Lachezara Stoeva was addressing a special crisis meeting on Haiti organized by ECOSOC to address the country’s urgent food security needs and noted that the humanitarian response plan for this year is only 22.6 per cent funded.

Wake-up call

“This plan targets 3.2 million Haitian people whereas around 5.2 million Haitian people are in need. This should be our wake-up call”, she told the group of Prime Ministers, UN aid chiefs, civil society and other stakeholders gathered at UN Headquarters in New York.

During the high-level meeting, both the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced they would be travelling to Haiti in the next few days to highlight the depth of the crisis there.

The recent earthquake, flooding and landslides, have exacerbated political and economic turmoil combined with rampant insecurity and violence perpetrated by armed gangs – all of which has triggered a food and health crisis for millions.

“We must learn the lessons of our past efforts in Haiti. A whole-of-society approach that engages the Haitian people would be key to building resilient food systems”, she said, calling for bold thinking combined with immediate action.

‘Alarming’ descent

Bob Rae, Chair of the ECOSOC Advisory Group on Haiti said the crisis was continuing to deteriorate “at an alarming rate.”

Humanitarian needs have doubled in the last year.  Now 1.8 million Haitians are facing emergency levels of food insecurity and nearly five million do not have enough to eat. “This represents half of the country’s population”, he added.

UNICEF delivering: Russell

UNICEF chief Catherine Russell warned that the country was “on the precipice of catastrophe.”

She reminded the meeting the agency had worked in Haiti for decades and remained deeply committed to supporting all children there.

“Alongside our partners, we are engaging with community leaders and other relevant stakeholders to facilitate the safe movement of humanitarian workers and supplies”, she said.

“We are also expanding our response in health, nutrition, protection, education, water, sanitation and hygiene. So far this year, we have screened more than 243,000 children under five for wasting, helped nearly 70,000 women and children access healthcare, provided more over 417,000 people with safe water and reached 30,000 children with learning materials.”

Action is now long overdue, she said, announcing her intention to go to Haiti “in the coming days” to assess the collective response and “reiterate UNICEF’s commitment to helping the Haitian people.”

Investments and action are sorely needed for Haiti, she said.

“Let’s work together to make sure this happens. Together we can join with the Haitian people to break through the cycle of crises and begin building towards a more peaceful and hopeful future.”

Welcome focus on ‘forgotten crisis’: McCain

WFP chief Cindy McCain, said she would be on the ground next week, “so I welcome your focus on this forgotten crisis.”

The situation is dire and getting worse every day, she added.

“Hunger has reached record levels. 4.9 million people – almost half of the population – are acutely food insecure. This includes 1.8 million people who are at serious risk of starvation.”

She said that “a coordinated and well-funded humanitarian response must be part of the broader strategy to restore security and political stability in Haiti.”

Despite the challenges, WFP has stayed and delivered, with support for 1.8 million people and the aim of reaching 2.3 million through this year, having already supported 1.4 million with lifesaving food and livelihood support so far.

“But we urgently need the support of the international community. Without additional funds, we will not be able to reach all those we are targeting for help”, Ms. McCain stressed.

“Ladies and gentlemen: we must act now, and work together to get food and cash transfers to the millions of people who are relying on us. Together we can make a difference – and help the people of Haiti rebuild their shattered lives.”

Build local food resilience

The UN’s Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Haiti, Ulrika Richardson, told the special meeting that the UN was working hand-in-hand with the Government, together with local and international partners, to make food systems more resilient.

This includes a recent national policy and strategy for food security and independence, and it must not be forgotten how the impact of climate change and climate risks are jeopardizing food supplies.

The UN in Haiti is promoting local production and boosting local farming, through measures such as basing school food programmes on locally produced crops. By 2030, she said all food programmes should be entirely locally sourced.

“Addressing root causes of instability and restoring social and economic wellbeing in Haiti can be achieved through promoting food sovereignty, recalibrating agrifood policies, fostering stakeholder consensus and leveraging international support.”

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths warned in a statement issued late on Thursday night that conditions in the province were particularly dire: babies dying in hospitals, children and mothers suffering from severe malnutrition, camps for displaced persons burned down and sexual violence on the rise.

He deplored spreading inter-communal violence in Darfur that threatens to reignite the ethnic tensions that stoked deadly conflict there 20 years ago.

‘Not again’

The top UN official highlighted reports of ethnic killings in West Darfur’s capital El Geneina and stressed that Darfur was rapidly spiralling into a “humanitarian calamity”.

The world cannot allow this to happen, “not again”, Mr. Griffiths said.

Devastating toll

The conflict continues to take a devastating toll on people across the country. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that an additional 2.5 million are expected to slip into hunger in the coming months.

WFP has provided food aid to nearly one million people in 14 of the country’s 18 states since resuming operations on 3 May; the UN agency plans to expand support to 5.9 million people by the end of the year.

UN rights chief calls for accountability

The killers of West Darfur’s Governor Khamis Abdullah Abbakar and their commanders must be held to account for their crime, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Friday.

Governor Abbakar was killed on 14 June just hours after he was arrested by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – which for two months has been engaged in heavy fighting against the national army – in West Darfur’s capital El-Geneina, where inter-ethnic violence has risen rapidly since the military showdown began.

