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Statistics on Water and Sanitation in Haiti

Countries
Haiti
Sources
JEN
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«The poorest county in the Western Hemisphere » ―people often refer to Haiti with this phrase, and unfortunately this is true. In fact, Human Development Indicator (HDI) shows that Haiti ranks 168th out of 187 countries in the world (*1). In addition, Haiti is one of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which means that Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. The country has been confronting a lot of challenges in the sector of water and sanitation, education, infrastructure, and health among others.

JEN Haiti office has been working in the sector of water and sanitation, where people face considerable difficulties. In urban area of the country, approximately only one in four people have access to safe water, and in rural area, only one in two people (*2). Also, one out of every 6 children under the age of 5 dies of diarrhea (*3). These are lives which we can save with safe water and correct knowledge about sanitation.

In Haiti, from October 2010 to August 2014, the country had 706,089 suspected cases of Cholera, and estimated 8,592 death by the disease (*4). The country still has the largest Cholera epidemic in the Western Hemisphere (*4).

Thanks to your support, JEN Haiti office has been supporting local population in rural area, approximately 3,000 households in total, through construction and repair of water facilities, as well as hygiene promotion activities. We have been working in Palmes Region, where people suffered the largest damage and destruction caused by the earthquake in 2010. People here often say “Water, that’s life (Dlo Se Lavi)”. Safe water is indispensable for our health, and therefore the phrase is literally true. “Water is life”.

(*1) Human Development Reports (UNDP, 2014)

(*2) Joint Monitoring Programme Report 2014: Progress on drinking water and sanitation (WHO/UNICEF, 2014), data in the report was collected in 2012

(*3) Haiti Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Portfolio Review and Assessment(USAID, 2008)

(*4)Haiti Cholera Response September 2014, the data is cited by the Ministry of Health and Population of the Haiti Government (UN Haiti, 2014)