Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80%
of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject
poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural
sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain
vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated
by the country's widespread deforestation. While the economy had
been recovering in recent years, registering positive growth since
2005, four tropical storms in 2008 severely damaged the
transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector.
Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its
history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and
exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an
interim government took office to organize new elections under the
auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted
repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a
democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006.
On 12 January 2010, a 7.0 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince,
devastating the city. Most of the central historic area of the city
was destroyed, including Haiti's prized Cathédrale de
Port-au-Prince, the capital building, the parliament building, the
Supreme Court building, several ministerial buildings, and at least
one hospital. The seaport and airport were both severely damaged.
In addition to the physical destruction there was an even greater
human toll as over 250,000 died in this single event. The
earthquake was assessed as the worst in this region over the last
200 years and an estimated 2 million people lived within the zone
of heavy to moderate structural damage.
Haiti is a free market economy that enjoys the advantages of low
labor costs and tariff-free access to the US for many of its
exports. Poverty, corruption, and poor access to education for much
of the population are among Haiti's most serious disadvantages.
Over the longer term, Haiti needs to create jobs for its young
workforce and to build institutional capacity. Already the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living
under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty, the damage to
Port-au-Prince caused the country's GDP to contract an estimated
5.1% in 2010.
The City of Toronto has decided to assist the Haitian with its
continued recovery process. Even though it is facing its own
financial and political difficulties coming out of the covid-19
pandemic, the City of Toronto has offered to provide relief and
development assistance to the City of Port au Prince through an
initiative called “Rebuild Haiti”. The objectives of “Rebuild
Haiti” are to:
Questions
The city of Toronto has included you as part of a team of city
employees with special expertise in project management and
development and assistance. For some time, the team have been
working on a project management plan. They have now been asked to
look at the risks that are involved in undertaking such a
project.
Develop a risk management plan.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54%
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