Haiti

The United Nations in Haiti

Haiti is a founding member of the United Nations (UN), which the country joined in 1945. In 1948, Haiti played a key role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, notably thanks to Haitian Senator Emile Saint-Lot, Rapporteur of the Drafting Committee of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

Haiti was also one of the first countries to join UNESCO as early as 1946. One of the first United Nations’ collaborations with Haiti was carried out in 1947, precisely as part of a partnership with UNESCO, through an education initiative implemented in the localities of Marbial and Lafond, in Jacmel. Since then, partnerships between the United Nations and Haiti have gradually developed.   

In 2020, the UN family in Haiti is composed of 19 agencies, funds and programmes and the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). 

Key achievements  

1. Education. The net enrollment rate has increased from 47% in 1993 to 84% in 2017. 
    
2. Health. The under-five mortality rate was reduced by 3% between 2000 and 2017, and the adult mortality rate among women was reduced by 40% between 2006 and 2017. In addition, the number of HIV-positive people on treatment quadrupled in 8 years. 
    
3. Gender equality. There has been a gradual increase in the percentage of women participating in household decision-making, from 53% in 2006 to 69% in 2017. In primary and secondary education, there has been gender parity since 2000. 
    
4. Water and sanitation. The percentage of the population having access to safe drinking water increased from 58% to 73% between 2015 and 2018, and the percentage of the population having access to sanitation increased from 18% in 1990 to 33% in 2016. Cholera cases have decreased by 99.5% since 2010. 
    
5. Resilience, disaster risk management and environmental management. The sector has been strengthened through initiatives such as the National Risk and Disaster Management System ("Système national de gestion des risques et des désastres”, in French) Act, the Climate Change Adaptation Plan, the National Hydrometeorological Service/Meteorological Center, protected areas, and the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger. 
    
6. Security and transition to a non-peacekeeping UN presence. The Haitian national police have been strengthened over the last few years. As of September 2018, there were 14,911 police officers, including 1,483 women. In this context, the Security Council is preparing the transition to a non-peacekeeping UN presence in Haiti. 

To learn more visit: https://haiti.un.org/.