Humanitarian crises could worsen in Haiti, Venezuela, says aid group
Tue, January 24, 2023
By Kylie Madry
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The humanitarian crises in Haiti and Venezuela that have subjected millions to hunger, violence and disease could worsen this year without more aid, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said on Tuesday.
An estimated 4.7 million Haitians and 12.3 million Venezuelans face food insecurity.
"The crises in Haiti and Venezuela are protracted challenges that are shaking the whole region but, as conflict escalates around the world, competing priorities are draining the attention they get," the IRC's Regional Vice President Julio Rank Wright said.
Haiti ranked No. 9 on the IRC's 2023 emergency watchlist, below South Sudan and Burkina Faso and a notch above Ukraine.
The IRC estimated at least 5.2 million Haitians need humanitarian aid, with some 40% of the country having to skip meals.
Gangs have become de facto authorities in parts of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
The violence has displaced over 155,000 Haitians within the country alone, the IRC said.
Cholera, meanwhile, has made a resurgence, with more than 22,000 suspected cases registered in January.
The IRC said it is preparing a response with local partners to combat cholera, provide health services and support survivors of gender-based violence.
Meanwhile in Venezuela, the IRC said health services are strained and medicine inaccessible for some 9.3 million people after years of sky-high inflation and political crises.
An estimated 7 million Venezuelans have fled in recent years.
The IRC also said climate change had displaced nearly 1.3 million people across northern parts of Central America, fueling poverty and hunger.
The organization also expressed concern for Mexico, which received nearly 250,000 asylum requests over the last two years and continues to support migrants expelled from the United States.
Mexico is the only country in the region mentioned by the IRC Tuesday without a humanitarian response plan under U.N. guidelines, hampering humanitarian action and coordination.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland and Lisa Shumaker)
Tue, January 24, 2023
By Kylie Madry
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The humanitarian crises in Haiti and Venezuela that have subjected millions to hunger, violence and disease could worsen this year without more aid, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said on Tuesday.
An estimated 4.7 million Haitians and 12.3 million Venezuelans face food insecurity.
"The crises in Haiti and Venezuela are protracted challenges that are shaking the whole region but, as conflict escalates around the world, competing priorities are draining the attention they get," the IRC's Regional Vice President Julio Rank Wright said.
Haiti ranked No. 9 on the IRC's 2023 emergency watchlist, below South Sudan and Burkina Faso and a notch above Ukraine.
The IRC estimated at least 5.2 million Haitians need humanitarian aid, with some 40% of the country having to skip meals.
Gangs have become de facto authorities in parts of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
The violence has displaced over 155,000 Haitians within the country alone, the IRC said.
Cholera, meanwhile, has made a resurgence, with more than 22,000 suspected cases registered in January.
The IRC said it is preparing a response with local partners to combat cholera, provide health services and support survivors of gender-based violence.
Meanwhile in Venezuela, the IRC said health services are strained and medicine inaccessible for some 9.3 million people after years of sky-high inflation and political crises.
An estimated 7 million Venezuelans have fled in recent years.
The IRC also said climate change had displaced nearly 1.3 million people across northern parts of Central America, fueling poverty and hunger.
The organization also expressed concern for Mexico, which received nearly 250,000 asylum requests over the last two years and continues to support migrants expelled from the United States.
Mexico is the only country in the region mentioned by the IRC Tuesday without a humanitarian response plan under U.N. guidelines, hampering humanitarian action and coordination.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland and Lisa Shumaker)
U.S. says it will propose new Haiti targets for U.N. sanctions
AND THAT HELPS THE PEOPLE HOW?!
US Ambassador Wood attends a session at the United Nations in Geneva
Tue, January 24, 2023
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it will propose further targets in Haiti for U.N. sanctions, a move broadly backed by China as the Caribbean country battles cholera and severe food shortages compounded by widespread violence from criminal gangs.
The 15-member U.N. Security Council agreed in October to impose an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo on anyone who threatens the peace or stability of Haiti, naming the country's most powerful gangster as its first target.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also proposed that "a rapid action force" be sent to Haiti to help police combat gangs - a move also requested by Haiti's government.
"This has yet to materialize," the U.N. special envoy to Haiti, Helen La Lime, told the Security Council.
"Haitians overwhelmingly want this assistance so they can go about their daily lives in peace," she said. "Gang-related violence has reached levels not seen in decades. Murders and kidnappings increased for a fourth consecutive year."
The deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, said that Washington was encouraged that U.N. sanctions had "deterred those who would carry out and finance the violence causing Haiti's instability."
"The United States is identifying additional targets involved in the unrest in Haiti to nominate at the United Nations," he said. Such proposals are made to the council's Haiti sanctions committee, which makes decisions by consensus.
China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun called for U.N. Haiti sanctions to be urgently reviewed and updated and for the full implementation of the measures "in order to create the necessary deterrent to gang violence."
Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the council's Haiti sanctions committee should intensify its work to find "the true sources of funding of the gangs in Haiti and the routes of illegal weapons supplies to the island."
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols)
IMF approves $105 million to fight food shortages in Haiti
Mon, January 23, 2023
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) executive board approved $105 million to help Haiti address severe food insecurity, the institution said on Monday, as the Caribbean country faces widespread shortages amid a humanitarian crisis.
The payment, under the IMF's Food Shock Window program, is set to address "urgent balance of payment needs related to the global food crisis", the fund said in a statement.
"Record price inflation ... worsened Haiti's fragility and compounded the suffering of Haiti's population already affected by a severe malnutrition," said deputy managing director Antoinette Sayeh, pointing to "spillovers" from Russia's invasion of Ukraine early last year.
It said funds would be allocated to those most affected by food price increases through feeding programs, cash and in-kind transfers to vulnerable households and other measures.
Authorities should carefully control, track, record and publish all spending related to the emergency response, it added, to ensure it is used appropriately.
The $105 million - 0.5% of Haiti's gross domestic product - corresponds to an expected financing gap in 2023 as the country battles a cholera crisis and severe food shortages, compounded by widespread violence from criminal gangs in parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
(Reporting by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sarah Morland)
Mon, January 23, 2023
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) executive board approved $105 million to help Haiti address severe food insecurity, the institution said on Monday, as the Caribbean country faces widespread shortages amid a humanitarian crisis.
The payment, under the IMF's Food Shock Window program, is set to address "urgent balance of payment needs related to the global food crisis", the fund said in a statement.
"Record price inflation ... worsened Haiti's fragility and compounded the suffering of Haiti's population already affected by a severe malnutrition," said deputy managing director Antoinette Sayeh, pointing to "spillovers" from Russia's invasion of Ukraine early last year.
It said funds would be allocated to those most affected by food price increases through feeding programs, cash and in-kind transfers to vulnerable households and other measures.
Authorities should carefully control, track, record and publish all spending related to the emergency response, it added, to ensure it is used appropriately.
The $105 million - 0.5% of Haiti's gross domestic product - corresponds to an expected financing gap in 2023 as the country battles a cholera crisis and severe food shortages, compounded by widespread violence from criminal gangs in parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
(Reporting by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sarah Morland)
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