In 2025, 15 years after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake and nine years on from the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew, the
country remains deeply distressed. Its challenges were intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, followed by, in 2021, the assassination of the head of state and 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Efforts at reconstruction have fallen short, leaving extreme socioeconomic inequality and chronic political and gang violence unaddressed (ICG, 2024).