In 2006, child right violations were common in Haiti. However, the new president, Preval, supported The Agenda, a plan promoting child protection and could provide hope for Haiti’s children. Haiti’s health services were awful, causing horrible immunization and HIV rates resulting in 1 of every 4 children never living past their birthday. Since more than 200,000 children’s parents died from HIV, many children escaped from violence and most of Haiti was in severe poverty, kids frequently lived in the streets, and were likely to join or be affected by the gangs which dominate those areas. Restaveks, children given to richer families are often exploited rather than having an improved lifestyle as promised. Education is a struggle for most Haitians, as a third of 15 to 24 year olds are illiterate, because of the poverty rate, which forces them to work at home, distance to the school, and the transportation to get there. Often, children had to chose between spending the day gaining getting water, which often unsanitary, and going to school to get an education. Even if these barriers were overcome, the schools were packed, in bad condition and lacked adequate resources. Children in Haiti were being treated with limited rights, and need help desperately.
