Перейти к основному содержанию

Haiti: Earthquake Situation Report No. 7 (7 October 2021)

Страны
Гаити
+ 4
Источники
OCHA
Дата публикации

This report was produced by OCHA Haiti with contributions from United Nations Agencies, Funds and Programmes, nongovernmental organizations and humanitarian partners. This report covers the period from 24 September to 7 October. The next report will be published on or around 20 October.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • On 25 September, Prime Minister Ariel Henry addressed the UN General Assembly, where he lauded the international solidarity received by Haiti and encouraged the international community to continue supporting Haiti in addressing humanitarian needs as well as post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction efforts.

  • The latest UN Secretary-General’s report on the situation in Haiti was presented to the UN Security Council on 4 October in a session where Helen La Lime, Special Representative and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, urged Member States to ensure that Haiti does not become a forgotten crisis.

  • UNICEF estimates that more than 230,000 children are at risk of dropping out of school in the Grand Sud region if classrooms remain closed following a one-month delay in school reopening in quake-affected departments.

  • Through a joint statement, UNHCR, IOM, UNICEF and OHCHR call on states to refrain from forcibly returning Haitians without proper assessment of their individual needs and provide migration pathways for those most in need. The country continues to grapple with multiple crises on top of the fallout from the earthquake, stretching any capacity to receive returning Haitians, as conditions remain dire and not conducive to forced returns.

800K affected people (Source: UN System in Haiti)

650K need emergency humanitarian assistance (Source: UN System in Haiti)

754.2K acutely food-insecure people in the three quake-affected departments (Source: WFP)

2.2K people dead (Source: DGPC)

137.5K+ damaged and destroyed homes (Source: DGPC)

SITUATION OVERVIEW

The powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake which stuck south-western Haiti on 14 August affected at least 800,000 people, including 340,000 children, and resulted in the death of more than 2,240 people. According to the Haitian General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGPC) and IOM, as of 20 September, an estimated 38,777 displaced people have been identified in 89 displacement locations across the three most affected departments – Grand’Anse, Nippes and Sud – with more than half of these people located in 44 locations in the Sud Department.

For the more than 12,700 injured people, access to adequate healthcare remains a challenge, as the quake damaged or destroyed approximately 90 health centres, with 60 per cent of affected people stating that health services close to them have been interrupted, according to UNICEF’s U-Report survey.

The rollout of the new school year has been severely hindered by the earthquake’s multifaceted impacts, with more than 900 schools – around 70 per cent of all schools in south-western Haiti – damaged or destroyed. The majority of schools have been unable to reopen their doors to students just as 300,000 children were set to gradually resume classes in the three quake-affected departments on 4 October. UNICEF estimates that if classrooms remain closed, following a one-month delay in school reopening in affected departments, more than 230,000 children are at risk of dropping out of school.

The earthquake has triggered a spike in international migration from Haiti, compounding the existing migration crisis of Haitians in the Americas, with increasing numbers of Haitian nationals arriving on the shores of neighbouring countries. At the same time, the Government of the United States has launched an operation to repatriate around 14,000 Haitian migrats from Del Rio, Texas, with an average of 400 people expected to be returned to Haiti every day over the coming months.

Following the United States’ recent decision to forcibly return Haitian migrants, the Government of Mexico announced that it had reached a formal agreement with Haiti to restart deportation processes, while The Bahamas and Cuba indicated they had received several Haitians seeking to enter the United States, who will soon be returned to Haiti. With thousands of Haitians being returned to a country facing a multi-dimensional crisis, including women and children, many of whom were born outside Haiti, families sent back face increasing levels of violence, poverty and displacement, factors that originally drove them to flee the island.

In response, UN entities, including UNHCR, IOM, UNICEF and OHCHR, released a joint statement urging for a comprehensive regional approach in responding to Haitian migrants’ protection needs, calling on states to cease the forcible return of Haitians without adequate assessment of their specific protection needs, as the situation is bound to worsen following the earthquake’s impact on already-limited capacities to receive returning Haitians.

On 25 September, Prime Minister Ariel Henry addressed the UN General Assembly, where he lauded the international solidarity received in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and encouraged the international community to continue supporting Haiti in addressing the most pressing humanitarian needs and post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction efforts.

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