Haiti's complex humanitarian emergency requires urgent attention and strategies beyond emergency response, three senior United Nations and European Union officials said on Monday as they wrapped up a four-day visit to the Caribbean nation. As clashes continue in Haiti, more than 578,000 Haitians, including 300,000 children, are internally displaced, and some 4.97 million people face acute hunger - nearly half the population - with 1.64 million women, children and men at risk of starvation.
Representatives from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) were able to see firsthand the impact of the ongoing violence that has shattered the daily lives of Haitians.
âWhat Haitians want the most is peace, that will allow them to return to school, to farm their fields, to access basic services such as going to a hospitalâ, said Edem Wosornu, OCHAâs Operations and Advocacy Director, in a joint statement issued on Monday.
The violence has crippled Haiti's agricultural sector - a key source of income for families - and disrupted education and health services. More than 900 schools have been closed since January, and in the capital, Port-au-Prince, nearly 40 percent of all inpatient health facilities are out of service.
Armed gangs control or influence more than 90 percent of Port-au-Prince, and have spread to rural areas of the country. They have committed massacres, kidnappings, human trafficking, and sexual violence. Attacks and violence by armed groups that escalated between late February and April have plunged Haiti into a dramatic security crisis, with civilians under fire far beyond the capital.
The violence has resulted in the loss of income for previously economically independent families, crippling their ability to provide adequate food and health care. The majority of displaced families with school-age children don't know if they will be able to return to school.
"Millions of families are yearning for an end to this relentless violence. It is critical to step up protection services for women and children â who are bearing the brunt of this crisis â and fast-track humanitarian assistance for those in need," UNICEFâs Director for Emergency Operations, Lucia Elmi, said.
Wosornu - along with Elmi and ECHO Director Andrea Koulaimah - met with Haitian officials, including new Prime Minister Gary Conille, as well as authorities in the cities of Les Cayes and Gonaives. They stressed the need for the international community to continue to support the Haitian government in providing life-saving aid and development assistance.
With regard to the crisis of the country's political institutions, there have been some encouraging developments in recent months.
On April 12, a formal decree was issued establishing the Transitional Presidential Council, which is responsible for selecting Haiti's next prime minister and cabinet, as well as appointing members of the Provisional Electoral Council. On May 28, Garry Conille was named the Caribbean nation's new prime minister. On June 11, Haiti's Interim Council appointed a new cabinet.
The United Nations estimates that 5.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection in 2024. Yet this year's Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti, which calls for US$674 million, is only 24 percent funded at $159 million, more than halfway through the year.
The officials said the cost of inaction would be too high if the humanitarian response is not collectively scaled up now in support of the Haitian people. Despite the difficult security situation, international and national humanitarian organizations have been able to find solutions to access and assist communities throughout the country.
But while humanitarian assistance is vital, the officials also stressed that the country's challenges are rooted in years of underinvestment in basic social services, and that humanitarian aid is a temporary fix that can't solve the country's deep-rooted, structural problems.
âWe need the humanitarian response to be anchored into sustainability, that the humanitarian response serves as a steppingstone to durable, sustainable recovery actions,â Koulaimah said.
âWe call on the international community not to miss this unique momentum and to step up their efforts and mobilize resources to address the pressing humanitarian and development needsâ.
While nearly 600,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, others remain trapped in gang-controlled neighborhoods. Haiti is now the country with the highest number of people displaced by crime-related violence in the world.
An estimated 2.7 million people, including 1.6 million women and children, live in areas under effective gang control. According to UNICEF, an estimated 1.2 million children are at risk in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. Thousands of children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition.
After months of delays, four hundred Kenyan security officers arrived in Haiti in June as part of an international police force sent to quell rampant gang violence in the Caribbean nation. About 200 more Kenyan police officers joined them on Tuesday, according to media reports.
Last October, a United Nations Security Council resolution authorized a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to help the Haitian National Police combat violence and restore peace in the largely gang-ruled country.
The deployment of the first international police contingents is seen as the first of several milestones in the process of restoring security and prosperity to Haiti, but it is unclear when the rest of the force will arrive. Other countries have pledged to send additional police.
The Caribbean countries of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica have agreed to contribute personnel. In addition, other African countries such as Benin and Chad have announced that they will strengthen the multinational force. Bangladesh is also expected to contribute personnel.
According to the United Nations, Haiti needs a combination of a strengthened national police force, the rapid deployment of the MSS mission, and credible elections to put the country back on the path to security and stability.
UN human rights experts have called for the MSS mission in Haiti to support the national police and bring security to the Haitian people under conditions that comply with international human rights norms and standards.
On Friday, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) for one year and called on all Haitian stakeholders to urgently establish a Provisional Electoral Council and reach agreement on a sustainable, time-bound and mutually acceptable electoral roadmap.
BINUH is a special political mission established in 2019 and deployed under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter. Its primary mandate is to assist Haiti in achieving political stability, good governance and the rule of law, as well as to protect and promote human rights.
On Friday, the Council also demanded cooperation among Member States to prevent illicit trafficking and diversion of weapons by inspecting cargo destined for Haiti and providing and exchanging timely information to identify and combat illicit trafficking sources and supply chains.