Cité-Soleil: grinding poverty, relentless violence

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28-06-2006 Photo Collection

Cité-Soleil: grinding poverty, relentless violence

Built in the 1960s to house a few thousand workers, Cité-Soleil is now one of the largest shantytowns in the northern hemisphere and a microcosm of all the ills that beset Haitian society: endemic unemployment, illiteracy, the collapse of public services, insalubrity, crime and violence.

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Front door of the Haitian Red Cross building in Cité-Soleil – Two Red Cross volunteers were wounded here in July 2005 when they were caught in crossfire between MINUSTAH soldiers and members of an armed group. One was hit in the jaw, the other had a finger shot off. The incident shook the volunteers but did not deter them from carrying on with their work. The ICRC later stepped up its dialogue with MINUSTAH and the armed groups operating in the shantytown with a view to ensuring the volunteers' safety and ability to perform their tasks.

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