The United Nations warns that a lack of funding is continuing to hamper its humanitarian activities in hotspots around the world, and especially in the Caribbean country, Haiti, where thousands continue to be displaced by unrelenting gang violence, and some six million people desperately need humanitarian assistance.
Speaking at a news briefing today, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, reported that “armed attacks in the Centre department last week displaced more than 16,000 human beings”, based on information provided by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“Most have found refuge with host families, while 2 per cent of them have settled in seven informal displacement sites that were created in the wake of these incidents,” she revealed, noting that the security situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate.
She said this compounds “humanitarian needs in a country where more than 1.3 million people are already internally displaced.”
Noting that half of the displaced are children, Dujarric said women and girls are particularly vulnerable due to the continual collapse of essential services and persistent insecurity.
“They face severe risks to their safety, including exposure to sexual and gender-based violence, with cases reported in some displacement sites,” she reported.
Dujarric said notwithstanding existing challenges, OCHA and its humanitarian partners are delivering “life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable in Haiti.”
“From January to March, more than 720,000 people received emergency food assistance; 25,000 people received emergency shelter kits; and 35,000 benefited from essential non-food items,” she confirmed. “Nearly 170,000 people gained access to safe drinking water, and 55,000 accessed emergency sanitation facilities.”
But funding remains a key issue.
“The lack of funding is significantly impacting our ability and our partners’ ability to meet the growing needs of the Haitian people. And, as I said, unfortunately, the Haitian humanitarian appeal remains the least funded of all of our humanitarian appeals, which are almost all underfunded,” she lamented.
“Out of the $908 million we need,” she said, “we have less than $75 million in the bank.”
