The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OCHA
Haiti humanitarian crisis and deployment of multi-national force - OCHA
Haiti humanitarian crisis deepens as country awaits support mission
As Haiti faces a situation of “absolute brutal violence”, the deployment of a multi-national security support mission is awaited with hope, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country said on Friday.
“For many Haitians, daily life is a matter of life and death”, Ulrika Richardson, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country said. Talking to reporters in Geneva, she painted a grim picture of current conditions in the small Caribbean state, which has had no president since its last one, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in 2021.
“Many Haitians go to great risk of just leaving their house, going about a normal life, risking being caught in a line of fire, being kidnapped, lynched, or raped,” Ms. Richardson said. In the first 11 months of 2023, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) registered 8,000 killings, lynchings, kidnappings and rape, often collective rape also targeting young girls.
An estimated 300 gangs operate in Haiti, with the largest groups controlling up to 80 per cent of the capital. Sprawling gang violence is spreading beyond Port-au-Prince to previously peaceful areas in Haiti’s central and northwest regions, particularly to the Artibonite Department, which used to be the breadbasket of Haiti. The country used to produce all its food and even export some. It now struggles with increasing food insecurity amid skyrocketing inflation.
Two out of five Haitians face acute food insecurity
In the country of 12 million people, “5.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. 4.35 million Haitian face acute food insecurity, and that's a staggering figure,” Ms. Richardson emphasized. “It is two out of five Haitians that face acute food insecurity.”
Murders, looting, kidnappings and widespread sexual violence have also fueled mass displacement. “We have 200,000 [displaced people] in the country, 143,000 in the capital alone, which is, of course, a very large number,” Ms. Richardson stressed.
Needs have soared but funding for aid remains scarce. Ms. Richardson said that the 2023 humanitarian response plan for Haiti is only 33 per cent funded as the year draws to a close.
Hopes are now focused on the deployment of a multinational security support mission to Haiti as per resolution 2699 adopted by the UN Security Council last October. Kenya has agreed to lead this multinational armed force and pledged 1,000 police officers. Its deployment, potentially as soon as the first quarter of 2024, awaits a green light from the Kenyan high court.
“We have to really approach this with a comprehensive plan to assist Haiti, to accompany Haiti to the return of state institutions, state control in many of these areas where the state is not present. Reinstate basic services, including water and sanitation, health and education, but also looking at the justice system and the correction system,” Ms. Richardson said.
Prisons in Haiti are up to three times over capacity, with most inmates awaiting trial.
The support mission to shore up the Haitian National Police is intended to help reestablish security in the country in order to create the conditions for holding free and fair elections.
“We consider it will take between 12 and 18 months to organize an election. Obviously, we must stabilize the situation of violence,” Ms. Richardson concluded.
Ends
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
- Cutaway: wide shot, press room, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ulrika Richardson, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Resident Coordinator in Haiti: “For many Haitians, daily life is not only a striking struggle to find food to put on the table for their families but is also a matter of life and death. Many go to great risk of just leaving their house, going about a normal life, risking being caught in a line of fire, risk being kidnaped, risk being lynched, risk being raped. And very often that happens. In fact, we have seen just in these first 11 months of 2023, we've seen 8000 killings, lynchings, kidnappings and rape, very often collective rape, often targeting, of course, women, but also young girls.”
- Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ulrika Richardson, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Resident Coordinator in Haiti: “Haiti, in fact, is spiraling into a very serious we can call it a human rights crisis. We can call it a protection crisis. Overall, simply to say that it's a multi-dimensional crisis. In fact, it has an impact on, of course, the humanitarian situation. We have, in fact, 5.2 million Haitians today that are in need of humanitarian assistance. We have 4.35 million people that face acute food insecurity, and that's a staggering figure. It is two out of five Haitians that face acute food insecurity.”
- Cutaway: close up shot of journalist in the press room, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBTE (ENGLISH) Ulrika Richardson, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Resident Coordinator in Haiti: “This has created also a rapid acceleration in terms of displaced people. We have 200,000 in the country, 143,000 in the capital alone, which is, of course, a very large number. In fact, when we look at the capital, it is the most affected by the gang violence. We consider that about 80 per cent of the capital is controlled by, or influenced by, these gangs. We also consider that there is around 300 gangs in the country.”
- Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ulrika Richardson, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Resident Coordinator in Haiti: “We also have this sensation of hope and that things are possible. In fact, a great frustration for the UN family and also for the humanitarian community in Haiti is that we don't have sufficient funding. We are now up to 33 per cent in terms of funding for our humanitarian response plan of this year.”
- Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ulrika Richardson, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Resident Coordinator in Haiti: “We have to really approach this with a comprehensive plan to assist Haiti, to accompany Haiti to the return of state institutions, state control in many of these areas where the state is not present. Reinstate basic services, including water and sanitation, health and education, of course, but also looking at the justice system and the correction system.”
- Cutaway: medium shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (FRENCH) Ulrika Richardson, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Resident Coordinator in Haiti: “On estime que ça va prendre entre 12 et 18 mois pour organiser une élection. Et donc évidemment, Il faut stabiliser la situation de violence.” (Translation in English: We consider it will take between 12 and 18 months to organize an election. Obviously, we must stabilize the situation of violence.”)
- Various shots of press conference room, UN Geneva.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday voiced concerns about the severe impacts on human rights of the socio-economic crisis in Cuba.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Madagascar: ‘Overwhelming’ destruction, surging needs after back-to-back cyclones – WFP
Some 10 days after tropical cyclone Fytia brought heavy rains and flooding to Madagascar, cyclone Gezani has left the island’s main port in ruins, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief urges de-escalation in Tigray amid rising tensions and violence.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , OHCHR
In Sudan, sick and starving children ‘wasting away’ – UN humanitarians
Relentless violence, famine and disease are picking off Sudan’s children while attacks on healthcare and a lack of aid access hamper efforts to help them, UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday gave an update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in El Fasher, Sudan.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“A series of new Israeli operations and settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, risk seriously undermining the viability of a Palestinian state and the realisation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva today.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNIS
UN voices concern over chemical spraying incident on Lebanon’s Blue Line
The UN reiterated concerns on Friday at reports that Israeli forces sprayed herbicide over areas north of the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The development poses a “serious humanitarian risk” to civilians living there, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefing journalists in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Five patients evacuated as Rafah reopens while ‘too many stayed behind’ – WHO
As time is running out for thousands of critically ill patients in Gaza, hope is alive for medical evacuations to increase with the reopening of the Rafah crossing in the southern part of the Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.