EU releases funds to tackle unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Haiti

The European Union says it is providing emergency funding of Euro 10 million (One Euro=US$1.29 cents) in response to the unprecedented increase in humanitarian needs in Haiti.

It said that this brings the humanitarian funding committed for Haiti this year to Euro 18.5 million.

The EU said that people in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country face the consequences of overlapping crises fuelled by widespread violence, the ongoing economic collapse, and a cholera epidemic.

It said the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Haiti has doubled over the past five years reaching 5.2 million, nearly half of the country’s population.

In relation to the total population, the percentage of Haitians facing levels of emergency food insecurity is the second highest in the world, the EU said, adding that the rapid worsening of the situation in Haiti has also induced a mass exodus and a spillover of the humanitarian crisis to other countries in the region.

The emergency funding released by the EU aims to enable humanitarian organisations to step up the response and tackle the most urgent needs, primarily focusing on food and nutrition.

The funding will also support healthcare, cash assistance, protection and logistics, in both rural and urban areas.

“Hunger, widespread violence, disease outbreaks, disasters. When we ask ourselves how much suffering a human being can take, we should remember that people in Haiti are enduring all of this and much more. The EU has not forgotten them,” said the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič.

“While celebrating this fruitful partnership between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing relief to people in Haiti remains our utmost concern and priority in the region,” she added.

The EU said that the humanitarian crisis in Haiti is one of the most complex and acute worldwide, aggravated by a context of socio-political instability and that natural hazards and disasters also regularly impact the country, worsening the situation and affecting the already scarce resources of the population.

Insecurity in Haiti has reached unprecedented levels, with at least 1.5 million people living in gang-controlled areas (approximately 10 per cent of the country’s population), deprived of freedom of movement and lacking access to food or safe water.

Children, the elderly and women are particularly exposed to abuse, exploitation, and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence.

The EU has been providing assistance to Haiti since 1994, with a humanitarian funding totalling over Euro 482 million. (CMC)