“We now have five million people in Haiti that are acutely food insecure, of which 1.6 million are classified as facing emergency food insecurity conditions,” said WFP Country Director Jean-Martin Bauer, speaking via videolink to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York.
A WFP-chartered cargo plane being unloaded of its 15 MT of desperately needed medical supplies at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Aid flown in
He also pointed to good news. Last week, a WFP cargo flight transported 15 tonnes of vital medical supplies to the Port-au-Prince airport, marking the first time in months.
The items were for partners such as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) who delivered them to local hospitals and clinics. More flights will soon take to the skies.
Other “breakthroughs” saw WFP reaching the Cité-Soleil neighbourhood, providing rations to some 93,000 people in May. WFP has also maintained a ferry service linking Port-au-Prince to the north and south of Haiti, bringing food and medical supplies to areas that have been isolated from humanitarian supply chains.
Pay attention to Haiti
“But there’s a sense of crisis still,” Mr. Bauer said.
This month marks the start of the Atlantic hurricane season which is on track to be “very active” this year. Food prices in the capital have also increased by nearly 30 per cent since January, representing another blow to the population.
He urged the international community to step up and support Haiti, as a $674 million humanitarian response plan, launched in February, is only around 22 per cent funded. WFP also needs $76 million to continue its lifesaving work in the country.
“We need to continue having Haiti in the spotlight,” he said. “We know that in some parts of the world there just hasn’t been enough attention on Haiti because we’re looking at other crises, we’re looking elsewhere, but the crisis in Haiti is here, it’s now and it deserves a response.”