Haiti's Untapped Potential: An Assessment of the Barriers to Gender Equality

HAITI'S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 1 © 2023 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. 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Because The World Bank encourages the dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522- 2625; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 2 Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations............................................. 6 Acknowledgments ............................................................ 8 Executive Summary ..........................................................9 1. Introduction..................................................................15 2. Stocktaking..................................................................21 2.1. Education 21 2.2. Health 27 2.3. Economic Opportunities 41 2.4. Voice, Agency, and Representation 60 3. Thematic Deep Dives................................................... 76 3.1. Gender Inequality in the Labor Market 76 3.2. Laws and Social Norms 93 3.3. Risky behaviors 101 3.4. Disaster and Risk Management 113 4. The Way Forward: Identifying Policy Options in a Complex and Challenging Environment.......130 4.1. Women’s Health Care 131 4.2. Education 132 4.3. Labor Market Access 133 4.4. Harmful Gendered Social Norms 136 4.5. Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence 137 4.6. Disaster and Risk Management 138 Annex..............................................................................141 References ....................................................................157 HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 3 List of Figures Figure 1 Gender Analysis Framework 18 Figure 2 Gender Gaps in Endowments Contribute to Gender Equalities in Other Dimensions 22 Figure 3 Net School Attendance Ratios of Males and Females in Haiti, 2012 and 2017 24 Figure 4 Highest Educational Level of Males and Females, Ages 15–24, 2000 and 2016–17 25 Figure 5 Highest Educational Level of Males and Females, Ages 25–49, 2000 and 2016–17 26 Figure 6 Undernutrition of Males and Females, 1994–2017 (Selected Years) 28 Figure 7 Undernutrition of Males and Females by Mother’s Highest Educational Level, 2000–2017 (Selected Years) 29 Figure 8 Child Mortality in Haiti and in Comparator Nations, 1990–2019 (Selected Years) 30 Figure 9 Adolescent Fertility Rate in Haiti, 2000–2017, and in Haiti vs. Comparator Countries, 1990–2019 (Selected Years) 32 Figure 10 Live Births Attended by Type of Place of Residence and Education, 2006–17, (Selected Years) 33 Figure 11 Antenatal Care Visits and Skilled Attendance, 2017 34 Figure 12 Maternal Mortality Ratio 35 Figure 13 Life Expectancy at Birth and Suicide Mortality Rate of Males and Females 37 Figure 14 Cigarettes and Alcohol Consumption by Gender and Age, 2017 39 Figure 15 Conceptual Framework 41 Figure 16 Labor Force Participation of Males and Females 42 Figure 17 Percentage of Youth not in Employment, Education, or Training by Gender and Rural or Urban Area 43 Figure 18 Labor Force Participation Rate by Gender and Age, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries, 2000–2019 46 Figure 19 Percentage of Workers Moving into Informal Jobs and Contributing to Social Security by Gender, July–August 2021 48 Figure 20 Unemployment Rate by Gender, 2019 49 Figure 21 Ownership of Property by Gender, 2017 51 Figure 22 Digital Access by Gender, Ages 15–49 52 Figure 23 Account Ownership, Loans, and Savings by Gender and Age, 2011–17 (Selected Years) 54 Figure 24 Types of Financial Products Used and Remittances by Gender 56 Figure 25 Gender Gaps in Productive Resources, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 57 Figure 26 Enterprise Ownership and Management by Gender, 2019 59 Figure 27 Conceptual Framework 60 Figure 28 Participation in Haiti Lower House and Senate by Gender, 2009 vs. 2019 61 Figure 29 Participation in the Justice System by Gender, 2017 62 Figure 30 Participation of Males and Females in Ministerial Cabinet Positions 63 Figure 31 People’s Views on Women’s Having More Income than Their Husbands, by Marital Status and Age, 2016 64 Figure 32 Decision-Making Power of Females, 2017 (%) 66 Figure 33 Decision-Making Power of Females in their Relationships, 2017 67 Figure 34 Decision-Making Power of Females regarding Main Decisions beyond Relationships, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 68 HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 4 Figure 35 Median Age at First Marriage by Gender, 2017 69 Figure 36 Median Age at First Marriage, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 70 Figure 37 Median Age at First Marriage among Females by Educational Attainment 70 Figure 38 Intimate Partner Violence Experienced by Women, 2000 and 2017 71 Figure 39 Haitian Females Who Disagree with Wife Beating by Education (%) 72 Figure 40 Women Who Disagree with Wife Beating, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries (%) 73 Figure 41 Physical Violence Committed by Women 74 Figure 42 Current Employment by Gender, Age, Marital Status, and Younger Persons in Household, 2017 77 Figure 43 Fertility Rates and Birth of First Child by Age, 2016–17 78 Figure 44 Employment Status by Gender and Age, 2017 80 Figure 45 Correlates of Engagement in the Labor Market by Gender—Marginal Effects 81 Figure 46 Marginal Effects of Males’ Engagement in the Labor Market by Region 82 Figure 47 Type of Occupation by Marital Status and Highest Educational Level, 2016–17 83 Figure 48 Continuity of Employment and Earnings 85 Figure 49 Distribution of Employees by Gender in the Sector of the Company for Which They Worked a Minimum of One Hour in the Previous Week 88 Figure B2 Textile Exports in Total Exports and GDP 89 Figure 50 Employment Status Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic 91 Figure 51 Participation in Household