This month, the World Food Program (WFP) was forced to reduce by 25% the number of people receiving emergency assistance in Haiti compared to last month due to the lack of funds required to continue with its humanitarian operations.
The cut to beneficiaries means that 100,000 of the most vulnerable Haitians have been left without any support UN agency food during July.
The WFP explained that if it does not receive more resources quickly, will not be able to provide food assistance to 750,000 people in a deplorable situation and with urgent needs.
Haiti is going through a moment of unprecedented deprivation in which almost half of the population, some 4.9 million people, does not have enough food to survive healthy.
minimum financing
The Program regretted that, after the first half of the year, the donor community has funded just 16% of its response plan for Haiti.
The agency explained that it has a deficit of 121 million dollars and explained that this money would allow him to continue providing vital aid to hungry Haitians.
He WFP’s goal is to reach 2.3 million peoplenas in the country before the end of the year.
The director of the World Food Program in Haiti described as tragic to have left without assistance this month to a part of the most vulnerable population.
A Haitian child with severe acute malnutrition taking a nutritional supplement.
Multiple humanitarian crisis
“These cuts couldn’t come at a worse time, as Haitians face a multi-layered humanitarian crisis, their lives and livelihoods upended by violence, insecurity, economic crisis and climate shockssaid Jean-Martin Bauer.
He added that, unless WFP receives funds immediately, more cuts could be coming “devastating”.
The UN spokesman in New York, Stephan Dujarric, echoed these statements in his daily meeting with the press: “Regularly we remind donors of the need to give more to our humanitarian operations and also the risk of what happens when there is not enough financing, and this is another example”, he stressed, citing the case of Haiti.
school lunches
During the first six months of 2023, WFP distributed hot school meals to more than 450,000 students in the country. For many of these children, that is the only whole food they eat in a day. Without an injection of funds, nearly half of those kids will no longer have access to school lunches when they return to school after summer vacation.
The agency said it has the people, the plan and the capacity to continue its work. as long as you receive the resources what does it need
“This is not the time to cut back. It is time to take a step forward. We cannot let Haitians down when they need us most”, stressed Jean-Martin Bauer.
The Program has intensified its operations to respond to a level of need not seen in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Despite major security challenges, it supported 1.5 million people in the first semester with food and cash transfersa modality that gives families the opportunity to decide how to eat local products.