The Governor himself belonged to the Massalit community and OHCHR expressed concern about a shocking rise in hate speech in West Darfur against the Massalit and the Nuba ethnic groups.

“Being a child in Haiti today is harsher and more dangerous than it ever has been in living memory.  The threats and hardships children face are simply unimaginable. They desperately need protection and support,” said UNICEF Haiti Representative Bruno Maes.

Displacement and violence

Children find themselves in the crossfire, or directly targeted, as armed groups terrorize the population in their fight for territory and control, mainly in the capital Port-au-Prince, and increasingly in the neighbouring Artibonite region, said UNICEF.

Children are being killed or injured on their way to school while women and girls face extreme sexual violence, the agency noted. Kidnappings for ransom have skyrocketed, as have attacks on schools. Tens of thousands have been displaced by the violence.

Chronic Malnutrition

At the same time, hunger and life-threatening malnutrition are at record levels across the country, UNICEF said, concentrated in the capital’s poorest and most insecure neighbourhoods, where some families are essentially trapped and cut off from essential services.

The number of children suffering from life-threatening malnutrition shot up by 30 per cent since last year, and nearly one in four suffers from chronic malnutrition.

Vulnerability to armed groups

Violence, poverty and despair are driving children towards armed groups, UNICEF continued.

Many children and young people in Port-au-Prince say they are being forced to join armed groups for protection or because it means food and income for the family. Some say they provide a sense of identity and belonging.

In addition to the violence, hunger and diseases such as cholera, Haiti faces the constant threat of violent storms and earthquakes. In early June, heavy rains, which coincided with the start of the hurricane season, caused destructive and deadly flooding. It was followed by a deadly earthquake just days later in Grand Anse.

Urgent need for funding

Nearly three million children are in need in Haiti this year, the highest number on record. But funding falls far short of the humanitarian needs. UNICEF’s $246 million funding requirement for Haiti this year is less than 15 per cent funded.

UNICEF is scaling up its operations and expanding its presence in the field, despite the limited funding. Together with partners, the agency said it was delivering lifesaving support.

“Despite the massive challenges, humanitarian support has helped stave off catastrophic hunger and malnutrition. But far more is needed. The international community cannot turn its back on Haiti’s children in their hour of most profound need,” said Mr. Maes.

The UN was asking for $11.1 billion dollars – its largest appeal worldwide – to support Syrians inside the country and those displaced in the broader region, Mr. Guterres said. 

By the end of the conference, donors announced €5.6 billion in grants, tweeted the UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi, reiterating that pledges must “translate into tangible contributions for Syrians inside the country, those on the move and the countries hosting them.

Severe underfunding

Only about a tenth of the necessary funding for 2023 has been secured so far and needs are sky-high, after a devastating earthquake in February compounded suffering brought on by more than a decade of war.  

Nearly the entire population of the country lives below the poverty line. Mr. Guterres warned that there was “no time to spare”, as aid will run out for 2.5 million Syrians next month, for lack of financing. 

Political solution sorely needed 

Mr. Guterres also reiterated his call for a sustainable political solution to the conflict that would involve all Syrians. 

“We must chart a path forward for the Syrian people to find a degree of stability and a measure of hope for the future”, he said, stressing that this required progress towards “credible and comprehensive” negotiations, in line with Security Council resolution 2254. Adopted in December 2015, the resolution drew up a road map for a peace process in Syria.

Status quo ‘unacceptable and unsustainable’

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen, echoed this call, saying that it was urgent to renew the intra-Syrian political process, as the current situation in the country was “unacceptable and unsustainable”. 

“Average Syrians have yet to see any dividend from diplomacy,” he deplored.

Mr. Pedersen also underscored the need to ensure humanitarian access “via all modalities, including cross-line and cross-border”. He joined Mr. Guterres in calling for a 12-month extension of the Security Council’s authorization for cross-border aid access from Türkiye into northwestern Syria, a lifeline for millions in the area.

‘Astronomical’ human toll

In a joint statement to the conference, Filippo Grandi, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) chief, Martin Griffiths, head of the UN aid coordination office (OCHA), and Achim Steiner who leads the UN Development Programme (UNDP), called the human cost of the Syrian crisis “astronomical”. 

Seven out of ten people in the country – more than 15 million in total – need humanitarian aid and protection, they said.

Some 12 million are food insecure, while one in four Syrian children are stunted and risk “irreversible damage” to their development.

Solidarity with refugees 

The crisis has driven more than 13 million people to flee their homes, including 6.8 million Syrian refugees who escaped to neighbouring countries.

The UN leaders underscored the generosity of host countries in the region – Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Türkiye – in supporting the refugees.  

They called for increased international solidarity with those countries as they find themselves “reeling from global economic pressures”. 

The statement noted that conditions for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Türkiye have deteriorated in recent years, with nine in 10 refugees unable to cover their basic needs, while in Jordan almost two thirds were forced into debt. 

The heads of UN agencies also highlighted the plight of Syrian refugee women and girls, who face widespread gender inequality and higher risks of violence.