MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Leading humanitarian aid officials insist greater support needed for Haiti

Haiti's crisis will not be solved by humanitarian aid alone, the officials underlined

According to senior humanitarian aid officials, the assistance plan launched for Haiti last February is less than a quarter funded when around US$ 680 million is required to tackle the ongoing gang violence and bring necessary supplies to the local population.

“It is very clear for many people of Haiti that they are paying the heavy price of the violence, again, that has ravaged the country,” Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy at UN emergency relief agency OCHA, told reporters in New York from Port-au-Prince alongside Lucia Elmi, Director of Emergency Programmes at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Andrea Koulaimah of the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department, known as ECHO.

The officials concluded a four-day visit to the Caribbean country, where the entire population of about 11 million “have in one way or another had their lives shaken by the violence,” according to Elmi. The situation has forced nearly 600,000 Haitians to flee their homes, and displacement has risen by 60% since March. Roughly five million people are facing acute hunger, with almost 1.6 million at risk of starvation.

Haiti’s health and education systems have also been heavily impacted. Only two out of five hospitals are functioning, and more than 900 schools have closed, depriving some 200,000 children of an education.

“We have only eight weeks before the start of the new school year, so there is a window of opportunity that we really need to seize to get those schools not only open again but functioning,” she said. Elmi also noted that women and children have been disproportionately affected by the crisis and the level of brutality and violence they have suffered “has been really very, very painful.” Sexual violence has increased 400 times with respect to last year, when some 100,000 cases were reported, she added.

She also recalled a 14-year-old girl at a refuge in Port-au-Prince who had had her family kidnapped, and some members killed. Despite being raped and beaten for days, she remained determined to finish her studies and become a social worker.

The humanitarians traveled to other parts of Haiti and spoke to farmers, children out of school, mothers, and “fierce” women entrepreneurs. They also held talks with local authorities, notably new Prime Minister Garry Connille.

Koulaimah said that although the crisis requires a stronger and better-funded response, it will not be solved by humanitarian aid alone. “It has to be solved by the Haitians themselves, and the Government has assured us of the commitment to do everything in their hands in order to transition out of the current crisis, and they need our support,” she said.

Wosornu added that “Haiti needs real lasting solutions to enhance development,” which includes restoring schools, health centers, and other basic services.

Earlier Friday, the UN Security Council in New York unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN political mission in Haiti, BINUH, until 15 July 2025.

The 15 ambassadors condemned in the strongest terms the increasing violence, criminal activities, mass displacement, and human rights abuses and violations undermining the peace, stability, and security of the country and the region.

Council members welcomed the establishment of the transitional governance arrangement as well as the subsequent creation of the Presidential Transitional Council and the inauguration of the interim Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

They reaffirmed the need for all Haitian stakeholders “to continue to advance a Haitian-led, Haitian-owned political process towards the holding of free and fair legislative and presidential elections”.

BINUH is the French acronym for the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, which was established by the Security Council in June 2019. The mission has a presence in Port-au-Prince only. It works primarily with State institutions to strengthen political stability and good governance, advance a peaceful and stable environment, and protect and promote human rights.