CIA Central Intelligence Agency

CNG National Governing Council

FAdH Haitian Armed Forces

FNCD National Front for Change and Democracy

FRAPH Front Revolutionaire Pour L'Advancement et le Progres Haitien

HNP Haitian National Police

IMF International Monetary Fund

MICIVIH International Civilian Mission to Haiti

MNF Multinational Force

NED National Endowment for Democracy

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

OAS Organization of American States

PFP Policy Framework Paper

SAL Structural Adjustment Loan

SIN National Intelligence Service

UN United Nations

UNDP United Nations Development Program

UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

UNMIH United Nations Mission in Haiti

UNSMIH United Nations Support Mission in Haiti

US United States

USAID United States Agency for International Development

VSN Voluntaires de la Securite Nationale

WB World Bank

Social Factors

Illiteracy Rate: 70-80% (highest in Western hemisphere)*

Population Density: 230 people per square kilometre (highest in Western hemisphere)*

Per Capita Income: $270 US (lowest in Western hemisphere)*

Infant Mortality Rate: ~100 per 1 000 births (highest in Western hemisphere)*

Life Expectancy: 55 years (lowest in Western hemisphere)*

Population Growth: 1.9%**

Highest level of unemployment in the Western hemisphere***

90% of population is peasantry****

<8% of population speak French but it is the language used in schools and the courts*****

Economic Factors**

real GNP fell ~2% per year from 1980 to 1994

real GDP fell ~20% between 1992-1993 and a further 10.6% in 1994 recurved up by 6.5% in '95

tax revenue fell from 8% of budget in 1992 to 3% in 1995

Environmental Factors

~4% of Haiti is left forested*

75% of once arable land is eroded and arid*

6 000 hectares of soil are lost each year to erosion*

25 of 30 major watersheds are degraded***

From: * Tetsuo Itani & Marc Whittingham 'Security and Defence Forum' July 26^th 1996.

**'Haiti' The World Bank Group. @ ftp.worldbank.org/html/extr/offrep/lac/haiti.htm.

***'USAID Congressional Presentation FY 1997' USAID @ www.info.gov/pubs/cp97/countries.htm.

****Catharine Orenstein 'What Do Haitians Want from the US?' NACLA Report on the Americas. vol.XVII, no.4, Jan/Feb (1994), p.26-27.

*****Michel-Rolph Trouillot 'Haiti's Nightmare and the Lessons of History' NACLA

Report on the Americas. vol.XVII, no.4, Jan/Feb (1994), p.46-51.