Haiti Emergency Situation Report No. 19 (As of 19 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 17-19 April 2024.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Between January and March 2024, 2,505 people were killed or injured as a result of violence perpetrated by armed gangs, an increase of 53% compared to the last quarter of 2023.

• Logistical constraints, especially with regard to supply, are causing increasing difficulties in accessing food and other basic goods, resulting in a consequent rise in prices.

• Haiti has strengthened its surveillance for early detection of cholera and other potentially epidemic diseases, with support from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).

21%
Increase in the price of the food basket in the Port-auPrince Metropolitan Area since January

+53%
Increase in the number of victims of armed groups’ actions between January and March 2024

62 TONNES
of essential supplies transported to Cap Haïtien thanks to 5 European Commission airlift flights

8%
Funding coverage of the Humanitarian Response Plan 2024

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Insecurity continues to affect the people of Haiti, especially in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area (ZMPAP), where looting and murders persist. For example, on 18 April, armed groups attacked areas in the Carrefour commune and seized a police station, killing seven people, as reported by the media. On 19 April, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) reported that armed violence has killed or injured 2,505 people between January and March 2024, marking an increase of more 53 per cent compared to October-December 2023.

However, the violence perpetrated by armed groups and its consequences are also affecting other regions, including Artibonite and southern Haiti. Logistical and supply constraints are causing increasing difficulties in accessing food items and even cash, resulting in rising prices. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the price of the food basket in the ZMPAP has increased by 21 per cent since January, while food availability is decreasing and merchants struggle to restock. Merchants in the neighbourhoods of Léogâne, Carrefour and Tabarre are particularly affected by the situation.

Humanitarians continue to respond amid the volatile context, particularly in terms of supporting the most vulnerable people, such as displaced people. For example, the strategy for early detection of cholera and other potentially epidemic diseases is scaling up across the country, especially in the 22 sites for internally displaced people (IDPs) sites in the Ouest Department, where ZMPAP is located, with support from PAHO/WHO. In other regions, the number of cholera cases continues to decrease, but the departments of Artibonite and Centre still face numerous epidemic outbreaks.

Deportations are ongoing. On 18 April in Cap Haïtien, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) assisted 52 migrants repatriated from the United States and another 52 from the Turks and Caicos Islands.