Canaan, Haiti

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Canaan
Canaan Location in Haiti
Coordinates: 18°38′46″N 72°16′23″W / 18.64611°N 72.27306°W / 18.64611; -72.27306
Country	Haiti
Department	Ouest
Arrondissement	Croix-des-Bouquets
Time zone	UTC-5 (UTC)

Canaan, Haiti, is a suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets and Thomazeau in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, by 2016 an estimated population of 200,000 is settling in the about 50 square kilometers large territory that was expropriated in reaction to the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake. Since 2010 earthquake victims that were fleeing the chaos in the adjacent Port-au-Prince neighborhoods, migrants from rural zones of Haiti and people profiting from the uncontrolled situation invested according to ONU-Habitat data more than 10 million US Dollar in the development of the "new city".

The Government of Haiti initially refused to recognize settlements like Canaan as permanent settlements and officially banned the construction of any permanent structures or the implementation of any infrastructure projects in the area. Over time, the de facto land ownership has become accepted and donors have funding projects including roads and water systems.

In June 2013, the BBC World Service's World Have Your Say had a radio programme on Canaan's explosive growth, interviewing a man there who described how people from other displacement camps around Haiti and even other long-term residents of other areas of Haiti were increasingly coming to Canaan despite its lack of running water (there are pump stations, around which there are often fights), lack of a permanent hospital, and lack of transportation options outside daylight hours. The same month, the BBC News website posted an article detailing many of the same concerns about Canaan in written form.^[1] The growth of Canaan is not expected to slow or cease in the near term.

In February 2015, USAID and its funding partner the American Red Cross (ARC) announce a two-year long, approximately 14 Million US-Dollar activity—the Canaan Upgrading and Community Development / Ann Develope Canaan (Haitian Creole) Program—working closely with the Unité de Construction de Logements et de Bâtiments Publics (of the Office of the Prime Minister) to support the Government of Haiti's vision to promote equitable and resilient urban development in the Canaan zone.