Despite a spate of natural disasters and political crises, Haiti's reconstruction from the 2010 devastating earthquake has made significant advances in 2012.

The number of people who were relocated to temporary camps after the massive quake has now been reduced to 360,000 from the initial 1.3 million.

Several projects have also been carried out to change the destroyed landscape of Port-au-Prince, although the government said it still needs $12 billion to consolidate the country's reconstruction.

The government has also launched a program against extreme poverty with an initial funding of $13 million for the first year.

In another sign of development, the country's first waste water treatment plant was opened.

The advances were made in a year marred by political crises, an economic slowdown and serious natural disasters.

President Michel Martelly, who came to power in May 2011, has faced several problems in 2012, including fresh anti-government protests and constant rows between the government and the parliament.

In April, Martelly underwent a pulmonary emergency surgery in the United States and had to present documents to prove he was qualified to take the post in order to ease his tension with the parliament, which was investigating his alleged role in the arrest of a congressman in 2011.

In May, the parliament finally ratified Laurent Lamothe as new prime minister, three months after Garry Conille reportedly resigned over growing confrontation between Martelly's government and the opposition-held legislature.

The outgoing year also saw the release of a new Haiti Constitution, which includes some important reforms on such controversial issues as the double-nationality right, which are related to elections in the country.

In February, Martelly rejected allegations that he held double nationalities, which, if validated, would bar him from being the country's head of state.

In 2012, a new Superior Council of the Judicial Power was also established in the country, a new police chief was appointed and at the end of the year, a Permanent Electoral Council was formed, although it can't call mid-term elections.

In the second half of the year, several protests took place in Haiti against the government, insecurity and high living costs, and the extended presence of the UN Stabilization Mission for Haiti (Minustah).

In October, the UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend for another year the mandate of MINUSTAH while withdrawing some mission staff from the Caribbean country.

Economically, the country is not doing as well as it had expected, with a GDP growth of 2.5 percent, much lower than the 7.8 percent predicted at the beginning of the year.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) blamed the low growth on a difficult agricultural season and hampered reconstruction efforts "because of a recurrent political crisis that delayed the prime minister's ratification as well as the slow outlay of external resources."

Hurricane "Sandy", tropical storm "Isaac" and other storms also aggravated Haiti's economic deceleration, killing about 100 people, affecting 250,000 others and costing the agriculture sector over $100 million.

These came after the country's agricultural production was hit by a drought in the first half of the year, which together with some other natural disasters, caused 2 million Haitians to suffer food insecurity, according to UN statistics.

Besides various natural disasters, Haiti has also witnessed an array of violent incidents amid a new wave of kidnappings, drug trafficking and others, with nearly 100 people killed each month.

In August, the United Nations denounced Haiti's current insecurity situation, noting that after months of stability, the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince became increasingly insecure.