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Haiti Earthquake: Death toll of powerful earthquake soars past 1,200

Humanitarian aid is flowing into Haiti following Saturday’s deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake. However, the Caribbean nation’s political unrest, as well as an approaching tropical storm, is complicating efforts. Nonprofit groups and philanthropy experts say the assassination last month of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, as well as accusations that money raised following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti never reached those in need, will make fundraising for the nation even tougher. Prior to the latest natural disaster that has befallen the impoverished Caribbean island nation, Haiti had already been facing numerous severe challenges. Dr. Christopher Sabatini, Senior Fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, joins France 24 to put into context this stark situation. "You have an unemployment rate that approaches about 80%, poverty rate around the same." And following last month's assassination of President Moise, "you've got effectively no government right now." The earthquake also comes at a time while the country is still recovering from the catastrophic earthquake that struck the nation a decade ago and killed over 200,000. "The country had not fully recovered from the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country." And with the "pressures of Covid," Dr. Sabatini is witnessing "a very sad, unfortunate situation without a government to be able to implement recovery, struggling to do so in a far-flung region of the country" with very few doctors and little to no infrastructure. For Haiti to overcome this latest major setback, Dr. Sabatini notes that "there needs to be an integrated, effective strategy to rebuild infrastructure, but also ensure that (donor) money isn't siphoned off (like in 2010) and goes to its dedicated means."