"Left with nothing" — in Somalia and Haiti, millions lose WFP assistance
Story | 29 September 2023
Emergency
Hunger is tightening its grip on vulnerable Haitians in a deepening humanitarian crisis. The complex emergency situation across the country – which has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world – has been compounded by insecurity, violence, deepening economic woes and a cholera outbreak.
Worrying trends shows a steady deterioration of the food security situation, with the number of hungry people tripling since 2016. Latest reports indicate a steady increase in the number of people requiring urgent humanitarian assistance in Haiti, with 4.9 million acutely hungry. This is an increase of 200,000 people compared to the previous analysis. Notably, close to 1.8 million remain in Emergency phase and need urgent assistance.
The security situation has worsened all over the country throughout the past year, especially after the country lockdown (peyi lok) in September 2022. Reaching people needing food assistance has become more challenging. WFP Haiti created an Access Unit to reach people affected by violence and safeguard logistics routes. Despite significant food security improvements in hard-to-access areas, WFP’s emergency activities were underfunded in 2022. As a result, WFP could only reach 60 percent of its initial target of 1.2 million people.