GENEVA, (Reuters) – Haiti is facing a humanitarian catastrophe as it struggles with malnutrition, gang violence, inflation and a cholera outbreak, the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) said today.
Some 4.7 million people, almost half the population of Haiti, are facing hunger, with about 19,000 people in the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood of Cite Soleil facing “catastrophic hunger,” the WFP said.
“Haiti is facing a humanitarian catastrophe,” Jean-Martin Bauer, the WFP’s country director in Haiti, told reporters, adding that the situation there is “close to breaking point”.
“The situation is concerning, this is a catastrophe and we need to respond to it immediately,” he added.
Haitian gangs have for a month prevented the distribution of diesel and gasoline, crippling businesses and hospitals, and creating shortages of basic goods, including water, just as the country is struggling with a new outbreak of cholera.
Another U.N. official added that 100,000 children in Haiti under the age of 5 were suffering from severe malnourishment, adding: “They are especially vulnerable to this cholera outbreak.”
