Women and girls face this crisis. Sexist violence (GBV) such as gang rape is endemic, in particular in the capital Port-au-Prince, and is exacerbated by precarious conditions in travel camps.
However, recent financing reductions have closed sexual and reproductive health centers and GBV services. Travel and insecurity make services that often exist too difficult to access.
Christian Vovi, the United Nations Reproductive Health Agency (Unfpa) Humanitarian coordinator in Haiti has been working in the island nation of the Caribbean since 2022.
He sat down with UN News Before World Humanitarian Day To discuss this crisis and its point of view as a humanitarian on the ground.
Vovi Chrétien, humanitarian coordinator of UNFPA in Haiti.
Remote work
“Sometimes there is the possibility of an attack, so We are forced to work at home.
This situation has limited our ability to go to the field to see people affected, meet women, to observe the situation in camps and communities, so security is sometimes an obstacle for us.
We can organize meetings practically, meet online women and partners to monitor and monitor activities.
Increase in GBV cases
Continuous displacement creates new GBV needs to which humanitarian actors must meet, despite the limited financial capacities. THere is a continuous increase in the number of GBV reported cases.
In some of the cases we manage, we hear how gang members arrive in the community, burn houses and then violating a mother or father in front of the family.
When you speak with women, they are desperate because they find it difficult to obtain even the most fundamental necessities.
Because women do not have access to financial resources, there has been an increase in prostitution cases.
People meet on a site for people displaced in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Desperate for services
Protective services are urgent. We have more than 100 sites for displaced people, but only 11 or 12 sites are covered by the GBV protective services.
There is also the problem in terms of refuge, because when we have many families living together in a small room, there is a greater risk of GBV.
Urgent financing needs
The UNFPA distributes kits of dignity, which contain articles that women need, and provides other goods and services, but it is not enough, we need more.
In Haiti, there are now more than a million displaced people. Since 26% are women of childbearing age, we must mobilize millions of dollars so that we can meet their urgent needs.
In 2020, the United States provided approximately 65% of the humanitarian financing of the response plan in Haiti. But with American financing discounts, we are no longer able to provide services to 25,000 women and girls in certain travel sites.
The United States has also financed 100% of the post-viole kit bought since 2023, so now our actions in these kits are very low.
A woman says that she was raped as he fled from the violence of the gangs with her six children and when she was four months pregnant.
UNFPA work despite the limitations
Despite these financing and access limitations, the UNFPA and its partners continue to stay in Haiti.
The UNFPA leads the GBV coordination mechanism. We continue to provide remote management for GBV cases via the hotline to ensure that cases can access services despite security limitations.
We continue to ensure that if the movement is limited, the persons concerned can access services, psychosocial support and information on the services available via the telephone hotline.
Appeal to action
The international community and donors must fill the major financing gap in the Haitian humanitarian response plan.
Haitians Think that their situation is neglected Because they believe that the international humanitarian community has all the active and funding to stop violence and help affected people.
The government, diplomats and the international community should now defend a clear end for current violence and stop reprisals against women and girls in Haiti.
It is important to act now because for me, Tomorrow is too late concerning the humanitarian needs and the living conditions of women in travel sites. “”
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
