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The Humanitarian Coordinator is concerned with ongoing severe restrictions to humanitarian access resulting from six weeks of social unrest

Countries
Haiti
Sources
OCHA
+ 1 more
Publication date

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 28th, 2019 – Humanitarian organizations in Haiti are concerned with the deterioration of access to communities, which limits their capacity to deliver assistance to thousands of vulnerable Haitians. Not restoring immediate and unconditional access to communities whose needs were alarming even prior to the ongoing crisis could lead to potentially dire consequences for hundreds of thousands of families.

Humanitarian partners have faced serious difficulties to move around and reach exhausted population over the past six weeks. Health facilities cannot be resupplied adequately, which threatens the lives of many children, women and men.

Some 19,000 children suffering from malnutrition need urgent care. Thousands of people have limited or no access to clean water because of fuel supply challenges for pumping stations. In addition, some two million children cannot reach schools where canteens are also facing supply challenges.

The humanitarian community urges all parties to facilitate access to hospitals, schools and orphanages to vulnerable people and those affected by the current crisis as well as humanitarian organizations so that assistance can be delivered. “We must be allowed to continue assisting the neediest in accordance with humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence, which guide our work” declared Mr. Fernando Hiraldo, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator a.i.

Despite the worrisome prevailing security context, humanitarian partners have managed to deliver fuel, medicines and medical equipment to 17 hospitals allowing for some 4.3 million people to receive health care for a month. The fuel delivered will allow pumping stations to distribute drinking water to more than 400,000 people.

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Mr Fernando Hiraldo Humanitarian Coordinator a.i

For contact:
Alix Nijimbere, Deputy Head of OCHA Haiti Office, nijimbere@un.org, +509 37 02 57 90

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.