The people of Haiti have faced countless challenges over the years, including political, security, social and economic issues. The long-running crisis has been exacerbated by months of brutal gang violence that claimed more than 2,500 lives in the first quarter of 2024 alone.
Just returned from the country, Carl Skau, WFP The Deputy Executive Director, told journalists at United Nations Headquarters in New York that the crisis was the worst since the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
“Half the population – about 5 million people are severely food insecure,” he said, adding that more than a million people are in IPC Phase 4 or emergency level of famine .
He emphasized that the political and security response to the crisis needs to be accompanied by a strong humanitarian response.
“What I see on the ground is this can be done, also at the center of the crisis, in Port-au-Prince. But that We also need to do more on resilience and development elsewhere to really try to break this vicious cycle.,” he added.
‘Crisis felt everywhere’
According to the United Nations office of humanitarian affairs, approximately 90,200 people are displaced in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area and that number continues to rise.OCHA).
At the same time, trade was disrupted in other parts of the country, inflation rose sharply, and supplies began to run out.
“The crisis is felt everywhere,” Mr. Skau said, calling for a differentiated response.
“What we need is an emergency response in Port-au-Prince, but we can continue to provide other forms of assistance, including development assistance in the rest of the country,” he said. .
WFP officials noted that aid supplies are starting to run out.
“And so we also need to add more shipments. So we hope that the international airport is open at least for one flight, that’s possible maintained and expandedand there will also be the opening of the port in Port-au-Prince.”
Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), briefs reporters on his recent visit to Haiti.
