Haiti: One year after the earthquake
One year ago, on 12 January 2010, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake.
The earthquake mainly destroyed the capital, Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, striking
government facilities, key infrastructure and the areas with the greatest concentration of
population.
Before the earthquake, Haiti was already one of the poorest countries in the Western
hemisphere - many of its people relied on foreign aid for their daily staples; the health system was underdeveloped; the roads were inadequate and the country was marked by years of weak governance.
Yet, a situation that was already complex before the earthquake, became far more complicated
in the disaster’s aftermath. To make matters worse, throughout 2010 Haiti continued to be
affected by further problems - Hurricane Tomas, the cholera epidemic and political volatility. Post-earthquake aid therefore had to be delivered in an environment characterised by numerous logistical, infrastructure, social and political challenges.
Unlike other disasters Haiti was unique in the complexity of the post-earthquake constraints – the capital was destroyed, the infrastructure was devastated and the government and
humanitarian agencies on the ground lost a lot of staff, resources and facilities.
However, despite these challenges, our first months of assistance provided clear results. EU
intervention was focused on 3 main areas, in line with the Haitian authorities' priorities and according to the division of tasks with EU Member States - infrastructure, supporting the State and emergency shelter.
For more details go: http://europa.eu/press_room/pdf/factsheet_haiti_en.pdf 
Visit also our special website dedicated to Europe's action in Haiti:
http://europa.eu/press_room/press_packs/haiti/index_en.htm
