Haiti: 5 years of action

January 12, 2015 marked the 5 year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, an earthquake which caused over 200,000 deaths, injured more than 300,000 people, left 1.3 million people homeless and destroyed over 200 000 homes. This anniversary is an opportunity for Development and Peace to reiterate our deep and ongoing commitment to the most vulnerable.

Development and Peace was present in Haiti long before the earthquake, which allowed us to rely on the expertise of our partners to put in place a long-term program that involved the genuine participation of the Haitian population.

Our Haiti reconstruction program is the most extensive ever carried out by Development and Peace in one country, and remains one of our most important programs. Five years after the earthquake the challenges remain enormous, but we are continuing to work in partnership with civil society actors for the long-term reconstruction and development of Haiti.

After the earthquake, the reconstruction of housing and infrastructure was one of the most obvious priorities in Haiti. In addition to ensuring physical and concrete results, the approach of Development and Peace and its partners is also based on the reconstruction of the fabric of society.

Development and Peace and our partners achieved several significant results in this area:

Housing for 470 vulnerable families.
Provision of 586 water tanks, reservoirs, wells and water supply points.
A training centre for 140 seminarians.
The reconstruction of 3 schools for 1,079 students.
An experimental farm to provide training for 500 young entrepreneurs.

In the post-earthquake context, in which thousands of people were left homeless, the importance of defending human rights was felt more strongly than ever. The protection of human rights has always been a central concern of Development and Peace and we support victims of human rights violations at every step of our program. Through Development and Peace’s program 3,124 female victims of violence were able to receive assistance and 6,369 people were educated on gender-based violence.

After the earthquake, most agricultural activities were massively disrupted, and many people left areas affected by the earthquake to resettle in rural areas. Thanks to the work of our partners, thousands of peasant families were able to resume their agricultural activities, and we were also able to offer:

Agricultural tools for 2,658 people.
Training related to agriculture, entrepreneurship, and the environment for 15,000 people.
The distribution of 8,997 farm animals, including mules, poultry, goats and pigs.
Seedlings to more than 14,000 families.
38 tonnes of seeds (beans, corn, peas, yam and millet) to almost 50,000 families.

This program would not have been possible without the support of our institutional donors, the commitment of our partners in Haiti, and above all our donors from across Canada, who showed exceptional generosity toward the people of Haiti following the earthquake. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Check out our special report to see the results of the projects that we carried out with our partners over the last 5 years in response to the earthquake.