Responsibilities (%) 92 Figure 52 Equality in Legal Provisions, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 94 Figure 53 Haiti’s Scores for Women, Business and the Law (2022) 95 Figure 54 Views on Gender Roles in Society by Gender, 2016 97 Figure 55 Marginal Effects on Views on Gender Roles in Society by Gender, Age, Number of Children, and Education 98 Figure 56 Employment Status and Earnings Compared to Partner by Gender 99 Figure 57 Factors Associated with Not Attending School by Gender—Marginal Effects 102 Figure 58 Factors Associated with Dropping Out of School by Gender—Marginal Effects 104 Figure 59 Determinants of Dropping Out of School by Gender—Marginal Effects 106 Figure 60 Intimate Partner Violence by Department 107 Figure 61 Alcohol Consumption and Intimate Partner Violence Experienced by Women 110 Figure 62 Health-Risk Behaviors in Young People by Gender, Age, and Education 111 Figure 63 Marginal Effects on Intimate Partner Violence Experienced by Women 112 Figure 64 Conceptual Framework on Gender and Disasters 114 Figure 65 Households Threatened by Natural Hazards, by Gender of Head of Household (%), November–December 2021 120 Figure 66 Self-Reported Assessment of the Level of Preparedness of Households 121 Figure 67 Access to Information on Disasters 122 Figure 68 Correlates of Disaster Preparedness (Whether a Household Has Supplies for Use in Disasters or Emergencies) 123 Figure 69 Examining Correlates of Disaster Impacts 124 Figure 70 Sector of Employment by Gender 125 HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 5 Listo of Tables Table 1 Net Primary and Secondary School Attendance Rates, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 23 Table 2 Underweight and Stunted Children under Age 5, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries (%) 31 Table 3 General Fertility Rates and Pregnancy-Related Mortality Rates, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 36 Table 4 Indicators on Economic Opportunities: Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 44 Table 5 Women’s Participation in the Legislature, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries (%) 63 Table 6 Intimate Partner Violence, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries 108 Table 7 Risk Scores, Haiti vs. Other Caribbean countries, 2020 115 Table 8 Probit Analysis Results of Factors Associated with Women’s Labor Market Engagement—Marginal Effects 141 Table 9 Probit Analysis Results of Factors Associated with Not Attending School by Gender—Marginal Effects 143 Table 10 Probit Analysis Results of Factors Associated with Dropping Out of School by Gender—Marginal Effects 146 Table 11 Probit Analysis Results of Factors Associated with Dropping Out of School by Gender—Marginal Effects 148 Table 12 Probit Analysis Results on Intimate Partner Violence—Marginal Effects 151 Table 13 Legal Equality for Women—Women, Business and the Law (2022) 154 Table 14 World Bank Sector Specialists Who Participated in Expert Consultations to Identify and Prioritize Policy Recommendations 156 List of Boxes Box 1 Conceptual Framework for Gender Equality from the WDR 2012 (World Bank 2012) 17 Box 2 Economic Potential in the Textile Sector for Women in Haiti 89 Box 3 Madan Saras—An Enduring Symbol of Haitian Women’s Strengths and Vulnerabilities 109 Box 4 The Role of Women in Disaster-Preparedness Activities 116 Box 5 Key Inequalities between Men and Women in Haiti and Implications for Vulnerability to Disasters 118 Box 6 Gender-Based Violence in Postdisaster Situations 126 Box 7 Interviews on the Spaces Used as Shelters in the Community 127 Box 8 The Potential of Results-Based Financing to Improve Women’s Access to Maternal Health Care 132 Box 9 Adopting a Comprehensive Approach to Integrate Gender Considerations in DRM and Climate Resilience in Haiti 140 HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 6 Acronyms and Abbreviations AGI Adolescent Girl Initiative CBO Community-Based Women’s Organization CECI Centre d’Étude et de Coopération Internationale COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019 DHS Demographic and Health Survey DRM Disaster Risk Management DRMKC Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ECVMAS Enquête sur les Conditions de Vie des Ménages après Séisme EIC Communal Intervention Teams FCSs Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations GBV Gender-Based Violence GDP Gross Domestic Product HFS High-Frequency Monitoring Phone Surveys HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus HOPE Opportunity through Production Encouragement Act ICT Information and Communication ILO International Labour Organization IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union IPV Intimate Partner Violence LAC Latin America and the Caribbean MAMs Mechanisms for the Advancement of Women MCFDF Le Ministère à la Condition Féminine et aux Droits des Femmes MEF Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances MSPP Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population NEET Not engaged in education, employment, or training PGRAC Projet de Gestion des Risques et de Résilience aux aléas Climatiques HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 7 RBF Results-Based Financing SEIA Digital Socio-Economic Impact Assessment SNGRD Système National de Gestion des Risques de Désastres STI Sexually Transmitted Infections SSA Sub-Saharan Africa UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UN United Nations UNFPA United Nations Fund for Population Activities WBG World Bank Group WBL Women, Business and the Law WDI World Development Indicators WDR World Development Report WHO World Health Organization WVS World Values Survey HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 8 Acknowledgments This report was prepared by the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice led by Gustavo Javier Canavire Bacarreza, Isis Gaddis, and Olive Nsababera. The