UNICEF Haiti Humanitarian Situation Report No. 8: October 2023 – Haiti

Reporting Period: 1–31 October 2023

Highlights

• During October, the humanitarian situation in Haiti showed no signs of abating. Increased violence in several areas of Port-au-Prince resulted in significant protection risks and displacements for children and their families.

• When violence broke out in La Saline in mid-October, over 2,000 high school students were trapped amid violent clashes between armed groups. While the majority were able to escape, UNICEF facilitated the safe evacuation of the remaining 60 children who were trapped for three days. While providing psychosocial support, UNICEF is ensuring the affected children will be able to return to school in safe spaces.

• One year after the resurgence of cholera in Haiti, the Ministry of Health reports over 69,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 deaths. Although UNICEF continues to work with the ministry and partners – by reaching over 1 million people with safe water and 700,000 people with critical WASH supplies, including cholera kits – the needs continue to outweigh the assistance that can be provided. This is due to access challenges, structural deficiencies and limited resources. UNICEF continues its advocacy to donors for more flexible funding to support health authorities, partners and communities.

• While the partial reopening of the air, sea and land borders by the Dominican Republic has alleviated some tensions for traders, deportations persist and continue to affect children and families.

• To respond effectively to the imminent humanitarian needs, while building conditions for more shock-responsive systems in Haiti, UNICEF requires US$245.9 million. As of October, UNICEF’s humanitarian appeal has a funding gap of US$197.6 million (80 per cent).

Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs

Haiti, grappling with a complex history of poverty, political instability and natural hazards, continued to face increasing humanitarian challenges in the second half of 2023. While the humanitarian planning cycle process is ongoing, for 2023 it was estimated that over 5.2 million Haitians, nearly half of the population, need humanitarian assistance and protection. The compounded crises have differentiated impacts on distinct groups and regions: urban populations entrapped by armed violence; families displaced by violence; food insecure and marginalized communities outside the capital; and repatriated migrants.

During the fifty-fourth session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that 5,599 cases of armed-group-related violence were recorded this year, including 3,156 killings, 1,159 injuries and 1,284 kidnappings, a significant increase compared with the same period last year. The increase has been particularly noted in the country’s capital, where surges in violence continue to result in displacements – notably in La Saline, where recent fighting in early October resulted in at least 2,000 students being trapped amid clashes, including the 60 students who were trapped for three days. Furthermore, an Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report reviewed data between January 2022 and October 2023 flagging a significant rise in violence, with at least 1,694 people killed, injured or kidnapped, specifically in Bas-Artibonite – another department in central Haiti. The report highlights the use of executions as well as sexual violence against children and women.Protection and sexual violence continues to depict a dire humanitarian situation. From January to August 2023, approximately 1,345 cases of sexual violence against children and women were recorded countrywide by the Ministry of Health; meanwhile, the Child Protection Cluster reports 423 cases of sexual violence recorded in October 2023 alone, 84 of which involved girls. This represents an increase of 21 per cent compared with the same period in 2022 (1,116 cases of sexual violence, including 657 against children).

As of the end of October 2023, over 69,000 suspected cases of cholera have been reported, with 4,080 of them confirmed (an increase of 150 from the previous month). Almost half are children. To date, there have been over 1,000 deaths, including at the community and institutional levels. With a health-care system facing significant challenges, and the ongoing cyclone and rainy season, concerns about spikes in cholera cases continue, especially in the departments of Artibonite, Centre and Ouest, where a significant number of cases continue to present at cholera treatment centres and/or public health facilities that suffer from limited human resources.

In early October, the Dominican Republic partially reopened its borders for some trade and limited in-person travel following its closure in mid-September, when the Government of the Dominican Republic closed its land, sea and air border with Haiti. The border from the Dominican side has been reinforced in terms of security and patrols. This, coupled with limited border opening, continues to impact Haiti. While deportations persist, through its partners, UNICEF continues to warn of the increased risk of violence against migrants during deportations, particularly children. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme notes that 67 per cent of those they have surveyed along the border are adopting negative coping strategies, such as reducing meals per day and compromising food security, with a 100,000 person increase in those reporting insufficient food consumption in the departments closest to the border.

Regarding malnutrition, while the results of the latest nutrition survey with the SMART methodology carried out by UNICEF and the Ministry of Public Health and Population reveal a national prevalence of combined global acute malnutrition of 7.2 per cent, there are some disparities between departments and beyond the border areas. Notably, the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and the rest of the Ouest Department have the highest prevalence of combined global acute malnutrition (8.7 per cent and 12.4 per cent, respectively). Some areas are particularly affected by severe acute malnutrition (≥ 1.5 per cent), including the departments of Ouest (Cabaret, Thomazeau, Cornillon/Grand Bois,
Pointe à Raquette, Kenscoff), Nippes (Arnaud), Sud-Est (Marigot), Nord-Ouest (Port-de-Paix), Artibonite and Sud.