FRENCH OVERSEAS PROFILE

3 Overseas 2 Overseas Ministry of Interior – Disaster Management No Coverage Departments* Collectivities** (France) Structure from UN RC System Pop: 212,558 Pop: 269,155

19% 33%

17% 62% 64% 5% SAINT-BARTHÉLÉMY Pop: 9,793 SAINT-MARTIN 15% Pop: 376,507 Pop: 35,746 10%

17% 26% 75%

19% 64% 66% 8%

Population 0-14 Population aged 65 and older Population aged 15-64 Source: National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (France) KEY ISSUES MAJOR DISASTERS DENGUE EPIDEMIC (2017) Since 2019, there has been an exponential increase in dengue cases in the French Caribbean. French Guiana On 6 September 2017, Hurricane Irma violently struck the Overseas Collectivities of Saint-Barthélémy and has witnessed the largest year-to-year increase in cases in the non-Latin Caribbean, with a 13,958 per cent Saint-Martin, leaving 11 dead, damaging nearly 95 per cent of buildings across both , and causing some increase as of July 2020 compared to the same period of 2019.1 Likewise, Saint-Martin (+9,275 per cent), Guad- 7,000 people to flee in search of shelter in Guadeloupe, Martinique and mainland France.5 Estimated losses in eloupe (+2,991 per cent) and Martinique (+1,244 per cent) have all seen significant increases in dengue cases Saint-Martin were around $US1.55 billion, upwards of 100 per cent of GDP, and Saint-Barthélémy suffered compared to July 2019, and Saint-Barthélémy, which had no cases in 2019, reported 521 cases as of July 2020.1 roughly $780 million in losses.6 INDIGENOUS & HAITIAN POPULATIONS COVID-19 In French Guiana, account for roughly five per cent of the population residing mainly in There has been a significant COVID-19 outbreak in the French Caribbean, with French Guiana registering one of the remote areas which lack basic infrastructure and social services.2 has given rise to environme- highest rates of infection per one million population in the region.1 Across the French Caribbean, ntal problems such as water pollution, deforestation and malaria transmission, which have negatively containment measures and lockdowns have devastated and greatly exacerbated existing socioeconomic affected traditional economies.1 Moreover, represent one of the largest immigrant groups in the vulnerabilities. In French Guiana, access to water, sanitation and health care are limited among interior and marginal French Caribbean, largely concentrated in Guadeloupe (15,063) and French Guiana (17,052),3 most of whom urban populations, with the shortage and uneven distribution of health care centers and workers of particular concern amid the pandemic.1 While the state of emergency has been lifted in the rest of France, it will remain in are undocumented migrants subject to a range of abuses and the constant threat of deportation.4 Haitians effect until at least 30 October in French Guiana, as the Overseas Department struggles to contain the virus. For the work mainly in the informal economy and lack access to basic social services. most recent update on the COVID-19 caseload in the French Caribbean, see the PAHO daily reported COVID-19 data.

Sources: 1. PAHO / 2. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs / 3. UNICEF / 4. Minority Rights Group International / 5. / 6. Centre for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology. The numbers presented are for orientation and not conclusive. The boundaries and names shown, and the designations used on the map above, do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. Creation date: 2020 October. Feedback: [email protected]. *Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Martinique are Overseas Departments. **Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélémy are Overseas Collectivities.