team was composed of Paola Buitrago Hernandez, Erin K. Fletcher, Marlen Cardona, and Melissa Badio, with contributions from Sarah Sebbar and Naraya Carrasco. The work was carried out under the direction of Lilia Burunciuc, Country Director for the Caribbean countries; Ximena del Carpio (previous Manager of the Global Poverty and Equity Practice), and Carlos Rodriguez Castelan, Manager of the Global Poverty and Equity Practice; Laurent Msellati, Resident Representative; Javier Suarez, Program Leader for Equity, Finance, and Institutions and Timothy A. Johnston, Program Leader for Human Development. The team received valuable advice and feedback from Miriam Muller and Daniel Kirkwood and World Bank sector specialists, who informed the policy recommendations outlined in the report: Cornelia Tesliuc, Malaika Becoulet, Xavier Espinet Alegre, Manuel Contreras Urbina, Mariana Vijil, Marvin Ploetz, Naraya Carrasco, Viviana Sandoval Sierra, Niki Angelou, Stephanie Nsom, Quynh Nguyen, Axelle Latortue, and representatives of the following institutions: UN Women, UNFPA, Neges Mawon, WE ARE WOMEN ORG. Refuge des Femmes, Ligue Haïtienne des Femmes pour le Renouveau, Plateforme Genre du Nord-Ouest, Mouvement des Femmes Visionnaires d’Haïti, and the Haitian Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Pamela Gunio oversaw the administrative process with additional support from Iris Teluska; Sara Ochoa was in charge of design. HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 9 Executive Summary Although the world over has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, Haiti has been additionally rocked by earthquakes, hurricanes, and political upheaval in recent years. These shocks have come on top of existing fragilities, exacerbating dangers for marginalized and vulnerable populations. This gender assessment seeks to describe gender inequalities in Haiti on the heels of this difficult period. The World Bank Group (WBG) sees the closing of key gaps between men and women and expanding of women’s and girls’ voice and agency as critical to its goals of eliminating poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The assessment takes a broad and deep look at Haiti through a limited data landscape, relying on multiple data sources, including the Demographic Health Survey (DHS), a multitopic household survey conducted in 2016–17 for analysis of key gender gaps and the World Bank’s High-Frequency Phone Surveys conducted in 2020 and 2021 for more-recent evidence, to identify gender gaps and inequalities. Where appropriate, the report makes comparisons to regional neighbors and other countries with similar economic profiles. The report provides information on gender and key barriers to gender equality in Haiti for policy makers, operational teams and the general public with an interest on gender. The report starts with an overview of gender gaps in endowments, economic opportunities and voice and agency, following the conceptual framework of the 2012 World Development Report on Gender (WDR) (World Bank 2012) and the World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy (World Bank 2016). Subsequently, it looks at four key areas where gender gaps are pronounced. The first of these deep dives examines labor market inequalities, including constraints and opportunities for women; the second, gender gaps in the legal and regulatory environment; and the third, risky behaviors and the disproportionate gendered effects of these. The fourth, written in concert with the World Bank’s Disaster and Risk Management team, examines the gendered vulnerabilities that have arisen or become more apparent as a result of recent natural disasters. Based on the analysis and in line with Haiti’s Systematic Country Diagnostic Update (World Bank 2022a), the final section discusses feasible short-term policy options to help narrow the gender gaps identified and presents medium-/longer-term policy options worth considering once the country reaches a more stable situation. In the area of human endowment in education, girls have made significant strides in increasing attendance, though adult educational attainment remains low overall. Haiti has closed or reversed gender gaps in enrollment at the secondary and tertiary HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 10 levels, but not at lower levels. Boys still have higher net attendance rates than girls for primary school in urban areas and boys in urban areas have higher rates of completion for tertiary education. The closing of gender gaps in education has been noted throughout the Caribbean in Central America (Demombynes, Holland, and León 2010). Taken together, these facts underscore the significant dropout rates experienced by boys beyond the primary level, suggesting a new gender vulnerability that merits attention in order to keep boys from losing ground. Interventions that seek to improve the quality of and access to education for all children have been shown to have strong effects on enrollments and educational outcomes for both boys and girls. These include cash transfers, pedagogy programs for teachers, and in some cases infrastructure improvements. Furthermore, where girls have unique needs for assistance, such as with menstruation and negotiating schooling with chores and housework, programs targeted at girls are necessary to improve their educational outcomes (Evans and Yuan 2022). Extrapolating that finding to boys, identifying the reasons they are leaving school is key to determining policy solutions. The deep dive on risky behaviors examines some risks of school dropout that disproportionately affect boys. Although gender gaps in educational attainment among the population ages 25–49 years narrowed between 2000 and 2017, adult men remain significantly more likely to have attended or completed secondary and tertiary education. These findings come from the latest household data, which reflect