Summary of Findings in Long-Term Assessment of the Haitian Government's 16/6 Housing Plan for Earthquake Victims

This two-page briefing summarizes a long-term survey by IJDH and BAI, with students from the Haiti Education & Leadership Program and Fordham Law School, of the Haitian government's 16/6 housing plan for victims of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. The plan, implemented by IOM and funded by the Haiti Reconstruction Fund with USAID support, provided up to 500 dollars in rental assistance for one year. Researchers interviewed 150 families from six camps in 2010, re-interviewed 75 in 2012 and 44 in 2013. Short-term results were positive: 73 percent felt safer in their new homes and about two-thirds reported better living conditions than in the camps. But after subsidies expired for 92 percent of respondents, the rated success of the plan fell from 61 percent to 45 percent, 57 percent reported worse housing than before the earthquake, 80 percent said their overall living situation was worse than pre-earthquake, and 61 percent of those still in program housing could not pay rent. The brief urges a long-term, sustainable housing strategy combining affordable housing with employment support.