Some 5.4 million people suffer from acute food insecurity in Haiti, approximately half of the population, according to a new UN report that implies record levels of hunger for the Caribbean country, in a context in which greater political and financial involvement by the international community is being called for.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report identifies the situation in Haiti as one of the most worrying contexts in the world, with two million people within the so-called emergency level, just one step above famine. At least 6,000 people living in displaced persons camps in the capital, Port-au-Prince, are within this last phase of the IPC.
In total, some 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, many of whom have ended up in around 100 enclaves spread across the capital, which are often overcrowded and lack basic services and supplies, with a high risk of spreading theoretically preventable diseases.
The executive director of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, has called for “not turning our backs on the worst hunger emergency in the Western Hemisphere” and has demanded a “massive” increase in aid, taking into account also that solving the crisis as a whole depends on it. “There can be no security or stability in Haiti when millions of people face famine,” she warned in a statement.
Humanitarian agencies need 230 million dollars (about 206 million euros) to implement the programmes planned for this year alone. In addition to funding constraints, there are also security-related barriers, as organisations still find it difficult to access certain areas controlled by armed gangs.
