Haiti can wait no longer: famine spreads despair and the population feels on the brink of the abyss

ROME – Just under twenty thousand people in Port-au-Prince have been living on the brink of famine since October. This poor part of the country, home to about 100,000 people, is exposed almost daily to clashes and violence from armed gangs, which thus prevent residents from looking for work, food, fuel and aspiring to a normal, fearless life. Meanwhile, the United States aims to strengthen the role of the international community and the UN above all to support the country and help the police defeat armed gangs. Joe Biden, in a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, underlined the importance of giving Haitian law enforcement all the necessary tools to better manage the situation.

The witness. “Look at my belly, I haven’t eaten for two days” he tells an operator of World Food Programme (WFP) Nerlande, a young mother, widow, with six dependent children. “The bandits kidnapped my husband and then killed him”, she says as she waits to take the food rations distributed by the World Food Programme in the suburb of Brooklyn, in Cité Soleil, 250,000 inhabitants, which is part of thearrondissements of Port-au-Prince. When things get very bad, Nerlande is forced to beg on the streets. For her and for many others in the same condition as her, the food she receives from WFP is a lifeline.

Food safety. Jean-Martine Bauer, Director of WFP in Haiti, underlines how delicate the situation in the country is: the Integrated Food Phase Classification (IPC), i.e. the data that measures the levels of food safety in many places around the world, shows a slight improvement in Haiti. But one cannot fail to consider it a “fragile victory” – underlines Bauer – given the extremely precarious conditions in which a large part of the country still lives today. Statistics tell of 4.9 million people suffering from acute hunger, therefore almost half of the country, and of these almost two million are already living in an emergency condition.

Funding. WFP has done all it can to support the residents of Cité Soleil so far, but shootings between gunmen, for example, don’t always allow aid workers to enter the hardest-hit neighborhoods and be able to distribute food and aid. And then there’s the issue of funds. Bauer explains that WFP needs $125 million over the next six months to cover the needs of all the people in need. But if these funds do not arrive, then the situation in Haiti will deteriorate and famine could become the daily life of an even larger portion of the population. When international organizations fail to intervene, the situation worsens. This week, for example, Médecins Sans Frontières closed its hospital in Cité Soleil and the fighting has resumed in a more violent manner.

The children. The violence and rampant hunger are having a serious impact on the health of children, who are not always able to receive nutritious food. This impairs their development at an early age and can lead to serious health problems in the long run.

Inflation. Rising inflation and high prices exacerbate poverty for Haitians, many of whom cannot afford even a basic meal. Haiti is among the ten countries most affected by food price inflation, according to the World Bank. Eight out of ten people are currently forced to reduce the amount of meals. Inflation is at 47 percent, up from 38.7 percent in December. In January, the price of a food basket had risen 88 percent from a year earlier, while the Haitian gourde fell 45 percent against the US dollar.

The fuel crisis. A continued shortage of petroleum products also poses a number of headwinds to economic activities as the economy is forecast to contract for a fifth consecutive year in 2023. Fuel shortages are impacting health and sanitation and limiting the logistics and transport sector.

The background. President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021 and since then the country has been in the grip of armed gang violence, which vie for territory sowing death, hunger and destruction. In October the gangs had blocked the main oil terminal of Varreux in Port-au-Prince, thus cutting off the possibility of obtaining oil supplies and causing huge problems for the supply of electricity and water distribution. The terminal remained under the control of the bandits until November, when the police managed to free it after days of armed clashes. People still struggle to obtain basic necessities: food, water, medical and health services. Some hospitals have closed their doors, most of the schools as well, while since October cholera has returned to affect above all the most vulnerable.