Reproductive health needs increase in Haiti following earthquake

12 January 2011

Source: UNFPA

One year after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the UNFPA has called for increased support for women and young people in the country’s recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Gendered impacts of the disaster

“After a disaster of such scale, women and youth need strong support to play a leading role in rebuilding their country,” said the UN Population Fund's new Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin.

The UNFPA estimates 750,000 women and girls of childbearing age were affected by the disaster which killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Sexual violence is reported to have dramatically increased since the earth quake. The capital Port-au-Prince is full of tents and homemade shelters where people who lost their homes live. Women living in these makeshift shelters, faced with appalling conditions and a lack of security, are extremely vulnerable to sexual attack.

Increased demand for reproductive health services

Sexual and reproductive health services are also critical for meeting the specific reproductive health needs of women, which of course do not abate at times of disaster. According to the UNFPA the country's birth rate has tripled since the earthquake, placing even greater demand for health services.

“UNFPA will continue to support the participation of women and young people in Haiti’s reconstruction and the provision of reproductive health services and supplies to ensure safe childbirth and healthy infants,” said Dr. Osotimehin, the UNFPA’s executive director. “Promoting the health, rights and participation of women and young people will speed up the country’s development.”

Assistance for women and youth

Immediately after the disaster, UNFPA worked with young volunteers to distribute dignity kits to displaced women, in addition to solar flash lights, mattresses and tents to the accommodation sites and communities. It also provided reproductive health and cholera dignity kits to non-governmental organizations, and installed solar lamps near latrines and high-concentration points in 36 accommodation sites. It also provided psychological support to more than 30,000 youths.

Additional assistance to be provided by UNFPA in the near future, with the Government and other partners, will include:

• Building centres for family support, including separate spaces for safe socialization among women, that will also provide emergency reproductive health care and family planning services.
• Rebuilding the National School of Midwives and supporting incentives to promote midwifery in Haiti. 
• Promoting gender-sensitive security and patrols in displaced persons' sites.
• Supporting the Government to prepare for the 2013 census.
  

“When women have access to the same rights and opportunities as men,” said Dr. Osotimehin, “they are more resilient and better equipped to lead reconstruction and renewal efforts in their societies. They can build back their country even better.”