The earthquake on January 12, 2010 has caused an unprecedented situation in Haiti with enormousrepercussions affecting all sectors of society, well beyond the areas directly affected by the catastrophe. Over 200, 000 lives were lost. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have been left homeless and have fledthe affected area to find refuge in the provinces, adding to an economic situation which was alreadydifficult in these regions. In order to respond to a catastrophe of this scale, this assessment has been designed to go further thantraditional post-disaster assessments. The objective has been to lay the foundations for a fresh start inthe country's development efforts, as well as to reconstruct the damaged areas and contribute to a long-term national strategic development plan, in order to begin rebuilding Haiti. This assessment was carried out under the supervision of the High Level Management Team led bythe Prime Minister and including the following members: the United Nations Humanitarian/ResidentCoordinator, a representative of the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti, the World Bank MissionLeader, the Resident Representative of the IDB, three G11 representatives, and the European Union Headof Delegation. The Management Team has given strategic advice and provided the necessary resourcesthroughout the process.