Almost half of the Haitian population, 4.9 million people, are struggling to feed themselves and WFP is currently managing to help 2.5 million of them, AFP said. Regional Director of this organization for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lola Castro.
There is a lack of financial resources
But “due to the global funding cuts, we won’t be able to reach one (million) of those 2.5 million,” she feared, less than two weeks before a summit of the countries of this region with their European counterparts, on July 17 and 18 in Brussels. She described the situation as “very dramatic”.
WFP is short of US$122 million or €112 million for its operations in Haiti this year, she said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for international “assistance” for Haitian police in dealing with the wave of violence sweeping the impoverished Caribbean country.
“There are 200 gangs and they have taken over the city of Port-au-Prince,” Lola Castro said, explaining that they are preventing Haitians from going to work, school or getting supplies. “A population taken hostage,” she commented.
The situation in Haiti is currently being discussed at the Caricom summit, attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which called for international support last week.