Haiti is the most densely populated country in the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region, and its population is rapidly growing (1.34% estimated annual growth rate for the 2020–2025 period). Total population is estimated at 11,905,897, on average 429 inhabitants per square kilometer (as of 2021). Haiti also has the highest mortality rates of the region, with an estimated life expectancy at birth of 65.2 years and an infant mortality rate of 35 deaths per 1,000 live births (as of 2020) [1].

Nearly 60% of the population resides along or near the coastline in dense coastal cities, nearby floodplains, and areas with steep slopes. Heavy migration from rural areas to towns and cities over the last two decades has resulted in a rapid increase of the urban population from 35.6% in 2000 to 56.3% in 2021. The largest agglomerations are the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, Delmas, Gonaïves, and Croix-Des-Bouquets [1], [2], [3].

Haiti is the only Least Developed Country in the LAC region. With a Gross National Income per capita of only $1,250 (as of 2020), it is the poorest country in the region and one of the poorest in the world. Wealth is highly unequally distributed, with the richest 20% of the population holding 47.1% of the country’s total income, against the 5.5% held by the poorest 20%. Poverty incidence and income inequality are much higher in rural than in urban areas [4].

After the services industry, agriculture (crops, livestock, and fisheries) is the second contributor to GDP, accounting for 19.8% in 2020, followed by the manufacturing industry. Although the agricultural sector employs only 29% of the labor force, two fifths of the total population are estimated to depend upon it for their income and livelihood, especially in rural areas. Most agriculture consists of subsistence farming. Crop yields are among the lowest in the region and only 50% of the country’s food needs are met by local production, while the deficit is covered by imports.

The economy has been repeatedly and severely impacted by natural hazards and political and social conflicts during the last decades. GDP contracted 3.8% in 2010 mainly as a consequence of a devastating earthquake (in January), a cholera outbreak (October), and hurricane Tomás (November). In 2019, GDP contracted 1.7% due to political turmoil, social discontent, and droughts; and 3.4% in 2020 as the situation was worsened by the COVID pandemic. Much of the economy is informal, with an unemployment rate of 14% as of 2020. Haiti is heavily dependent on external resource flows, particularly international development and humanitarian aid, and personal remittances from the Haitian diaspora [3], [4], [5], [6].

The 2012 Strategic Development Plan for Haiti neatly identified expanding the electrification and the telecommunications and digital network of the country among the six top national priorities. As of 2019, only 45.4% of the population had access to electricity (79.9% of the urban population, 1% of the rural), and only 32.5% of the population was using the internet (the third lowest rate in the region) [2], [7], [8]. The 2017 General Policy Statement [9] included electricity supply as one of the main government priorities, but no explicit reference to further expanding the telecommunication networks and internet use was made.

Haiti is one of the countries of the world most directly exposed to natural hazards — hurricanes, floods, droughts, and earthquakes; over 93% of its territory and over 96% of the population are estimated to be exposed to these shocks. Such high exposure interacts with Haiti’s high vulnerability and very low response capacity to yield a high level of casualties and material damages. Natural disasters have recurrently and severely affected the country’s economic and social development and exacerbated poverty and food security over the last 40 years.

Long periods of political violence and instability since 1986 have hindered the Haitian government’s ability to meet the basic needs of its people and put the country on a sustained development path. Since early 2019, Haiti entered one of its worst outbreaks of violent social unrest, coupled with political instability and riots led by gangs and armed groups, further worsening living conditions. The arrival of COVID-19 in 2020 made the situation even worse. An estimated 4.4 million people, nearly 40% of the population, were facing acute food insecurity, as job opportunities became scarcer in both rural and urban areas. The crisis escalated to unsustainable levels and culminated with the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. The assassination has created widespread political turmoil, led to a further rise in food prices, decreased the availability of fresh produce in markets, and impacted supply chains which, in turn, have triggered unprecedented violence [6], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18].

The Haitian government has very limited capacities to provide public services, especially in remote rural areas and among the urban poor. In response, the international community has stepped in providing development assistance and humanitarian aid resources. Out of fear of corruption, misuse, and lack of institutional capacities, many donors funnel their assistance through international non-governmental organizations (NGO) instead of through the Haitian government.

This form of operation has proved to be problematic and not entirely efficient. The several international donors operating in Haiti do not always align their assistance with national plans and priorities and there is insufficient coordination among them. By delivering assistance through independent parallel structures (country offices, implementing NGOs, etc.) that compete with, or take up the role of, those of the government, the public become more reliant on NGOs than on the national institutions, the government's authority is undermined, and its institutional capacities are not improved [6], [11],  [19], [20], [21].