Haiti Community Support
PO Box 696
Frederiksted, VI 00841
Tel: +1-340-772-4380

A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Charitable Organization

Administrative

Haiti

Haiti has 8.3 million inhabitants and is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. 80 percent of Haiti’s population lives below the poverty line.

Haiti’s death rate (12.2 deaths per 1,000 population in 2006) ranks as the worst in the western hemisphere, as does its 2006 infant mortality rate of nearly 72 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The annual per capita income is about US$450, and most of the population (60 percent) faces underemployment.

Some estimates suggest that two-thirds of the country’s 3.6 million workers are without consistent work and survive through sub-subsistence farming.

Education standards in Haiti are extremely low. Haiti’s literacy rate of about 53 percent falls well below the 90 percent average literacy rate for Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Currently, most Haitian schools are private rather than state-funded. International private schools (run by Canada, France, or the United States) and church-run schools educate 90 percent of students

Half the population in Haiti can be categorized as “food insecure,” and half of all Haitian children are undersized as a result of malnutrition.

Less than half the population has access to clean drinking water, a rate that compares poorly even with other less-developed nations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that only 43 percent of the target population receives the recommended immunizations.

In terms of health care spending, Haiti ranks last in the western hemisphere. Most rural areas have no access to health care, making residents susceptible to otherwise treatable diseases.

Source: Library of Congress