Port-Au-Prince, Haiti - The United
Nations World Food Programme today expressed concern over the escalating
insecurity in Haiti which could affect the nutritional status of as many
as 268,000 WFP beneficiaries if food aid deliveries to the north and northwest
of the country do not resume within the coming week.
Last week, clashes between armed groups
and police in the central city of Gonaïve resulted in the partial closure
of the road connecting Port-au-Prince and the northern towns of Port-de-Paix,
and Cap Haitien. Since last Thursday this road - which is the main
route WFP uses to deliver food to its projects in the north - is completely
blocked and WFP has been unable to transport food to re-supply stocks.
During the month of February, WFP needs to deliver a total of 1,400 MT of cereals to its warehouses in Cap Haitien and Bombardopolis, to assist 268,000 people in the north and northwest parts of the country. These include 87,000 people severely affected by drought and recurrent flooding, 90,000 school children, and 91,000 vulnerable people, many of them lactating and pregnant mothers, and HIV/AIDS orphans.
"More than half the food required this month is ready for transport. If we are not able to move it in the coming week, food distributions will be disrupted and malnutrition will rise, especially among vulnerable children," said Guy Gauvreau, WFP Country Director in Haiti.
Cap Haitien, the second largest city located in the North, remains isolated from the rest of the country with no supplies arriving since last week. "We are exploring all options, including transporting food aid by boat, in order to avoid a break in supplies," added Gauvreau.
WFP warehouses in Cap Haitien and Bombardopolis have a total capacity of 5,500 MT and currently have a total stock of 1,000 MT of food, mainly oil and pulses that need to be complemented by cereals, to provide a balanced ration to beneficiaries.
Despite growing insecurity, WFP is still able to deliver food to some 77,000 people in the poorest areas surrounding Port-Au-Prince. However, security of humanitarian food convoys is a major concern for the agency.
Since the end of November 2003, there have been eight different attacks on trucks carrying WFP food, during which 61 MT of food was lost.
"While these incidents have not halted the distribution of our food, looting could become a major issue in the near future if the political and social situation continues to deteriorate," said Gauvreau.
Funding for WFP's Haiti operation has been insufficient during the last year. The latest commitments totalling US$3.7 million from the United States of America and the European Union have significantly boosted funds. However, WFP still faces a US$3.1 million shortfall for 2004.
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the developing world as a whole. According to UNICEF, chronic malnutrition rates are as high as 33 per cent in some parts of the country.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency. In 2003 WFP fed 110 million people in 82 countries including most of the world's refugees and internally displaced people.
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - As the largest provider of nutritious meals to poor school children, WFP has launched a global campaign aimed at ensuring the world's 300 million undernourished children are educated.
For more information please contact:
Brenda Barton, Deputy Director Communications,
WFP/Rome, Tel: +39-06-65132602,
Rene McGuffin, WFP/Rome, Tel: +39-06-65132430
Christiane Berthiaume, WFP/Geneva, Tel: +41-22-9178564
Jordan Dey WFP/ Washington Tel: + 1-202-653-0010 Cell: +1- 202-422-3383
Trevor Rowe, WFP/NY, Tel: +1-212-9635196
Guy Gauvreau, WFP Country Director Haiti Tel: + 509 51 5714
Alejandro Chicheri, WFP/ Latin America and the Caribbean. Tel: +509 550
86 94