# **1. Introduction**

Youth represent a large proportion of human capital in developing countries. Some attend school, participate in social and cultural events, enjoy support from their families, and have plans and hopes for their future while others do not. In Haiti, only 13 percent of youth feel satisfied with their lives, according to data from ECVH in 2001.<sup>2</sup> A series of factors predisposes a large proportion of youth to poverty, school dropout, unemployment, early sexual initiation, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, sexual and physical abuse, crime and violence, substance abuse and drug dealing, and social exclusion.<sup>3</sup> Indicators for Haiti on most of these factors are among the poorest in the Latin American and Caribbean region (LAC) and some are worse than those of African countries with the same level of GDP per capita (World Bank 2002). Dictatorship, military intervention, and lack of stability have been determining factors in Haiti’s social and economic development history. Haiti’s history, combined with the country’s social and poverty indicators, show that youth should be seen not as a problem, but as a product of the family and community environment and therefore should be treated as a potential solution to Haiti’s development challenges.

Data reveal that over 20 percent of the Haitian population is between 15 and 24 years old and 49 percent of households live in extreme poverty. Poor households contain more youth than average and youth are overrepresented in the capital city of Port-auPrince. The public education system, where in place, and many private schools, supply low quality education, and corporal punishment is widely used. Illiteracy rates are high and many young people are not in school because they need to contribute to household income or work in the household. Nearly half of Haitian youth are not enrolled in school and of those participating in the labor market, 47.4 percent are unemployed, the highest proportion in LAC. In particular, young women experience high unemployment and inactivity rates and often face wage discrimination. One way of coping with unemployment and lack of opportunities is for youth to migrate, either abroad or to another region or city in Haiti.

In many households absence of the father or both parents, drug abuse, pressure for female adolescents to bear children, and domestic violence contribute to the challenges young people face on a daily basis. For example, only one in three children (aged 0–14) in Haiti lives with both biological parents. The lack of health services, information, family counseling, etc., is negatively affecting youth health.<sup>4</sup> Contraceptive use is among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere and HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic levels—the highest incidence outside Africa. Of the age group 15–19 years old, 5.2 percent has HIV/AIDS. However, there are clear indications that the situation is now improving and Haiti has been recognized for its progress in scaling up treatment. Teenage pregnancies

> 2 ECVH is the first Living Conditions Survey of Haiti. See data description below.

> 3 Social exclusion refers to lack of financial means, unequal access to human capital building services, unequal access to labor markets and public service and social protection programs (both in formal and informal institutions), and unequal political rights (World Bank 2003).

> 4 Overall, performance of health systems in Haiti is ranked lowest in LAC and 138th of 191 countries by the World Health Organization (World Bank 2002).

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