Attachments
Highlights
• During the reporting period, the humanitarian situation in Haiti has continued to deteriorate and become increasingly complex. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti was released in April, amidst Haiti continuing to face multiple concurrent crises including armed violence, cholera, inflation, political instability, while also at high risk for natural hazards. Against this backdrop a system wide scale up was declared by the Emergency Relief Coordinator and UNICEF has followed suit with the activation of its internal Level 3 Corporate Emergency Activation Procedure (CEAP).
• UNICEF has been able to provide basic services across sectors including: nearly 158,000 people reached with cholera kits, over 27,000 children received school supplies and textbooks, over 393,000 people have gained access to safe water, 37,700 people were able to access health care and 37,000 children were vaccinated against measles, while almost 3,000 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition
• To respond effectively, in 2023 UNICEF requires US$210.3 million to ensure life-saving humanitarian support for women and children in Haiti. At the time of reporting, UNICEF’s humanitarian appeal has a funding gap of US$187 million (89 per cent).
Situation in Numbers
2,860,000 Children in need of humanitarian assistance (HRP 2023)
1.2 million Children under threat in the Greater Port-au-Prince area (Based on Haitian Institute of Statistics)
680 Deaths from cholera*
40,648 cholera cases*, of which 2,678 confirmed*
*Source: Ministry of Health, 30 April 2023
Funding Overview and Partnerships
In 2023, UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal requests US$ 210.3 million to ensure life-saving humanitarian assistance and services for women and children in Haiti, with a funding gap of 89 per cent by the end of the reporting period. Full funding of this appeal remains critical to enable UNICEF to provide life-saving assistance and recovery support to vulnerable children and their families.
UNICEF expresses its sincere gratitude to all public and private donors for the humanitarian contributions received. As of 3 May, in 2023, the Government of Canada, the Government of Japan, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, ECHO, CERF, and private donors via the United States Fund for UNICEF, the German Committee for UNICEF and UNICEF Mexico have generously contributed to ensuring UNICEF’s 2023 humanitarian response in Haiti.
Given the significant needs, UNICEF received an internal allocation of US$ 1.5 million in flexible global humanitarian thematic (GHT) funds which are allowing UNICEF to reinforce coordination to scale up the cholera response, assist children and families on the move along the border, and in UNICEF’s emergency response in urban areas affected by the upsurge of gang violence and social unrest.
Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs
During the reporting period, the humanitarian situation in Haiti has continued to deteriorate and become increasingly complex. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti was released in April, amidst Haiti continuing to face multiple crises concurrently including armed violence, cholera, inflation, political instability while also at high risk for natural hazards.
Against this backdrop a system-wide scale-up was declared by the Emergency Relief Coordinator and UNICEF has followed suit with an activation of an internal emergency L3 corporate activation protocol. Humanitarian needs in UNICEF sectors are as follows: In nutrition, while the prevalence of Severe Wasting is estimated at 2.1 per cent, the situation in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area is particularly alarming, with a prevalence approaching 3 per cent. The national SMART survey to be released mid-May will provide further details on the overall malnutrition situation across the country.
There continues to be a lack of trained staff due to a mass exodus of health workers and a lack of supplies affecting 73 per cent of the 22 largest health facilities, affecting the health sector. Health services are increasingly opting to close amidst the insecurity, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Cite Soleil which was temporarily closed and when reopened reduced service provision to only trauma and critical needs. Further, the ongoing fuel crisis is seriously disrupting the functioning of health structures and limiting not only the use of services by the population but also the offer of services by health actors.
With regards to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), a quarter of households in the country use unimproved water sources for drinking. Access to safe drinking water and basic hygiene and sanitation services in Haiti is severely limited, with only 55 per cent of households accessing basic drinking water, which remains a challenge in a context where the spread of cholera is nation-wide. Relatedly, as of 30 April 2023, the ministry of health (MoH) reported 40,648 suspected cholera cases, over 2,678 confirmed cases and 680 deaths across the country’s ten departments, with the upcoming cyclone season this remains a key concern.
In education, the spread and intensification of violence by armed groups continues to restrict access to school infrastructures for children and teachers. Violence by armed groups has also led to the displacement of thousands of families, including many school-age children. Violence that escalated at the beginning of February 2023, with increased activities among armed groups in the communes of Petion Ville, Delmas and Croix des Bouquets, has prevented hundreds of students from accessing education. Acts of armed violence against schools in Haiti, including shooting, ransacking, looting and kidnappings have increased nine-fold in one year, as rising insecurity and widespread unrest begin to cripple the country’s education system. Furthermore, up to 1,250 schools destroyed in the 14 August 2021 earthquake still require support for reconstruction.
Urban violence by armed groups also continues to have an impact outside Port-au-Prince. Operational challenges, as well as safety and security concerns are resulting in restrictions along the main route for ground transportation to the South, due to continued violence and capacity limitations of the Haitian National Police. Since September 2022, gang activity and related violence has exacerbated humanitarian needs in the Artibonite department, the second most violence-affected department. During the reporting period, the UN conducted an intersectoral rapid needs assessment in Artibonite2 and found that of the 31 communal sections assessed, 19 (61 per cent), have a cross-sectoral vulnerability severity score of 3 or more (with 5 being the most severe) – approximately 599,000 people are living in this bracket.
More than 135,000 women, children and men are in extremely vulnerable situations. Key needs include sanitation and hygiene (less than 25 per cent of households have sanitation facilities or hand-washing systems, and water points are too few and far between); and nutrition (malnutrition being one of the main health problems mentioned by key informants, while almost 36 per cent report that it takes more than an hour to reach the nearest health center/hospital). In addition, the department hosts approximately 10,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) - including an estimated 1,170 children under 5 and 3,090 children aged 5 to 17 - sheltering from gang-related violence.