Survey of over 1,700 Haitians shows top reconstruction needs are jobs and schools

Emergencies, Media Releases, News article written on the 13 Apr 2010

Port-au-Prince: Three months after the catastrophic earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, an in-depth survey of over 1,700 Haitians shows people’s top priorities for reconstruction are jobs and schools.

The survey, carried out by an independent Haitian polling consultant and funded by international agency Oxfam, also shows that Haitians have little confidence in their government to lead the recovery phase. Only 6.6 percent of Haitians believe their government alone should be responsible for rebuilding the country. Sixty-four percent of Haitians believe international NGOs did a ‘very good,’ ‘good’ or ‘decent’ job in the emergency earthquake response.

Additional key findings include:

  • Haitians’ top priorities for reconstruction are (in order of priority): jobs, schools, shelter, and a strong agricultural sector
  • Unemployment was the no. 1 problem before and after the earthquake.
  • The top four problems now (in order of severity) are unemployment, corruption, violence and insecurity, and irresponsibility of the government.

The survey was administered over a three-day period in March. University students with specialized training in one-on-one survey interviews made home visits with respondents across a range of age, regional and socioeconomic groups. The final survey report provides extensive analysis of the results of the 16-point questionnaire and provides an explanation of the survey methodology.

Full survey available here:

English – http://bit.ly/cOFf2P

***NOTE: The opinions expressed and shared in the survey are those of the people only. They are not the positions of Oxfam.

Contact:

In Australia, Kate Thwaites, katethwaites@oxfam.org.au, +61 407 515 559

In Port-au-Prince, Julie Schindall, jschindall@oxfam.org.uk / +509 3641 5138

In New York, Louis Belanger, louis.belanger@oxfaminternational.org / +1 917 224 0834