Haiti Emergency Situation Report No. 18 (As of 16 April 2024) – Haiti

This report is produced by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Haiti in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It covers the humanitarian situation in Port-au-Prince following the violence that broke out on 29 February. The report covers the period from 13-16 April 2024.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Supply constraints and transport costs remain major challenges in providing humanitarian assistance to the 89,000 displaced people across 87 sites in Port-au-Prince.

• As part of their support to the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) received 38 tonnes of medical supplies from its strategic stocks in Panama

+89,000
People displaced across 87 sites in Port-au-Prince

+5.2M
litres of drinking water distributed to displaced people in Port-au-Prince since 1 March

38 METRIC TONS
of PAHO/WHO medical supplies transported from stocks in Panama

250,000
children on average receive daily WFP school meals

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Gangs continue to perpetrate violence against the population at large, as demonstrated by a massacre at the Cabaret public market on 11 April, where, according to local media, armed men killed around 10 people, including women, and then looted businesses and stole vehicles. Reports of attacks on police forces and kidnappings persist, as well as gunfire in the Carrefour area of Port-au-Prince International Airport, which has been closed since 4 March. There have also been several attempted attacks on the Presidential Palace, which have been thwarted by the forces of law and order.

As of 9 April, the number of displaced people in Haiti remains at 362,500, with 89,000 across 87 sites in the Port-auPrince Metropolitan Area (ZMPAP). Of these, over 36,000 are sheltered at 22 sites managed by the Ouest Department Health Directorate (DSO), with support from PAHO/WHO. Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continues assisting migrants, particularly in Cap Haïtien in the north and near the border areas, including Ounaminthe and Belladère.

With the rainy season underway, the risk of flooding is high and poses an additional threat to displaced people and those in the most disadvantaged areas. Following reported flooding in Cité Soleil in ZMPAP, the World Food Programme (WFP) is currently assessing the situation and will respond with dry products in the coming weeks. The political situation remains tense following the 12 April decree establishing the Transitional Presidential Council. The nine political structures and civil society groups that had appointed representatives to this council have denounced a published statement, highlighting what they call significant alterations made by the incumbent Council of Ministers, which they argue distorts the consensus reached among stakeholders after 11 March.