Haiti Humanitarian Needs Overview 2016

HUMANITARIAN NEEDS & KEY FIGURES

The humanitarian situation in Haiti has deteriorated considerably in 2015 due to the convergence of multiple humanitarian risk factors. These include a sharp increase in food insecurity resulting from drought and the prolonged effects of “El Nino”, the persistence of cholera and a protection crisis triggered by the forced / voluntary return of thousands of Haitians from the Dominican Republic. The immediate needs of the 60,000 people who remain displaced from the 2010 earthquake cannot be overlooked. Finally, the country has a high exposure to climate hazards and natural disasters coupled with limited national response capacity.

Haiti remains a largely fragile environment from a governance and development perspectives with high insecurity, overpopulation, widespread poverty, huge economic inequalities, a dysfunctional health system, extremely poor access to safe water and sanitation, limited agricultural production, and high environmental degradation. Despite vast international support after the 2010 earthquake, the capacity of the national institutions to respond to these risks and to any unforeseen shocks - without external support - remains limited.

Humanitarian needs

1. As of December 31st, 36,045 persons had been infected by cholera. The trend in 2015 is similar to 2014 (27,388 cases).
   Cholera remains an acute emergency with 322 people dead in 2015. It is estimated that 25,000 people will be infected in 2016. Cholera may also affect indirectly 1,350,000 people (infected individuals, families and neighborhood) requiring a coordinated response.

2. Approximately 34% of the population in Haiti continues to have difficulty in meeting their basic food needs. According to the report of the Emergency Food Security Assessment published by CNSA/WFP in February 2016, from 3,6 millions people affected, 1,5 millions are severely food insecure. In 2015, the number of severely food insecure persons has risen considerably compared to 2014 levels due to the poor grain and vegetable harvests coupled with the drought resulting from the El Nino phenomenon. Number of children under 5 with acute malnutrition was estimated, to be 130,000, after a quick evaluation conduced by UNICEF in December 2015.
   The estimates suggest that approximately 56,545 children will need immediate therapeutic feeding as a lifesaving measure and 74,860 will require supplemental feeding.

3. Based on the number of people crossing the Dominican border weekly into Haiti, the bi-national crisis is likely to affect an estimated 120,000 people in 2016. According to the last Border Monitoring Sitrep released by IOM on February 19th, 38,963 households representing 69,563 individuals interviewed on a random and voluntary basis have reported to have crossed the border into Haitian territory since June 2015. This constitutes only a portion of the total returning population from DR to Haiti. In addition, as of 31 December 2015, when the last displacement monitoring tracking was made, 59,720 remain displaced in 37 camps in Port-au-Prince’s metropolitan area from the 2010’s earthquake.

4. Almost half of the Haitian population is considered vulnerable and exposed to hydro-meteorological hazards. Of this population, 2.8 million people living in 58 communes are considered at highest risk of exposure to flooding and landslides. According to Haiti’s national contingency plan for the cyclone season, 500,000 people could be affected by hydro- meteorological hazards in 2016.