women’s historic disadvantage in educational attainment. Education, important in its own right, is also associated with delayed age of marriage and pregnancy in Haiti, and mother’s education is strongly associated with nutritional outcomes of children. Women who marry later in life and attain more years of education are also less likely to report intimate partner violence. In Haiti women are uniquely vulnerable when it comes to reproductive health and suffer from high rates of maternal mortality and pregnancy complications, whereas men and young boys are more vulnerable in terms of risky behaviors. Women have limited access to reproductive health services, such as skilled birth attendants and birthing facilities, and limited control over and agency regarding decision-making about their health care. Maternal and infant mortality are high and the latter spiked following the earthquake in 2010. Women are more often the victims of domestic violence and may be more vulnerable when disaster strikes due to their health needs. With a lifetime risk of maternal death of 1 in 67 (in 2017), women in Haiti have the second-highest maternal mortality rate of any country in the world outside of Sub Saharan Africa (only women in Afghanistan experience a higher rate). According to the latest data (from 2017), one in four women ages 15 to 49 years has experienced intimate partner violence. Despite the many challenges women face, girls have better nutritional outcomes than boys and women have longer lifespans and are less likely to engage in risky behaviors than men. HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 11 Women in Haiti have less voice when it comes to decision-making about their own health care, spending on household purchases, and visiting friends and family, but the figures are similar to neighboring countries. Some 40 percent of women report that someone else makes these decisions for them. Moreover, many women are unable to assert control over their sexual health, with 38 percent of women reporting they are unable to ask their partners to use condoms. Higher levels of education are generally correlated with increased decision-making, autonomy, child nutritional status, access to health services and other positive indicators in Haiti. Evidence from other countries shows that increased education is necessary, but not sufficient, to increase women’s decision-making power (Samarakoon and Parinduri 2015). In the area of labor markets, women are less likely to participate in the labor market and, when they do, they face higher unemployment rates or concentrate in a few sectors of employment, realities that may be driven by structural phenomena and gender stereotypes. Women are found more commonly in services, retail, trade, and textile manufacturing jobs, with men dominating fields such as construction. The segregation is notable and although women are not explicitly barred from working particular shifts or types of work, they are limited by cultural and social norms and expectations for their role in society. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, women faced higher unemployment rates: about 23 percent of women in urban areas were unemployed, compared to 17 percent of men. During the pandemic women were much more likely to leave the workforce than men, who were more likely to enter informal work, reflecting a pattern of low labor market attachment among women that was present before the pandemic and expanded during it. As shown in other countries, women’s disproportionate decline in employment during the pandemic may be related to the unequal division of unpaid domestic work between men and women. Women are expected to bear more home and family duties, which increased during the pandemic. Because wage information is lacking in the data, we were unable to assess gender wage gaps, highlighting the need for further study. Women’s access to productive resources, including land and financial instruments, is statistically significantly lower than men’s access. Only 8 percent of women in rural areas, where agriculture is the dominant sector, own land, compared to 14 percent of men. Overall rates of financial inclusion in Haiti are extremely low—only about one-third of Haitians have access to a bank account—and the gender gap is around 5 percentage points. So while gender gaps are noticeable, with women being less likely than men to have a bank account, savings, or have taken out a loan, these statistics should be considered in light of the low availability and access to financial instruments in general. The gender gap in access to resources is also lower in Haiti than in regional comparators. HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 12 In the legal and regulatory sphere, there is ample room for provisions that promote gender equality. Haiti has more restrictive laws and fewer legal provisions promoting gender equality than its regional comparators. Although equal ownership and access to assets and property ownership are guaranteed in the 2020 marital status decree, more research is needed into how and whether this and other gender equitable legislation are applied in practice. Despite extant legislation on sexual harassment, women report high levels of harassment in schools and the workplace and further that it limits their ability to make academic and professional progress. As in many other countries in the region, there are no legal provisions concerning paternity or (shared) parental leave, which reinforces gender stereotypes of women as the main caregivers in the household. One reason for the country’s poor performance in terms of legal rights and protections for women and mothers could be that women are strikingly underrepresented in parliament, as well as in all other levels of government. The deep dive on risky behaviors shows gender gaps in key areas that predict mortality and lower educational attainment. Boys