Haiti on the brink: Record violence, displacement, and growing famine risks — UN Reports
Escalating violence in Haiti has displaced hundreds of thousands and left millions food insecure. UN aid reaches some but is constrained, with under half the necessary funding available.
H aiti’s escalating crisis has reached new depths, with nearly 4,900 lives lost to violence in the first nine months of the year, according to the UN human rights office.
More than 700,000 Haitians, over half of them children, are now displaced as violence surges in areas like Port-au-Prince, where 12,000 people have been forced from their homes in recent weeks.
— Haiti.
Food insecurity is hitting alarming levels, affecting half the population, or roughly 5.4 million people, with famine-like conditions emerging in areas sheltering displaced communities.
“For the first time since 2022, we are seeing pockets of famine-like conditions in some areas where displaced people are living,” said Stephanie Tremblay, Associate Spokesperson for the UN.
UN agencies continue to mobilise humanitarian support, reaching 1.9 million people with food and financial aid in the first half of 2024. Yet resources remain constrained. Despite launching a $684 million Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, only 43% of this target has been funded, underscoring the urgency of increased international support to tackle Haiti’s deepening crisis.
GOING FURTHER
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▪ This piece was first published in PUBLIC SQUARE UK on 9 November 2024 under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.
▪ Cover: UN Photo/Leonora Baumann. (Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)
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