Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell has called for a renewed commitment of the international community to Haiti, which is plagued by multifaceted crises.
“Decades of successive crises, including earthquakes, hurricanes, public health emergencies and political turmoil, have plagued Haiti. But for the sake of the millions of Haitians whose lives and well-being are at stake, we must respond not with fatigue or resignation, but with renewed commitment,” she told a special session of the UN Economic and Social Council on the country’s food security needs.
“We should start by shifting our perspective, and move away from treating Haiti’s crises as separate events. Instead, we should view the situation as a longer-term development crisis exacerbated by recurring acute emergency phases.
“The years-long decline in access to basic services and livelihood opportunities, as well as poor governance and social exclusion, have created extreme vulnerabilities for millions of people. Any shock, like an earthquake, hurricane or public health emergency, pushes them over the edge,” she said.
With humanitarian needs in Haiti now even greater than after the 2010 earthquake, far more must be done to ensure that people have safe and sustainable access to essential services in their communities. This requires timely, flexible funding to support the UN humanitarian response plan for Haiti, she said, adding the plan, which requests $720 million, is less than 23 per cent funded.
Life-saving humanitarian assistance must go hand-in-hand with development solutions that build resilience of Haitian communities and social service systems. There is also a need to strengthen the capacity of Haitian organisations and institutions, and to facilitate a more efficient response that reflects the local context and experience of the Haitian people, he said.
Russell said she and World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain will travel to Haiti next week to meet with key stakeholders and assess the collective response on the ground.
Haiti is on the precipice of catastrophe. Half the population needs humanitarian assistance, including 3 million children. But half of those in need of assistance are not getting it — in large part because of insecurity and insufficient humanitarian funding, said Russell.
Two million people, including 1.6 million children and women, live in areas controlled by armed groups — their lives under constant threat from violence. Children are being killed on their way to school. Women and girls are being subjected to staggering levels of gender-based and sexual violence. Insecurity is also compromising the operations of humanitarian actors to meet the growing gap in the delivery of essential services, she said.
“This life-threatening mix of conditions has caused an intensifying food security and nutrition crisis, especially for children. Since last year, we have seen an unprecedented 30 per cent increase in the number of children suffering from severe wasting to more than 115,000 across the country. Nearly a quarter of Haiti’s children are chronically malnourished, which can have devastating consequences for their physical and cognitive development.”
The malnutrition crisis coincides with an ongoing cholera outbreak, in which nearly half of the more than 46,000 suspected cases are children under the age of 14. Severely malnourished children are five times more likely to die from cholera without urgent treatment.
“Yet the national health system is on the verge of collapse and does not have the capacity to adequately respond to the health and nutrition needs of vulnerable children and families”, she said.
The time for action is long overdue. The Haitian people need an immediate scale-up in both regional and international support, which includes full funding for the humanitarian response plan, said Russell.
“Together we can join the Haitian people to break the cycle of crises and begin building toward a more peaceful and hopeful future, for Haiti, and most importantly, for its children.”
20230617-125001