have lower attendance rates than girls, which both limits continued progress in school—evidenced in lower enrollment ratios in higher levels of education—and provides opportunities for risky behaviors. Men are more likely to smoke, drink, and join gangs, possibly contributing to lower school attendance and completion. At the same time, women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence and violence in the workplace and at home. Many women and men in Haiti believe that wife beating is justified for one reason or another and women are very likely to experience physical, sexual, or emotional violence or some combination by their partners. Reports of emotional and physical violence increased over the period 2010 to 2017 for almost all age groups, while reports of sexual violence decreased for all age groups except among those 15–19 years old. Existing gender inequalities and unique health needs of women have implications for Haitians’ differential ability to recover from disasters by gender, further perpetuating and exacerbating these inequalities. Gender inequalities in economic opportunity, limited access to information, limited involvement in disaster management policies, and in the capacity for decision-making may place women in a position of higher vulnerability in the face of disasters. Recovery from natural disasters has proved difficult and each subsequent crisis has multiplied the effects of the previous ones, which is particularly worrisome for women. For example, the destruction and closure of hospitals and clinics has complicated access to maternal and neonatal care. Indeed, infant mortality rose sharply after the 2010 earthquake. Women are less likely to be employed and have less access to savings and credit and so lack a safety net and the ability to recover from disasters. They are likely to be engaged in services work, which may be less in demand following a disaster. Though we lack specific data from Haiti, evidence from other countries shows that women and girls in the aftermath of a disaster often fall into poverty and turn to transactional sex, putting themselves HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 13 at risk for more violence and disease. In addition, recent data from Haiti show that domestic violence and general insecurity have increased in recent years. Women and girls are also exposed to gender-based violence during aid distribution and in emergency shelters. Women are particularly vulnerable in their homes as well as in certain labor sectors and the general insecurity affects the ability of all Haitians to conduct business, manage personal affairs, and attend school and work safely. In Haiti’s complex context it is important to acknowledge that policy change is difficult to fathom at present, given the lack of basic security and profound governance challenges. As outlined in the Haiti Systematic Country Diagnostic Update (World Bank 2022a), lessons from WBG engagement in fragility, conflict, and violence environments on defining priorities call for a strong people-centered approach that prioritizes inclusion, supporting the most vulnerable while at the same time taking into consideration gender and youth issues. Recognizing Haiti’s policy and security landscape, there is a need to distinguish between feasible short-term policy options to narrow or prevent gender gaps from widening further, and medium- to longer-term transformation efforts toward gender equality that are worth considering in a more stable political and security situation. More importantly, the effectiveness of any policy aimed at gender equality will require capitalizing on the social fabric formed by civil organizations currently working in the country. HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 14Introduction HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 15 1. Introduction This gender assessment comes at a difficult and critical juncture in Haiti’s history. The country is currently reeling from natural disasters, including a devastating earthquake and tropical storm, the political fallout from the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and the economic and social consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In all, 2021 was a catastrophic year for Haiti’s people. The back-to-back disasters have come atop a number of preexisting fragilities, including a patronage-based and clientelist system of governance, high levels of corruption, and disturbingly high levels of social unrest and violence. These difficulties have not been born equally across the population, with marginalized groups bearing the brunt of the suffering. Economic growth has stalled in Haiti and large swaths of the population live below the poverty line. The country’s GDP in 2012, the most recent year for which data are available, put GDP per capita growing at 4.3 percent. Projections by the World Bank indicate that growth dropped dramatically in the following years, contracting by 3.3 and 1.8 percent in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Official poverty headcount data from 2012 indicate that 59 percent of the population live in poverty and 24 percent in extreme poverty. The population of poor is more concentrated in rural areas, with three-quarters of rural Haitians classified as asset poor. The Gini coefficient in 2012 was 0.61, indicating high levels of inequality. It is expected that all of these metrics have worsened during the pandemic. Haitian women are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of crises. Women are marginalized in all spheres, from the home to the highest levels of government, leaving them at risk of slipping further behind as the country’s crises and setbacks multiply. In many aspects of their lives, women disproportionately face violence, poverty, and mortality. With a lifetime risk of maternal death of 1 in 67 (in 2017), women in Haiti have the second-highest