Haiti: Hurricane Matthew - Situation Report No. 16 (26 October 2016)

Highlights

• 806,000 people need food assistance urgently.

• 141,493 displaced people are living in 204 temporary shelters in the affected areas.

• 774 out of 17,828 schools in the affected areas are damaged or destroyed, leaving 116,000 children out of school.

• 3,423 suspected cholera cases reported from 4 to 24 October, including 1,065 in Sud and 752 in Grand’Anse Departments

Situation Overview

On 4 October, Hurricane Matthew violently struck Haiti and resulted in the country’s largest humanitarian emergency since the 2010 earthquake. It caused extensive flooding and mudslides, damage to road infrastructure and buildings, as well as electricity and water shortages. The latest figures from the governmental Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) of Haiti have so far confirmed 546 deaths and 438 injured as a result of the hurricane.

Humanitarian needs are said to include access to a sufficient supply of quality water, education, shelter, child protection, health, and nutrition. The people in urgent food insecurity are in areas where over 75 per cent of the population was affected by the hurricane. These include places where livelihood activities related to agriculture, livestock and fishing have been almost completely destroyed, such as crops, farming equipment, stocks, and trade.

Of the 1.4 million people who need humanitarian assistance, more than 40 per cent are children who are mainly in the Grand’Anse and Sud Departments. Another estimated 40 per cent – approximately 546,000 people – are women of reproductive age.

Exacerbating the pre-existing displacement crisis of tens of thousands of Haitians returning from the neighboring Dominican Republic, concerns have increased about the safety of children and families, especially with the increased risk of food insecurity, malnutrition, and vulnerability to violence – including sex- and gender-based violence (SGBV) and disease. As of July 2016, an estimated 131,000 people were registered crossing the border towards Haiti, of whom 34.8 per cent were women.