Nearly 3 million children – the highest number on record – need humanitarian support in Haiti, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned Thursday. Children face staggering levels of violence that have exacerbated hunger and malnutrition in a country already mired in poverty and a resurgence of cholera. Meanwhile, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held a special meeting Friday on food insecurity in Haiti amid the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country.
“Being a child in Haiti today is harsher and more dangerous than it ever has been in living memory. The threats and hardships children face are simply unimaginable. They desperately need protection and support,” said UNICEF Haiti Representative Bruno Maes on Thursday.
Children find themselves in the crossfire, or directly targeted, as armed groups terrorize the population in their fight for territory and control, mainly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and increasingly in the neighboring Artibonite region.
UNICEF said children are being killed or injured on their way to school. Women and girls face extreme sexual violence. Kidnappings for ransom – including of students, teachers, and health workers – have skyrocketed, as have attacks on schools. Tens of thousands have been displaced by the violence.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 165,000 people are internally displaced in Haiti due to gang violence. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that around 80 percent of Haiti’s capital is under the control or influence of gangs. There are at least seven major gang coalitions and some 200 affiliated groups in Haiti.
At the same time, hunger and life-threatening malnutrition are at record levels across the country, concentrated in the capital’s poorest, most insecure and congested neighborhoods, where some families are virtually entrapped and cut off from essential services. The number of children suffering from life-threatening malnutrition shot up by 30 percent since last year.
UNICEF warned that violence, poverty and despair are driving children into the armed groups. Many children and young people in metropolitan Port-au-Prince say they are being forced to join armed groups for protection or because it means food and income for the family.
In addition to the violence, hunger and diseases such as cholera, Haiti and its children face the constant threat of violent storms and earthquakes. In early June, heavy rains, which coincided with the start of the hurricane season, caused destructive and deadly flooding. This was followed by an earthquake just days later in Grand Anse – a region still scarred by an earthquake in 2021.
Severe floods caused by torrential rains affected over 46,000 people and displaced over 13,000 others, and the 4.9 Richter earthquake on 6 June further compounded the humanitarian situation.
Haiti is the poorest and least developed country in the Western hemisphere, and unequipped to deal with the multiple shocks.
“Despite the massive challenges, humanitarian support has helped stave off catastrophic hunger and malnutrition. But far more is needed. The international community cannot turn its back on Haiti’s children in their hour of most profound need,” said Maes.
In a related development on Friday, the Economic and Social Council held a high-level meeting on food insecurity in Haiti. The meeting sought to mobilize action and resources in support of food security in Haiti following the recent floods and earthquake. During the meeting, speakers stressed the international community must take urgent action now.
Sounding the alarm, Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), warned that WFP will be unable to reach 1 million people without $122 million over the next six months. Calling on the international community to act now to provide food and cash transfers, she emphasized: “Together, we can make a difference and help the people of Haiti rebuild their shattered lives.”
Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), reported that the national health system cannot respond to the country’s malnutrition crisis and ongoing cholera outbreak. The international community must move away from treating these crises as separate events and view Haiti’s situation as a longer-term development crisis exacerbated by recurring acute emergency phases, she stressed.
"Haiti is on the precipice of catastrophe. Half the population needs humanitarian assistance, including nearly 3 million children. But half of those in need of assistance aren’t getting it – in large part because of insecurity and insufficient humanitarian funding," Russell said.
Funding falls far short of the humanitarian needs. The 2023 humanitarian response plan (HRP) for Haiti requires $719 million, making it the largest appeal since the 2010 earthquake. Currently, only 22.6 percent of the HRP is funded.
"Two million people, including 1.6 million children and women, live in areas controlled by armed groups – their lives under constant threat from violence," she added. “Insecurity is also compromising the operations of humanitarian actors to meet the growing gap in the delivery of essential services.”
The United Nations estimates that more than 5.2 million people (46% of the population) will require humanitarian aid in 2023. Violence, widespread poverty, rising costs of living, low agricultural production, and expensive food imports have exacerbated existing food insecurity in Haiti, leaving many women, men, and children suffering from hunger and malnutrition.
According to the latest IPC food security analysis, 4.9 million people - more than 40 percent of the population – are acutely food insecure. About 1.8 million people are suffering from emergency levels of hunger. The number of children suffering from severe wasting has risen to more than 115,000 across the country. Nearly a quarter of Haiti’s children are chronically malnourished.
Further information
Full text: Nearly 3 million children need support in Haiti – highest number on record, UNICEF press release, published June 15, 2023
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/nearly-3-million-children-need-support-haiti-highest-number-record
Full text: Urgent Action Needed to Tackle Haiti’s Severe Food Insecurity Crisis, Save Lives, Speakers Stress at Economic and Social Council’s Special Meeting, ECOSOC press release, published June 16, 2023
https://press.un.org/en/2023/ecosoc7132.doc.htm