Haiti's Food Insecurity Crisis Deepens as Gang Wars Escalate

The United Nations' food agency, the World Food Program (WFP), said Thursday that a recent surge in violence in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, is causing significant obstacles for it in delivering essential supplies to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable individuals in the country.

The recent surge in violence has blocked "cargo routes, restricted movement, and closed schools, forcing WFP to temporarily halt many activities" in the country, WFP Country Director in Haiti Jean-Martin Bauer said in a statement.

"We can't afford to lose ground when 1.4 million Haitians face emergency levels of hunger. We risk seeing the most vulnerable people fall into famine-like conditions unless we can effectively deliver assistance," Bauer added.

WFP has been continuously delivering emergency food assistance in Haiti alongside other programs to help the citizens fight against hunger. However, the recent surge in gang wars in Haiti has stopped the agency from reaching over 370,000 people who have been struggling with food insecurity issues since early February.

The statement mentioned that around 44% of citizens are facing acute food insecurity and struggle to feed their families. Even children who used to get daily hot meals in the schools are unable to get them as the schools are closed amid the latest wave of violence and unrest across the country.

WFP said that the agency was unable to provide ration to 56,000 people living in the Cité Soleil neighborhood in the capital of the city, Port-au-Prince. As per the International Organization for Migrations (IOM), there are around 20,000 people who left their homes since the beginning of 2024.

Earlier this week, a report by Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime noted that Haitian criminal gangs are becoming financially stronger as the gangs are using funds obtained through private entities, residents, and kidnapped victims to purchase weapons and pay soldiers.

The UN Security Council showed a green light to the international force aimed at supporting Haitian authorities last year, noting that the deployment will take place after nine months and will last a year.

There will be 10,000 active officers who will help ensure the safety of the Latin American country's 11 million citizens. In addition, Kenya volunteered to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti.