World

Disaster in Haiti: Recovery and relief

Haiti is struggling to recover from the devastating earthquake of January 2010, which killed as many as 300,000 people.

Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, also known as Baby Doc, has been charged with corruption, theft and misappropriation of funds amid accusations he pilfered up to $300 million from federal coffers during his 16-year presidency. His lawyer, however, says the statute of limitations has expired and he will fight to have the charges dismissed.

Bio: Baby Doc Duvalier

The former dictator's story — from becoming "president for life" in his late teens to his years of excess in power and eventual flight into exile.

Duvalier returned to Haiti on Jan. 16 after nearly a quarter century of exile in France.

In the wake of Duvalier's return, another ex-president  says he's ready to come back to Haiti. Jean-Bertrand Aristide has served notice that he is ready to return "at any time " from a six-year exile in South Africa.

Haitians held a moment of silence on Jan. 12 to mark the sombre anniversary  of the powerful earthquake that shattered their country one year earlier.

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said the death toll was more than 316,000, raising the figures from previous estimates. One million people were left homeless and about 800,000 of them still live in makeshift tent cities.

A runoff from November's controversial presidential election  has been delayed until February. The original vote was marred by reports of fraud and blatant ballot-box stuffing.

The U.S. representative to the United Nations told the Security Council in January that Haiti must have credible elections to maintain international support.



Haiti earthquake by the numbers

  • 222,570 deaths
  • 300,572 injuries
  • 1300 camps, or "sponaneous settlements" (peak)
  • 1,500,000 people live in the camps
  • 604,215 people left Port-au-Prince and the West Dept.
  • 188,383 houses destroyed or badly damaged
  • 80 percent of Port-au-Prince schools destroyed or damaged
  • 60 percent of hospitals in the affected region destroyed or damaged
  • 70 percent reduction in Haiti's GDP
  • 7,000 babies per month delivered since the quake

from UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Sources provided here)

(Haiti: facts and figures)


Maps


Shake zones: This map shows the intensity of the Jan. 12 earthquake throughout Haiti.

(U.S. Geological Survey/Associated Press) ((U.S. Geological Survey/Associated Press))