maternal mortality rate of any country in the world outside of Sub-Saharan Africa (only women in Afghanistan experience a higher rate). According to the latest available data (from 2017), one in four women ages 15 to 49 years has experienced intimate partner violence. Women are also more economically marginalized than men; less likely to be in stable, waged jobs; and virtually excluded from political institutions at all levels. Though these challenges have been exacerbated by recent events, Haiti has traditionally had poor outcomes in gender equality. Women in Haiti have limited HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 16 access to health services and significantly higher rates of maternal mortality than do women in other countries in the Caribbean. Haiti has more-restrictive laws and fewer protections promoting gender equality than its regional comparators and has lagged behind its counterparts in the Caribbean in terms of gender equality (World Bank 2002). Haiti does not rank worse than its counterparts in all aspects, however, as rates of intimate partner violence are similar to neighboring countries, women are more likely to be working, and women tend to marry later in Haiti than in comparator countries. Though explanations for Haiti’s underperformance on the measures mentioned above are lacking, some studies note that the lack of gender equality in policy making in particular may be a root cause of slow economic development, which could reinforce vicious cycles (Padgett and Warnecke 2011). And yet, women and girls in Haiti demonstrate extraordinary resilience and a drive for change. Women are increasingly becoming more educated and active in questioning the status quo. Although gender gaps in education have historically favored men, these gaps have reversed for younger Haitians. In terms of current school enrollment, girls are doing better than boys at the primary and secondary levels, raising new concerns about boys’ underperformance. Alongside human capital gains, there are signs that younger cohorts of women are questioning traditional gender norms. In the latest World Values Survey (2016), two-thirds of men agreed with the statement that when jobs are scarce, men should have more rights to a job than women, compared to only 12 percent of women—a substantial wedge that signals that many women fundamentally disagree with the status quo. At the same time, men and boys are increasingly at risk of falling behind in some arenas. As in much of the world, boys have worse nutritional outcomes than girls. As girls’ educational attainment rises, boys and male adolescents are more likely to drop out of school. Boys and men are more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as using alcohol and cigarettes and are more likely to commit suicide. They are more likely to join gangs, engage in criminal behavior, and have shorter life spans. Gender disparities such as those described above can have far-reaching consequences that go beyond the level of the individual and affect progress toward poverty reduction and shared prosperity. Greater gender equality improves economic productivity, development outcomes of children, and the quality of societal policies and institutions (World Bank 2012). In the context of Haiti, gender norms and stereotypes, along with an increase in routine stress caused by recent natural disasters, may also be linked to risky behaviors that start in adolescence and contribute to increased gang and interpersonal violence, which exacerbates the country’s structural vulnerabilities (Bermudez et al. 2019). HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 17 In light of these challenges, this gender assessment seeks to shed light on a wide range of gender gaps and barriers to gender equality in Haiti. It is intended as a broad overview for audiences who are new to Haiti while providing detail on key subjects that may provide additional resources to those seeking information on more-specific outcomes. The report covers a broad swath of topics affecting economic, social, and political outcomes (see box 1) and uses the latest data on education, health, labor force, laws, norms, violence, and other areas of concern. In particular, this report may be useful to policy makers and those seeking entry points in Haiti to address growth and poverty issues with a gender lens. Gender gaps serve to further entrench stagnation and poverty and there are significant potential economic gains to be had from ameliorating these gaps. This report stands in concert with the Haiti Country Diagnostic Update (World Bank 2022a), which highlights the threats of political instability and violence to growth and reform. Box 1 Conceptual Framework for Gender Equality from the WDR 2012 (World Bank 2012) The proper functioning of markets, institutions, and their interaction with households contribute to economic development and gender equality. Markets and institutions create the incentives and conditions that determine household decisions regarding the use of available resources, the preferences of household members, and their decision-making power within the household. According to the conceptual framework used in the 2012 World Development Report (World Bank 2012), household decisions contribute to gender equality and economic development through the efficient use of resources (economic opportunities), better-represented communities in policy making institutions (agency), and better health and education outcomes (human capital endowments). Gender gaps related to economic opportunities focus on the differences for household members in the use of time and access to productive inputs. In the case of equal capacity to practice agency, the ability to exercise control over resources (income, material assets), the freedom to make decisions within and outside the household, and the representation of opinions in organizations that influence the