Cash in the City: The Case of Port-au-Prince

Following the devastating 2010 earthquake and subsequent cholera epidemic, Port-au-Prince residents have faced increasing challenges including food insecurity, socio-economic unrest with complete lockdowns, and escalating gang violence. The city, home to 24% of Haiti's population, has experienced rapid urbanization with urban population projected to reach 75% by 2050. With 58.5% of Haiti's population living in poverty as of 2012 and nearly 60% in 2020, the country remains the poorest in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The security situation has severely deteriorated, with violence against civilians rising 35% in 2020 compared to 2019, and Port-au-Prince being characterized as the 'kidnapping capital of the world'. Armed gangs increasingly control impoverished neighborhoods, while food insecurity has worsened from 30% of households in 2016 to 46% of the population facing acute food insecurity in 2021. The COVID pandemic has further compounded these challenges through business and school closures.

Given the insecurity that limits possibilities to collect necessary information for targeting vulnerable residents, this paper aims to provide meaningful evidence for remote targeting and delivery of social assistance programs. The authors develop a Composite Urban Vulnerability Indicator (CUVI) that combines household survey data with geospatial information to map vulnerability across the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area.

The research offers a comprehensive snapshot of inequality and vulnerability within the city, providing crucial evidence to inform social protection programming in an environment where traditional data collection methods are severely constrained by security concerns and operational challenges.