Haiti Emergency Situation Report No. 5 (As of 11 March 2024)

This report is produced by OCHA Haiti in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It covers the humanitarian situation in Port-au-Prince following the violence that broke out on 29 February. The report mainly covers the period from 9-11 March 2024.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Some 15,000 people have been displaced by the violence that has broken out since 29 February. In a statement on 9 March, IOM expressed its concerns of the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

• WFP has delivered over 62,500 hot meals to internally displaced people since 29 February.

• UNICEF and its partners delivered 29,000 gallons of water to three sites on 9-10 March

SITUATION OVERVIEW

In a news release on 9 March, IOM said 362,000 people are currently internally displaced across the country, some of them several times over. This is 15 per cent more since the beginning of the year. More than half of them, 180,000, are children, a particularly vulnerable group. The lack of goods and resources is amplifying an already precarious economic situation. Each new location taking in displaced people presents new adaptation challenges, such as access to water and basic services. Families must constantly adapt, raising stress and anxiety. IOM notes that "successive displacements, where individuals abandon everything, coupled with experiences of violence, rape, and overcrowded living conditions, have exacerbated psychological distress with an alarming rise in suicidal tendencies among the displaced populations.” IOM adds that humanitarian partners need unhindered access throughout Haiti to ensure that life-saving aid reaches the most vulnerable people.

IOM has launched a data collection in main bus stations of the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area to monitor the impact of insecurity and violence on populations movements leaving the area towards other departments. Those leaving face high risks, as they have to go through gang-controlled routes. From 8 to 10 March, 7,600 people were observed leaving, mainly by buses, cars, and trucks. The main destinations of these flow were areas located in Grand'Anse (21 per cent), Sud (21 per cent) and rural areas in Ouest (17 per cent). Surveys conducted with a sample among these persons indicated that:

• 84 per cent of people were leaving Port-au-Prince due to violence and insecurity; 10 per cent were for economic reasons and 5 per cent to join their families.

• 52 per cent were travelling with their families and 48 per cent alone.

• 86 per cent were already IDPs within Port-au-Prince. Among these, the majority were in host families (70 per cent) and 30 per cent in spontaneous sites in Port-au-Prince.

• 56 per cent intend to stay out of Port-au-Prince as long as necessary.

The health system remains a major concern, as health organizations have been severely affected by the violence.
Several hospitals, including the Hôpital Universitaire d’Etat d’Haiti (HUEH) and Saint François de Sales, were forced to shut down. The Hôpital Saint Camille (Croix-des-Bouquets) was attacked last week, with assailants making away with the stock of oxygen. Others like Médecins Sans Frontières’ emergency center in Turgeau is open, but only for outpatient emergencies. HUEH, the largest hospital in Haiti, is currently being controlled by gangs, jeopardizing its potential reopening in the near future. MSF Belgium opened a new trauma center in Carrefour, however the area is not easily accessible by road. From 29 February to 7 March, the Hôpital Universitaire La Paix (HUP) treated 343 people including 69 from gunshot wounds. MSF’s centre in Tabarre received 78 patients, including 59 by gunshot wounds. Blood shortage persists at the National Blood Transfusion Center and efforts are underway to bring blood supply that is currently in neighboring Dominican Republic. PAHO/WHO is making additional purchases to support the transfusion centre. To monitor injured people's access to hospital care, the Ministry of Public Health and Population, through the National Health Emergency Management, has set up a register for the daily monitoring of cases admitted.