Speaking March 10 at a briefing of the UN’s Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Bruno Lemarquis, who is a deputy special representative of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) as well as UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, warned that Haiti’s humanitarian needs “remain at a disturbingly high level” and that its situation is comparable to that of South Sudan and the Central African Republic. He observed, however, that unlike in those two African nations, where there have been years of conflict, in Haiti “there is no war. We are in the middle of the Caribbean,” VOA News reported him saying.
As is the case for Africa, Lemarquis reported, the funds designated for humanitarian efforts in Haiti have not been forthcoming—only one-third of the $235.6 million OCHA requested for its 2021-2022 Humanitarian Response Plan has come through. Some 40% of Haiti’s population of 10.9 million—about 4.4. million people—require humanitarian assistance. The representative of the Action Against Hunger NGO in Haiti said that after 36 years in the country, his organization has noticed “an alarming level of donor disengagement” in life-saving interventions. “It is very important for the international community to stay in solidarity with the Haitian people,” he said. “We might face a situation that is irreversible in the future.” The Dominican Republic’s ambassador to the United Nations José Blanco, emphasized his government’s great concern, describing Haiti’s situation as dire and a “multi-hazard risk,” requiring the full attention of the international community. The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
