A good place to start for up to date information on Haiti is the British-based Haiti Support Group which carries news and features from international and domestic sources. It was established in 1992 after Aristide's overthrow and has focussed on developing contacts with grassroots and community organisations. The site also contains information on campaigns and links to local groups.

The Grammy Award-winning Haitian hip hop musician Wyclef Jean recently set up the non-political Yele Haiti Foundation "to empower the people of Haiti and the Haitian diaspora to rebuild their nation". The website carries information on social problems such as the recruitment of children by gangs.

One of Yele's projects has involved enlisting hip hop musicians to deliver food packages to families in parts of the capital Port-au-Prince which some other aidworkers have deemed too violent. The website details Yele's projects in education, health, environment and humanitarian aid. It's a colourful and chatty website with plenty of pictures - and music too.

For an account of just how grim life is in Cite Soleil, the most dangerous of the capital's slums, have a look at the Medecins Sans Frontieres' website. The medical charity, which has been working in Cite Soleil since 1991, can treat more than 200 gunshot injuries in a month. The website carries updates on gang violence and video footage of MSF's work.

Oxfam, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms released an informative report in January 2006 about how gun violence is affecting everyday life - The Call for Tough Arms; Voices from Haiti.

Oxfam's website also has interviews with survivors of the 2004 floods and details on its work in such areas as disaster mitigation and poverty reduction.

If you want to contact an aid organisation the Haiti Humanitarian Information Network has a directory of groups and the areas and sectors they are working in. The list has contact names and telephone numbers, but it's not clear how up to date they are and there are no specific details of the aid being provided.

For information on refugees the best place to start is the UNHCR's website. A UNHCR paper Haiti: Social Crisis and Population Displacement gives a detailed account of the run-up to the current crisis. It also covers international aid and migration. It's not bang up to date, but still useful for understanding the background to Aristide's departure and the present mess.

Human Rights Watch gives a clear picture of the anarchy in the country, allegations of extrajudicial killings, torture, abuses by police and former soldiers and corruption in the justice system. Amnesty International also carries reports on human rights abuses, gang violence and the proliferation of guns.

The Haiti Government website is run by its embassy in Washington. Fairly dry as you might expect, the site carries official statements in French and English. Perhaps most usefully, it has a list of government ministers with telephone numbers. There's also a detailed chronology to get you up to speed on Haiti's history.

Finally, for information on current and past U.N. peacekeeping missions see the website for the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti.