Communities living in fear and on the brink of starvation as violence surges in Haiti
The ongoing gang violence in Haiti is having a devastating impact on women and girls as food insecurity reaches alarming levels, according to ActionAid. The UN estimates that over 4 million people are suffering from acute hunger with 1.4 million of these facing emergency levels of hunger and requiring urgent assistance to survive.
"Amid the dire situation, ActionAid Haiti has seen women and girls further pushed to the brink of survival both in rural and peri-urban communities where we work. Women and girls are particularly affected by the increase in food insecurity. We have received reports of people skipping meals, selling their possessions for food, and facing heightened risks of exploitation just to put food on the table."
"Everywhere you go, there are desperate mothers who have nothing to feed their children. This cannot be our future. The world needs to act now to stop the violence and provide urgent humanitarian assistance," said Country Director of ActionAid Haiti, Angeline Annesteus.
Over the past two months, an escalation in violence has disrupted daily economic activity and led to gross violations of basic human rights especially against women and girls, resulting in the displacement of thousands of families.
Sara, a mother of two based in Roseaux, Grand'Anse said, “Gang violence has left us destitute. Because of the blockade of the roads that cut Port-au-Prince off from the southern regions, I am no longer able to buy products in Grand'Anse to sell in Port-au-Prince. My small business collapsed, and now I must use other coping mechanisms, like harvesting unripe crops, to survive."
Lovena, a mother of two, said,
“Our lives are miserable. With the increase in food prices and the loss of my gardens due to drought, I often find myself with only a piece of bread and water to eat, and sometimes nothing at all in a day. The lack of access to food has severely affected the condition of my children, who suffer from malnutrition."
On the back of rising malnutrition and insecurity, ActionAid is calling for an urgent cessation of all violence to pave the way for a return to the rule of law. Additionally, the international community urgently needs to increase humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs of food, clean water, sanitation, and women’s hygiene.
Sara Almer, Humanitarian Director at ActionAid International said,
"Haiti's people are caught in a web of despair – juggling between trying to survive gang violence and providing food and other basic needs for their families. The country is faced with acute malnutrition that is estimated to affect nearly 277,000 children under the age of 5 between December 2023 and November 2024.”
"With immediate action and scaling up of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to enable organisations on the ground scaling up their work we can help alleviate this suffering and also support the vital work of women’s and young people’s organisations on the frontline of the crisis in t addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality.”
Contact the ActionAid press office on media-enquiries@actionaid.org or on +263776665065 (Calls and WhatsApp).
