The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) indicated this Friday that 40% of the population of Haiti currently suffers from food insecurity problems. This as a consequence of the serious socio-political crisis that the nation is experiencing and after criminal gangs have taken control of Port-au-Prince in recent months. In addition, the Caribbean country is suffering from a worrying outbreak of cholera.
The WFP expressed its concern by reporting that around 4.7 million Haitians suffer from acute food insecurity, of which at least 19,000 people are for the first time under “catastrophic levels of hunger”, which means that they eat only one once a day
“Haiti is facing a humanitarian catastrophe … and the report released today shows that the severity and extent of food insecurity in Haiti is getting worse,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP country director.
According to the UN Program, the most serious situation is in the Cité Soleil neighborhood, one of the most degraded in Port-au-Prince. There, the constant clashes between armed gangs have prevented the entry of food, in addition to restricting the population’s access to their workplaces, markets and health services.
Bauer said that 65% of the population of Cité Soleil suffer from “high levels of food insecurity” and that 5% of them are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
? An unrelenting series of crises has trapped vulnerable Haitians in a cycle of increasing desperation, without access to food, fuel, markets, employment and public services, bringing the country to a standstill.
Read the statement ? https://t.co/QYd8ogMvXa pic.twitter.com/vfh4HNR9bP
— WFP Spanish (@WFP_es) October 14, 2022
The UN said it is committed to “the importance of respecting the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence so that aid reaches Haitians.”
The WFP expects the food situation to worsen every year in Haiti, listed as the poorest country in the Americas.
The food crisis is also spreading to rural areas of the nation, where lack of food and supplies is reported. The agricultural departments of Grand Anse, Nippes and Sud are the most affected, as they experience a severe drought that has damaged crops, as well as suffering the ravages of an earthquake that hit the area in 2021.
Added to food insecurity are the complications due to the global crisis in the prices of basic products, due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which has generated an inflation of 33% and the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean country.
“We have to help Haitians produce better quality and more nutritious food to preserve their livelihoods and their future…,” said José Luis Fernández Filgueiras, a local WFP representative.
Haiti suffers a worrying outbreak of cholera
The situation in Haiti has been aggravated by the reappearance of cholera, which already leaves at least 224 confirmed cases and 16 deaths, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Public Health on October 10, warning that there would be an underreporting in the figures.
Haiti had not registered cases of the bacterial disease for 3 consecutive years, which had already affected the country between 2010 and 2019, leaving a balance of 10,000 dead.
Faced with the outbreak, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, said last Wednesday that the only way to contain the bacterial disease is by allowing health teams access to the areas affected by the outbreak. outbreak.
“The affected areas are insecure and controlled by gangs, which makes it very difficult to collect samples and delays laboratory confirmation of cases and deaths,” said the WHO director general.
Carissa Etienne, outgoing director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), was also concerned and said that due to the security situation that Haiti is experiencing, efforts to control the resurgence of the disease are being hindered.
The entity added that the child population has been the most affected, since a quarter of the cases correspond to minors between 1 and 4 years of age.
A proposal for humanitarian aid that has not gone down well with the population
The Executive of Ariel Henry, Haitian Prime Minister, requested immediate military assistance from the international community so that foreign forces enter the country in order to recover Port-au-Prince, largely controlled by gangs.
The move was backed by António Guterres, UN Secretary General. It is estimated that 20,000 people have been displaced by the violence generated in clashes between gangs.
“The force, in particular, would support the Haitian National Police primarily in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area to ensure the free movement of water, fuel, food and medical supplies from major ports and airports to communities and health facilities,” he said. Guterres.
Similarly, last week, during the summit held in Lima, the OAS countries approved a resolution in favor of reestablishing security and democracy in the Caribbean nation.
The proposal aroused the anger of thousands of Haitians, who have taken to the streets this week to demonstrate against the military intervention in their country. The authorities have reported at least one death, material damage and looting in Port-au-Prince.
The Caribbean country is experiencing a strong socio-political crisis taken to the extreme since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Since then, the now Prime Minister Ariel Henry has assumed power in the country, a gesture that has caused discomfort in thousands of Haitians for considering it illegitimate and criticizing it for not calling elections.
Over the next few weeks, the government will have to discuss whether to allow foreign forces into the country.
With EFE, AFP and local media
