Attachments
Highlights
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During the month of May, UNICEF continued to ensure its humanitarian action across sectors and to scale up activities where resources permitted. The results of the nationwide SMART survey were released, showing an upward trend in the prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) (7 per cent) in Haiti between 2020 and 2023, with very high levels in the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince itself.
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UNICEF screened 143,000 children and treated 4,300 severely malnourished children and reached over 217,000 people with WASH kits. Over 3,000 children received school supplies and textbooks including some students affected by the recent outbreak of violence in Canapé-Vert, Port au Prince and its surroundings. Some 32,000 people were able to access health care and 21,000 children were vaccinated against measles. Furthermore, UNICEF trained 60 staff from a partner organization (45 women and 15 men) in the Cite Soleil areas, to strengthen prevention and response to cases of sexual exploitation and abuse.
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Following the finalization of the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti, the release of several key assessments and the declaration of a system-wide scaleup by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, UNICEF has reviewed and revised its Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal upwards. UNICEF is now requesting US$ 245.9 million to ensure life-saving humanitarian assistance and services for women and children in Haiti.
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)
714 Deaths from cholera*
44,548 cholera cases*, of which 2,988 confirmed*
*Source: Ministry of Health, 31 May 2023
Funding Overview and Partnerships
Following the finalization of the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti, the release of several key assessments and the declaration of a system-wide scale-up by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, UNICEF has reviewed and revised its Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal1 upwards, now requesting US$245.9 million to ensure life-saving humanitarian assistance and services for women and children in Haiti, with a funding gap of 87 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. In 2023, the Government of Canada, the Government of Japan, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, ECHO, CERF, World Bank 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 over 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 armed violence and social unrest.
Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs
The blockage caused by the standoff between political factions continues to significantly affect the country, as leaders keep backing the “Montana Accord” to form a transitional government and prevent the country from scheduling elections, therefore extending the terms of the current political authorities. This may lead to the escalation of violent protests/demonstrations across the country and further restrict access to the most vulnerable and affected populations. Furthermore, the rampant armed violence notably due to the resulting collapse of the State, the new waves and resurgence of life-threatening diseases (cholera, COVID-19), the exacerbation of “catastrophic” (most urgent) levels of hunger being experienced, the greater loss of income and increases in prices/cost of services as a result of current shocks continues to affect all sectors of the country.
The combination of exposure to risks and the absence or inadequacy of the capacity to cope with them, without damaging losses, weak resilience to stresses and shocks, has a particularly devastating impact on the poor and vulnerable. These deprivations are found across different dimensions, including the right to nutrition, health, safe water, sanitation, housing, protection and education. The rate of multidimensional poverty among Haitian children is estimated at over 90 per cent2 mainly due to poverty, the absence of bread winners within the household and the lack of social protection. Ultimately, impacts on households are being felt in terms of decreased health, nutrition, protection, and educational status. The most vulnerable groups, including children, are worst hit, particularly in the continued absence of a sustained social assistance programme for vulnerable households.
On 13 April 2023, the Government launched the IMF-funded ~$112 million “Emergency multi-sectoral programme for the appeasement and social reintegration of vulnerable groups” over six months to address food and nutrition insecurity faced by in several municipalities and rural areas. The steps taken by the authorities to cushion the impact of the shocks on the population aim to expand programmes that improve living conditions and enhance social inclusion, focusing on the most vulnerable groups (children, pregnant women, the disabled, and the elderly).
The ongoing crises has resulted in limited access to healthcare and essential services, including water, food, sanitation, and supply services, which makes the population highly vulnerable to the ongoing cholera outbreak. Access to potable water is often disrupted. Access to basic food commodities has also been rendered difficult due to closed distribution centers and barricaded roads. In addition, the country is close to an economic collapse with consequences which can only further exacerbate vulnerability.
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, national prevalence of severe wasting is estimated at 2.1 per cent, but the situation in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area is particularly alarming, with prevalence approaching 3 per cent. The national SMART released mid-May provided 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. Notably in areas affected by armed group violence – Port au Prince and Artibonite - Health services are increasingly opting to close amidst the insecurity,including the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Cite Soleil that temporarily closed and reopened with service provision limited to trauma and critical needs. The ongoing fuel crisis is seriously disrupting the functioning of health structures and limiting 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 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. The median age of hospitalized cases remains 17 years.
In education, the spread and intensification of violence by armed groups continues to restrict access to schooling for children and teachers. Violence by armed groups has also led to the displacement of thousands of families, including many school-age children. Armed 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. Children who are braving the insecurity are subjected to violence on their way to school, as teachers and school managers are threatened. 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, armed group activity and related violence has exacerbated humanitarian needs in the Artibonite department, the second most affected by violence.
The April 2023 UN intersectoral rapid needs assessment in Artibonite 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) – affecting 599,000 people. Among them, 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 five and 3,090 children aged five to 17 - sheltering from armedgroup-related violence.