Haiti Gang Violence Deepens Risk of Food Insecurity – InterAction

                   Haiti has seen repetitive crises and instability for decades, characterized by chronic socio-political instability, rampant violence—including sexual and gender-based violence, particularly toward women and girls—recurring natural disasters, and a prevailing absence of rule of law. But the situation has dramatically worsened in recent weeks.

Protests seeking the Haitian president’s ouster have caused the displacement of over 160,000 people in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince, bringing the country’s estimated displacement figure to 362,000, the majority of whom are women and children. Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) figures from March 2024 indicate a significantly worse situation than predicted for the period of March to June 2024. The total number of people in acute food insecurity (IPC3) now stands at 4.97 million, including 1.64 million in an “emergency” phase of hunger (IPC4).

Contributing factors include overarching market price increases, less rain than usual resulting in lower agricultural output, and higher dependence on an aid system that has not received enough funding. Humanitarian access is also increasingly difficult, as the border with the Dominican Republic, the international airport, and the seaport in the nation’s capital all remain closed.

Against this backdrop, concerns are mounting that without renewed humanitarian access, IPC and displacement numbers, as well as civilian casualties, will continue to grow.

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