Haiti

USAID and partner the UN World Food Program are providing food assistance for vulnerable populations in Haiti.

WFP

Key Developments

The security situation in Haiti remains volatile with a significant increase in the number of armed attacks, homicides, and kidnappings for ransom in recent months. Attacks by non-state actors displaced more than 3,000 people from Tabarre Issa between March 29 and 31.

Elevated commodity prices, the ongoing socioeconomic effects of COVID-19, and a late-December fuel shortage continue to disrupt livelihoods and drive acute food insecurity among vulnerable households countrywide. USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance partners continue to deliver food assistance to address acute food insecurity throughout Haiti.

Background

Haiti’s endemic poverty and civil unrest—combined with recurring shocks from natural disasters, including droughts, earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes—have resulted in food insecurity and other humanitarian needs throughout the country.  Since the January 2010 earthquake and October 2010 cholera outbreak, USAID has focused both on providing immediate response to affected populations and on supporting disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs that promote local and national self-sufficiency in disaster preparedness, response, and management. Since 2010, USAID has provided approximately $186 million to support stand-alone DRR programs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including nearly $32.2 million in funding to support DRR efforts in Haiti. In addition to stand-alone DRR programs, USAID contributed nearly $133 million to support programs integrating preparedness and mitigation activities into early recovery and transition programs in response to the January 2010 earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak in Haiti.

Since 2011, USAID has supported the International Organization for Migration to pre-position emergency relief supplies in the event of disasters, as well as to develop Government of Haiti personnel capacity to manage facilities and deploy supplies when necessary. Pre-positioning relief commodities—including plastic sheeting, hygiene kits, and water containers—ensured that relief supplies were available for distribution to affected populations immediately following Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, and Hurricane Irma in September 2017.

In recent years, USAID has deployed Disaster Assistance Response Teams to Haiti following Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Irma to conduct disaster assessments and coordinate response activities with the GoH and humanitarian organizations.