The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
Gang violence in Port-au-Prince threatens more than a million food-insecure Haitians
Surging and deadly gang violence in the Haitian capital has contributed to runaway food insecurity for at least a million people there, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
“The situation is spiralling out of control already,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP Haiti Country Director. “Large parts of Port-au-Prince are controlled by gangs; the data we have show that the situation over the past 90 days has gotten worse and already based on what is a very vulnerable place, we already had one million people in this city who were acutely food insecure.”
Speaking via Zoom from Port-au-Prince, Mr. Bauer explained that between 150 and 200 gangs operate there, and that things were getting “worse by the day” for Haitians.
“Since Friday there’s been fighting downtown in the port area, in Cité Soleil, and yesterday in La Saline, places that are very close to the port and also close to where hundreds of thousands of very poor people live.”
These included a heavily pregnant woman who had to shelter on the floor of her home for an entire day, for fear of being caught in the crossfire during a prolonged gunfight, the WFP official explained. The next day, just as she was able to leave her house, someone set fire to it. She later gave birth and now lives in a centre for displaced people.
According to two local youth-focused organizations, 13 per cent of the children surveyed in one troubled neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, had been in contact with members of armed gangs who tried to recruit them.
“The context is gang violence, people are not able to work, people are not able to sell their produce and at the same time food prices are increasing,” Mr. Bauer said. “And Haiti is an import-dependent country so really at the forefront of what’s going on” – a reference to the fact that the Caribbean island imports 70 per cent of its food needs, and as elsewhere, has suffered from the global food and fuel crisis that has been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on 24 February.
“Inflation here runs, has been running at 26 per cent,” the WFP official said. “Food inflation has been 52 per cent, this is according to the Haitian government and the analysis of the food basket they do here.”
To continue to ensure that the vulnerable Haitians receive assistance outside the capital, WFP has had to resort to using sea routes, rather than target-prone lorries.
“WFP set up a maritime service to bypass the gangs that are around Port-au-Prince, so what we do is we send the trucks to the port, they board a WFP-chartered ferry and that vessel goes either to the south or to the north, to ensure that humanitarian aid continues reaching all Haitians, no matter where they are.”
ends
STORY: Haiti Alert – WFP
TRT: 2 mins 36s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 12 July 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, Press conference room, podium moderator, large TV screens to either side showing broadcast image and external UN WFP speaker.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jean-Martin Bauer (Zoom from Port-au-Prince), WFP Haiti Country Director: “The situation is spiralling out of control already; large parts of Port-au-Prince are controlled by gangs; the data we have show that the situation over the past 90 days has gotten worse and already based on what is a very vulnerable place, we already had one million people in this city who were acutely food insecure.”
- Medium shot, journalist wearing facemask, typing on laptop, journalist to rear and TV lighting panel.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jean-Martin Bauer (Zoom from Port-au-Prince), WFP Haiti Country Director: “The situation’s getting worse by the day. Since Friday there’s been fighting downtown in the port area, in Cité Soleil, and yesterday in La Saline, places that are very close to the port and also close to where hundreds of thousands of very poor people live.”
- Medium shot, journalists, masked, typing on laptop or listening.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jean-Martin Bauer (Zoom from Port-au-Prince), WFP Haiti Country Director: “Remember, you’ve got 150 to 200 gangs in Haiti, that’s had an impact on food insecurity and it’s continuing and it’s getting worse.”
- Close-up, hands typing on laptops.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jean-Martin Bauer (Zoom from Port-au-Prince), WFP Haiti Country Director: “The context is gang violence, people are not able to work, people are not able to sell their produce and at the same time food prices are increasing, so there’s a few phenomena that compound each other. And Haiti is an import-dependent country, so really at the forefront of what’s going on.”
- Medium shot, TV camera lens out of focus in foreground, large TV screen to rear featuring speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jean-Martin Bauer (Zoom from Port-au-Prince), WFP Haiti Country Director: “Inflation here runs - has been running at 26 per cent - food inflation has been 52 per cent, this is according to the Haitian government and the analysis of the food basket they do here.”
- Medium shot, journalists, masked, checking mobile phone and laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jean-Martin Bauer (Zoom from Port-au-Prince), WFP Haiti Country Director: “WFP set up a maritime service to bypass the gangs that are around Port-au-Prince, so what we do is we send the trucks to the port, they board a WFP-chartered ferry and that vessel goes either to the south or to the north, to ensure that humanitarian aid continues reaching all Haitians, no matter where they are.”
- Medium shot, journalist, masked, in foreground, large TV screen with WFP speaker to rear.
- Close-up, hands typing on laptop.
- Medium shot, journalists, masked.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.