functioning of society are considered fundamental. Finally, education and health are analyzed as predictors of the potential that men and women can achieve in their communities. This conceptual framework is illustrated in figure 1 and interpreted as follows: propelled by economic growth, the gears representing markets and institutions turn, moving the household gear. The combined movement of these gears ultimately triggers the turning of the gear representing gender outcomes, thus increasing gender equality (World Bank 2012). HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 18 Figure 1 Gender Analysis Framework Policies INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS MARKETS Increasing returns to education FORMAL HOUSEHOLDS More stable incomes GENDER EQUALITY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AGENCY ENDOWMENTS GROWTH Source: World Bank (2012). INSTITUTIONS Lower direct, indirect, and opportunity costs This report draws on various data sources, but is still constrained by a lack of recent data on many core dimensions of gender equality. Serajuddin et al. (2015) characterize Haiti as a severely data-deprived country, and although this assessment was made more than seven years ago, little has changed since. Haiti’s last multitopic household survey, the 2012 Enquête sur les Conditions de Vie des Ménages après Séisme (ECVMAS)1, was conducted a decade ago. While we draw on these data for a select number of labor market indicators, much of our analysis relies on the more recent 2016–17 Haiti Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). DHS data are an excellent data source for topics such as population, health, nutrition, and gender-based violence, but not for other topics such as labor market participation. Therefore, we supplement the DHS data with other data sources, including the 2016 Haiti World Values Survey (World Values Survey 2016), the 2019 World Bank Enterprise Survey (World Bank 2019a), the World Bank’s COVID-19 High Frequency Monitoring Survey, and various cross-country databases (including ILO modeled estimates and projections, the World Bank’s World Development Indicator and Gender Data Portals, the World Bank’s Women Business and the Law Index). Finally, throughout the assessment we refer to the current literature on Haiti as well as the global literature on gender equality. This way, we can piece together a picture of gender inequality in the country. 1 Data catalog available in: https://catalog.ihsn.org/catalog/5360 HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 19 Throughout this assessment, Haiti’s performance is considered in light of the performance of a set of comparator countries. These include regional comparators (Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Honduras), aspirational comparators (Montenegro and Ghana), structural comparators (Sudan, Zimbabwe, Chad, Djibouti, Somalia, and Sierra Leone), and gender-specific comparators (Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, and Mauritania). Structural and aspirational comparators were identified using the World Bank’s Find My Friends tool (drawing on WDI data). Gender comparators were identified based on Haiti’s 2020 Women, Business and the Law (WBL) ranking and the 2020 UN’s Gender Equality Index (World Bank 2022a; UNDP 2020).2 The comparator countries used in this assessment are identical to those used for the concurrent Haiti Systematic Country Diagnostic Update (World Bank 2022a). In addition, Haiti’s performance is sometimes compared to the regional averages for Latin America and the Caribbean (as a simplified regional comparator) and Sub-Saharan Africa (as a simplified structural comparator). The analysis of gender equality in Haiti proceeds in two parts, starting with a stocktaking of the gender equality landscape and then zooming in on four thematic focus areas. Chapter 2 (stocktaking) provides a broad overview of gender gaps in endowments, economic opportunities, and voice and agency, thus following the conceptual framework of the 2012 World Development Report (WDR) on Gender depicted in figure 1 and the World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy (World Bank 2012, 2016). Each of the four sections of chapter 3 delves deeper into a key issue or gender gap identified in the stocktaking. The topics for these deep dives were selected based on relevance to the Haitian context, discussions with stakeholders, and data availability. World Bank country teams and local organizations were consulted on the relevance of the topics during brainstorming and consultation exercises. Chapter 3, section 1 examines labor market opportunities and constraints for women. Chapter 3, section 2 reviews the legal and regulatory environment that supports or hinders the reduction of gender gaps as well as gender-biased norms and attitudes. Chapter 3, section 3 provides an in-depth discussion of risky behaviors and the resulting health issues that disproportionately and distinctly affect either men or women. Chapter 3, section 4 looks at disaster risk management, a cross-cutting issue that has implications for all Haitians but presents unique challenges for women who may be particularly vulnerable, given preexisting inequalities. The final section discusses feasible short-term policy options to narrow or prevent gender gaps from widening further and medium- to longer-term transformation efforts toward gender equality that are worth considering in a more stable political and security landscape. 