Haiti on the brink: WFP scales up as violence fuels displacement and hunger

A newspaper photograph shows a man carrying two car tyres to feed into a burning barricade – the last line of defence between his neighbourhood and the armed groups hellbent on taking it over. 

Such groups issue chilling warnings, in some areas, by placing human skulls on stakes in the middle of the road.

Amid escalating violence and hunger, the World Food Programme (WFP) stands firm together with the dedicated staff and volunteers of its Haitian partner organizations to scale up food distributions, hot meals and cash grants, which enable people to buy the foods they need amid ever-soaring prices.

Read press release: WFP scales up food assistance 

Women on the frontlines

Lucienne, a mother of five, is among those trapped in Croix-des-Bouquets, in the north of Port-au-Prince.

The area is part of the fiefdom of one of the dozens of armed groups operating in the capital and has been cut off from humanitarian assistance for years. 

Lucienne and her five children in Port-au-Prince only receive one meal a day. Photo: WFP/Tanya Birkbeck

“For me, the situation is truly catastrophic,” she said. “Sometimes, we have nothing to eat. We go through the day and night with nothing – it’s the truth, as hard as it may be.”

“Sometimes, we only eat once a day. I prepare a meal in the morning before the children go to school, but after that, I have nothing left to give them,” she added.

“I go to ask for help from neighbours or friends. Some of them give me a bit of corn. When I don’t have charcoal, I cook the food using wood. When I have nothing to give the children, they cry. It’s very sad.”

In November WFP made an important breakthrough, negotiating access to truck in 300 metric tons of rice, beans and oil into the besieged neighbourhood – enough to assist 50,000 people.

Family members take away a food pack - they are among 50,000 people reached after WFP negotiated access to the cut-off Croix-des-Bouquets area of Port-au-Prince in November. Photo: WFP/Tanya Birkbeck

“This is the first time an organization has come to our area to give us food,” said Lacienne through tears. “This food is helping us so much. We had nothing to give the children before, but now this is a great help to us.”

Amid such hardship, over 700,000 people – mainly in Port-au-Prince and Artibonite – have fled their homes, hoping for the best in makeshift shelters, schools, and government buildings. The figure is unprecedented – and poses unthinkable consequences for women and girls. 

In Haiti, the unthinkable is the everyday.

A nutrition assessment at a clinic serving displaced people near Port-au-Prince. Photo: WFP/Tanya Birkbeck

The latest food security data reveals that one in two Haitians do not have enough to eat. Two million people face ‘emergency’ levels of hunger at IPC4 on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, while around 6,000 displaced people face ‘catastrophic’ hunger at IPC5.

In the past two weeks alone, more than 50,000 people have quit their homes while half the country – 5.4 million people – face acute hunger, one of the highest per capita proportions of food insecurity in the world. 

In November, WFP and its partners served a record 834,664 hot meals at 48 sites housing displaced people, including people forced to flee in the latest uptick of fighting. 

Below, WFP’s Country Director for Haiti, Wanja Kaaria, tells us more.

Wanja Kaaria visits a WFP-supported school in Port-au-Prince. Photo: WFP/Luc Segur

Several false news reports have indicated that the UN is pulling out of Haiti. Can you set the record straight?

WANJA KAARIA: WFP is not leaving Haiti. We’re here to stay as long as people need us, as long as there are vulnerable people to reach. WFP is currently distributing food to over 50,000 internally displaced people, and we served a record total of more than 834,000 hot meals in November at 48 sites. So, we’re not going anywhere. We’re staying to help, no matter what.

Tell us about what’s happening in terms of school meals.

We’re working with the Government to scale up school meals, and right now, we’re reaching more than 470,000 children. The great part is that we’re buying much of the food locally and helping smallholder farmers. It’s a win-win. The Government’s goal is for all the food in schools to be locally produced, and we want to help make that happen.

People in  the long cut-off Croix-des-Bouquets neighbourood line up for assistance as WFP's access team eyes further breakthroughs. Pboto: WFP/Tanya Birkbeck

What about access to areas in Port-au-Prince? 

We’ve made some real progress in getting access to areas in Port-au-Prince. Our access negotiation team has been working nonstop to make sure we can reach the people most in need, wherever they are. We are currently wrapping up a round of rice, beans and oil distribution reaching 150,000 people in multiple hard-to-reach neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince. 

A WFP food distribution at a school in Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince. Photo: WFP/Jonathan Dumont

Why is WFP scaling up right now in Haiti?

The situation in Haiti is getting more critical. A recent food security analysis showed that nearly half the population is acutely food insecure, and 277,000 children are acutely malnourished. With over 700,000 people displaced and floods making things worse, the need for support is huge. We’re focusing on getting emergency assistance to people right now but also thinking long-term. 

Once we stabilize people, we want to help them rebuild and ensure they’re less vulnerable to future shocks. We don’t want them to rely on aid forever.

What role is UNHAS – the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service – playing in Haiti?

UNHAS is helping us get to places we couldn’t reach otherwise. They have two aircraft: a helicopter for the hardest-to-reach spots, and a fixed-wing aircraft that lets us cover more ground. These aren’t just for WFP – the entire humanitarian community uses them to get workers and supplies for those who need them. Currently, there are 5.4 million people in need of food assistance in Haiti, and without UNHAS, reaching all of them would be much more complicated.

An UNHAS helicopter flies over Port-au-Prince. Photo: WFP/Theresa Piorr

Last month, WFP chartered two maritime vessels to transport 21 trucks loaded with food, medicines and health supplies from Port-au-Prince to the southern region. This will enable the agency to position food stocks for its operations and those of local partners in the southern region; medicines and health commodities that have been out of stock for months at health centres will also be replenished.

WFP plans to expand food assistance operations in response to growing needs, targeting 1.85 million, individuals with emergency relief while supporting efforts to strengthen national resilient systems. WFP requires US$94 million to fund its operations for the next six months.