Due to a lack of sufficient funds, the World Food Program (WFP) announced on Monday that it had cut its food aid by 25% in July in Haiti, where almost half the population still needs humanitarian aid.
At “the current level of funding for the calendar year, WFP does not have the resources to provide food assistance to a total of 750,000 people in urgent need,” it added.
During the first semester, WFP provided food or cash assistance to 1.5 million people in the country. This aid includes 450,000 hot meals for schoolchildren, a number that could be reduced by almost half after the summer holidays.
As of mid-year, the WFP response plan for the impoverished Caribbean country ravaged by gang violence is only 16 percent funded, according to the press release, which calls for emergency funding of $121 million for of 2023.
great needs
“These budget cuts could not come at a worse time, as Haitians face a multi-layered humanitarian crisis, with their lives and livelihoods disrupted by violence, insecurity, economic turmoil and climate shocks,” he said. Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP National Director. for Haiti.
“If we do not receive immediate funding, more devastating cuts cannot be ruled out,” he warned.
“It is heartbreaking, Haiti is a country that has already suffered so much and has been so forgotten despite being so close to so much wealth,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary general.
According to the UN, nearly half of the Haitian population, or 5.2 million people, is in need of humanitarian assistance, including nearly 3 million children. A situation aggravated by the political crisis and the growing violence of the gangs that terrorize the population.
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Source: BFM TV
