Haiti has a population estimated at 10 million (UN, 2009) with an area of 27,750 sq km (10,714 sq miles). The capital is Port-au-Prince. The major languages are Creole and French. 
Considered as the poorest country in the Americas, Haiti achieved notoriety during the brutal dictatorships of the voodoo physician Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude, or "Baby Doc." Tens of thousands of people were killed under their 29-year rule. However, the main problem of Haiti remains the wealth gap between the majority of the population who speak Creole, and the minority French-speakers whom own half of the country' s wealth. 

Violence against women is widespread in Haiti. Women are at risk of being raped at any time. The recent earthquake disaster where tens of thousands of people were killed and much of the capital and its wider area were devastated made women more vulnerable to sexual attack. Women living in temporary camps feel threatened that they could be victims of sexual violence at any time.

• Haiti ratified The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in July 20, 1981

• Haiti does not have a National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325)

• Haiti has a UN peacekeeping mandate: United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)

Sources:BBC; Amnesty International; UNIFEM