UN Dispatch on Helping Women and Girls Face the Challenges of Post Earthquake Haiti

The UN Dispatch website today podcasts an interview on the subject of the challenges faced by women since the earthquake in Haiti nearly one year ago. Just as the treatment and the equality of opportunity of women improves as a country becomes more prosperous and safe, so we see that when a catastrophe like the Haitian earthquake leaves a huge number of people in desperate poverty and physical danger, women suffer the effects disproportionately. From poor healthcare, lack of access to contraception and family planning education, poor security and the increased prevalence of sexual violence, things are pretty bleak (Haiti has the highest maternal mortality rate during childbirth in the western world). The director of women and population at the UN Foundation explains in this interview what her organization is doing to improve the situation for women in particular in the huge homeless camps across Haiti.