Earthquake in Haiti

More than two years after Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010, the country remains in ruins. The reconstruction of earthquake-stricken Haiti has proceeded at a snail’s pace, with more than half a million people still homeless. In a new report, we have urged the Haitian Government and countries that have pledged money for rebuilding to accelerate reconstruction of the country.

Rebuilding Haiti

Thanks to an enormous aid response from the international community, the emergency relief effort following the earthquake was successful in saving countless lives and providing basic services to more than a million people. While slow, reconstruction efforts have resulted in nearly half of all earthquake rubble being revmoed, nearly 5 million cubic meters of debris. Also In a country where only an estimated 5 per cent of roads were sealed before the earthquake, 430 kilometres of roads have been built or repaired since the earthquake, providing vital infrastructure for economic recovery.

Oxfam’s response

Oxfam has provided access to water, latrines and showers to more than 100,000 people in Haiti. We’re also supporting water committees in more than 30 sites in Port-au-Prince. These committees are formed by people living in the camps who take charge of the delivery of drinking water and the management of the latrines and showers.

Due to the cholera outbreak in June 2011, we widened our cholera response program to reach an extra 77,000 people in one of the most affected zones and continues to monitor the situation in different parts of the capital and rural areas.

Read about some of the creative ways we helped people to earn vital income, during our immediate earthquake response. We’ve also focussed on long-term solutions to the rebuilding of Haiti, by supporting businesses through cash grants and loans.

You can help

Thanks to your overwhelming support, we were able to raise enough money to fund our response to the Haiti earthquake for at least three years – and so have closed our Earthquake Appeal. However, you can help us respond to future emergenices by making a monthly donation to Oxfam Emergency 365.

Find out more

• Read our report Haiti: The slow road to reconstruction. Two years after the earthquake (10 January 2012)
• Read our report From Relief to Recovery: Supporting good governance in post-earthquake Haiti (6 Jan 2011)
• Read our Haiti Progress Report 2010: An overview of Oxfam’s humanitarian response to the Haiti earthquake (6 Jan 2011)
• Get the latest updates on our Emergency 365 blog