UN humanitarians report aid breakthrough for Haiti
Published:Tuesday | June 4, 2024 | 8:53 AM
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – United Nations humanitarians say they have finally been able to deliver truckloads of food to highly vulnerable people in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, after gang violence prevented access for more than two months.
Country Director in Haiti for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Jean-Martin Bauer, said that the UN agency had managed to resume flights into Port-au-Prince international airport.
But he acknowledged that the security situation remains “exceptionally complex”, however it has been possible to reach “the most difficult neighbourhoods” of the Haitian capital.
According to WFP, over a two-week period in May, 615 metric tonnes of rice, beans, and vegetable oil were distributed to nearly 93,000 people in Cité Soleil, including breastfeeding mothers and children.
The UN agency also said that “vital” medical supplies had landed in Port-au-Prince airport on Thursday.
This marks the first UN humanitarian cargo flight to land in the capital since violence linked to the country's political and economic crisis erupted in March 2024.
Bauer said further progress is needed to access the seaports in Port-au-Prince because without these vital supply routes, “people risk slipping even deeper into hunger”.
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