2 Botswana and Indonesia are the countries closest to Haiti’s ranking in the WBL data (excluding Micronesia, due to its very small popula tion size), while Mauritania and Côte d’Ivoire are closest to Haiti in the UN’s Gender Inequality Index. HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 20Stocktaking HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 21 2. Stocktaking The ensuing section examines differences in human capital endowments, specifically education and health; physical capital endowments; and economic opportunities in Haiti through a gender lens. Education is addressed in section 2.1 and health is addressed in section 2.2. Under economic opportunities, physical endowments, such as access to property or financial assets, are discussed in section 2.3. As described above, this section relies primarily on the 2016–17 DHS. Although these data are a few years old, they come from Haiti’s latest multitopic household survey, which was notable for collecting significant information on women’s experiences. The analysis is supplemented, where appropriate, with other data sources described in chapter 1. 2.1. Education Gender differences in educational attainment, well-documented around the world, provide an opportunity to investigate how families invest in their children where there are differential opportunities for boys and girls and yield insights into the potential trajectories of key socioeconomic indicators. Educational attainment is highly correlated with labor market opportunities and observing gender differences in education helps to understand a country’s potential trajectory for moving toward gender equality in subsequent years or not. Moreover, gender gaps in human capital endowments matter in their own right and contribute to economic exclusion and gender gaps in voice and agency (as shown in figure 2). HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 22 Figure 2 Gender Gaps in Endowments Contribute to Gender Equalities in Other Dimensions Endowments: The big picture Economic exclusion, esp. of women Adults Low levels of educational attainment, worse Child mortalityShocks: Natural disaster, COVID-19 Child malnutrition, esp. boys Poor health ∙ Health-related absences from the workforce ∙ Low levels of productivity, low incomes ∙ Women are in a disadvantaged position to earn higher wages and own/operate productive farms and ˆrms Children, adolescents and youth for adult women Low levels of school enrollment and completion, worse among boys Underutilization of reproductive care Risky behaviors: alcohol and drug use, teen pregnancies, crime and violence outcomes Maternal morbidity and mortality Gender gaps in voice and agency Formal and informal institutions ∙ Laws and regulations ∙ Social and cultural norms about men’s and women’s role in society ∙ Service delivery institutions ∙ Intrahousehold inequalities, e.g., in unpaid work, decision-making ∙ Lack of women’s political representation ∙ Gender based violence Overall educational attainment is low for all Haitians. Net attendance rates were approaching universal primary enrollment in 2017 in urban areas but fell dramatically short in rural areas. Secondary attendance was even worse, with less than a third of secondary-school age children enrolled in school. The overall rates of primary and secondary school attendance are lower in Haiti than in comparator countries in the region, such as the Dominican Republic and Honduras, but are higher than many comparator countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Côte d’Ivoire and Chad (table 1). HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 23 Table 1 Net Primary and Secondary School Attendance Rates, Haiti vs. Comparator Countries Net primary school attendance rate 84.1 90.1 89.5 92.6 79.6 50.8 68.0 69.7 56.0 86.8 91.0 Net secondary school attendance rate Haiti 45.6 Dominican Republic 53.6 Guatemala 44.4 Honduras 47.6 Indonesia 86.6 Chad 19.6 Côte d’Ivoire 28.4 Ghana 38.5 Mauritania 27.1 Sierra Leone 45.1 Zimbabwe 50.3 Source: DHS. The years of information are as follows: Haiti (2016–17), Dominican Republic (2013), Guatemala (2014–15), Honduras (2011–12), Indonesia (2017), Chad (2014–15), Côte d’Ivoire (2011–12), Ghana (2014), Mauritania (2019–21), Sierra Leone (2019), and Zimbabwe (2015). Jamai ca, Botswana, Montenegro, Djibouti, Somalia, and Sudan were also considered in order to compare Haiti’s performance, but there were no comparable data. In Haiti, there have been significant gains in school attendance for both boys and girls, with girls edging out boys at almost all levels. Between 2012 and 2017, net attendance rates increased for primary and secondary levels of education and in both urban and rural areas, as shown in figure 3. Gender gaps were narrow or marginally favored girls among several subgroups in 2012. By 2017, girls outperformed boys in terms of enrollment at all education system levels, except for primary education in urban areas, where gender gaps were minimal. Gender gaps in enrollment are particularly striking at the secondary level (figure 3, panel b); in 2017, girls had a net attendance rate of 65 percent in urban areas (compared to only 59 percent among boys) and 41 percent in rural areas (compared to 30 percent of boys). Although it is encouraging to see more girls attending school, the emerging pattern of boys’ educational underachievement is a cause for concern. Similar trends have long been noted in other Caribbean countries and are increasingly observed worldwide (World Bank forthcoming a). As discussed in Orlando and Lundwall (2010), boys’ increasing alienation from the education system in the Caribbean, especially during adolescence, may contribute to a range of risky behaviors, such as dropping out of school, committing crimes or violent acts, and engaging in risky or unsafe sexual behaviors. HAITI’S UNTAPPED POTENTIAL: An assessment of the barriers to gender equality 24 Figure 3 Net School Attendance Ratios of Males and Females in Haiti, 2012 and 2017 a) Net attendance ratio: Primary (%) 88.5 77.8 92.1 88.5 78.9 90.6 82.6 78.8 Urban Rural Urban Rural 2012 2017 Male Female b) Net attendance ratio: Secondary (%) 48.7 58.6 49.8 26.4 17.1 64.9 40.9 30.1 Urban Rural Urban Rural 2012 2017 Male Female Source: DHS (2012, 2016–17). The net attendance ratio for primary school corresponds to