, earthquakes and periodic droughts. The
terrain is mostly rough and montainous and the climate is tropical.
Society
In
Haiti there are 9.996.731 habitants or Haitians. 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. They speek Creole
and French. Black people are the 95% of th population, and the other 5%
consists of mulattoes and White habitants.
Religion in Haiti: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16%, other 3%, none 1%. The
most densly populated region is Port-Au-Prince, with 2.376.000 habitants.
Executive
branch
Chief
of state: President MICHEL MARTELLY (since 14 May 2011)
Head
of government: Prime Minister EVANS PAUL (since 16 January 2015)
Cabinet:
Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president
Elections:
president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
Legislative
branch
The
Legislative branch is composed of: a bicameral legislatura which consists of the
Senate (30 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by
absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 6-year terms with
one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) and the Chamber of Deputies
(99 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute
majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 4-year terms). When the
two chambers meet collectively it is known as the National Assembly that is
convened for specific purposes spelled out in the constitution.
Judicial
branch
Highest court(s): Supreme Court
(consists of a chief judge and other judges). Haiti is a member of the
Caribbean Court of Justice.
Judge selection and term of office:
judges appointed by the president from candidate lists submitted by the Senate
of the National Assembly.
Patriotic
Symbols
The flag: 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.
Hispaniolan
Trogon (typical bird of Hispaniola island)
Hibiscus
Flower
Economy
Haiti
is a free market economy that enjoys the advantages of low labor costs and
tariff-free access to the US for many of its exports. Poverty, corruption,
vulnerability to natural disasters, and low levels of education for much of the
population are among Haiti's most serious impediments to economic growth.
Haiti's economy suffered a severe setback in January 2010 when a 7.0 magnitude
earthquake destroyed much of its capital city, Port-au-Prince, and neighboring
areas. Currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the
population living under the poverty line and 54% in absolute poverty, the
earthquake further inflicted $7.8 billion dollars in damage and caused the
country's GDP to contract. In 2011, the Haitian economy began recovering from
the earthquake. However, two hurricanes adversely affected agricultural output
and the low public capital spending slowed the recovery in 2012. Two-fifths 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. US economic engagement
under the Caribbean Basin Trade Preference Agreement (CBTPA) and the 2008
Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE II) Act
helped increase apparel exports and investment by providing duty-free access to
the US. Congress voted in 2010 to extend the CBTPA and HOPE II until 2020 under
the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act; the apparel sector accounts for
about 90% of Haitian exports and nearly one-twentieth of GDP. Remittances are
the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling one-fifth of GDP (purchasing
power parity) and representing more than five times the earnings from exports
in 2012. Haiti suffers from a lack of investment, partly because of weak
infrastructure such as access to electricity. Haiti's outstanding external debt
was cancelled by donor countries following the 2010 earthquake, but has since
risen to $1.43 billion as of December 2014. The government relies on formal
international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability, with over half of
its annual budget coming from outside sources.
Transnational
Issues
current situation:
Haiti is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; many of Haiti’s
trafficking cases involve children recruited to live with families in other
towns in the hope of going to school but who instead become forced domestic servants
known as restaveks; restaveks are vulnerable to abuse and make up a large
proportion of Haiti’s population of street children, who are forced into
prostitution, begging, and street crime by violent gangs; Haitians are
exploited in forced labor in the Dominican Republic, elsewhere in the
Caribbean, South America, and the US, and some Dominican women are forced into
prostitution in Haiti; women and children living in camps for internally
displaced people since the 2010 earthquake are at increased risk of sex
trafficking and forced labor
tier rating: Haiti
does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government
passed a law in 2014 criminalizing human trafficking but did not prosecute or
convict any trafficking offenders, despite large numbers of identified victims;
a national plan to combat human trafficking was also passed in 2014;
authorities did not provide direct or specialized services for trafficking victims
and referred suspected victims to donor-funded NGOs; the government managed a
hotline for trafficking victims and conducted a campaign to raise awareness
about child labor and child trafficking (2014).
Ezequiel RodrÃguez (ECOSOC)
Economic
and Social Council’s themes:
·
Establishing measures to combat
the corruption related to Foreign Aid distribution in LEDCs
·
Mitigating the growing income
gap and its resulting effects on the standard of living
