Happiness Report Haiti

The first World Happiness Report was published in 2012 to better understand happiness and well-being of various countries throughout the world. A country that is extremely low on the World Happiness Report—ranked one hundred thirty-six out of one hundred fifty-seven—is Haiti. Although this ranking is from the 2016 version of the World Happiness Report, Haiti, since the first published report, has always maintained a spot in the lower quartile—ranked one hundred fifty in 2012, one hundred twenty-six in 2013, and one hundred nineteen in 2015. Furthermore, in order to understand the fluctuations and low rankings of Haiti in the World Happiness Report, one must first be knowledgeable of Haiti’s past. Haiti lies on the island of Hispaniola in

However, in 1804, the Haitian independence leader defeated Napoleon’s Army and became the first free black Republic in the world. Once this change occurred, other countries realized what Haiti had accomplished and attempted to follow in the Haitian footsteps; Haiti represented the ones who were oppressed and faced colonialism by supporting the independence movements across Latin America. As a result, the United States, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, and Great Britain refused to trade with the country. Moreover, in 1825, France subsequently threatened to reinvade and enslave the citizens of Haiti unless the Haitian government paid an extortion fee—approximately $21.7 billion in present-day United States currency. In order to prevent France from once again invading the country, the Haitian government agreed with the extortion fee. However, this agreement forced Haiti to close all public schools, along with a

According to the World Happiness Report, Haiti is ranked as one of the lowest countries with freedom to make life choices; the country’s ranking is only higher than six other countries: Burundi, Syria, Angola, Sudan, Greece, and Bosnia. The current government in Haiti is a semi-presidential republic system. Therefore, the country is represented by both a president and a prime minister. Despite the citizens possessing the ability to elect a president, it has been proven several times that the citizens of Haiti have minimum amount of power. According to the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Haiti is ranked among the three most corrupt countries in the world. Haiti seems to always be in a state of transition, and its government officials often use their position for personal gains. In an article published on corruption in Haiti, Marilyn B. Allien, the President of the Transparency International's national chapter-in-formation in Haiti, La Fondation héritage pour Haïti (LFHH),