The COVID-19 pandemic’s requirement for remote work, remote learning, and digital communication exposed and deepened Haiti’s severe digital divide in 2020, as the country’s limited internet infrastructure proved utterly inadequate for the demands that the pandemic imposed. Haiti’s internet penetration rate was among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere, with connectivity concentrated in wealthier urban areas and essentially absent in most rural communities.
For the minority of Haitians with smartphone access and data connectivity, digital tools had become essential during the pandemic — for remote work, online learning, telemedicine consultations, and maintaining social connections during periods of reduced mobility. For the majority without reliable connectivity, these tools were unavailable, creating a two-tier experience of the pandemic that mirrored Haiti’s broader social inequality.
The education implications of the digital divide were particularly severe. Online learning initiatives launched as a response to school closures could only reach students with devices and data access — a small fraction of the school-age population. The students who most needed learning support during school closures were precisely those whose families were least likely to have the technology to access it.
Telecommunications companies, international development organizations, and government officials debated strategies for expanding internet access in Haiti, but the investment required and the political instability that discouraged it meant that the digital divide was unlikely to close quickly. In the meantime, the pandemic had made clear that inadequate digital infrastructure was not just an inconvenience but a fundamental barrier to economic development and public service delivery.