Haiti

USAID staff visit an IOM warehouse in Port-au-Prince, where USAID relief supplies—such as hygiene kits and plastic sheeting—are pre-positioned for rapid distribution in the event of a natural disaster.

IOM

Key Developments

Since mid-September, ongoing socio-political unrest in Haiti has led to insecurity, disrupted humanitarian supply chains, and exacerbated humanitarian conditions, including hindering access to food and livelihood opportunities. The depreciation of the Haitian gourde, fuel shortages, and gang-related roadblocks have limited access to basic services and markets, as well as impeding humanitarian access to vulnerable populations. The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) estimates that hundreds of thousands of Haitians are experiencing Crisis—IPC 3—levels of food insecurity—requiring emergency food assistance—and up to 1 million people may face Crisis levels of food insecurity as Haiti enters the lean season. In response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, the UN has requested international assistance to enable the continuation of humanitarian supply chain services, including relief commodity transportation.

In response to humanitarian needs, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) provided $1 million through USAID/Haiti to the UN World Food Program (WFP) to support the transportation of humanitarian commodities and staff for immediate relief efforts. Additionally, in November, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) authorized the distribution of 2,000 metric tons of emergency food commodities through WFP to address the food needs of vulnerable households in Grande’Anse, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, and Sud-Est departments.

Learn more about USAID's Caribbean Hurricanes response efforts

Background

In addition to humanitarian needs driven by unrest, Haiti, an island in the Caribbean region, is vulnerable to recurrent floods and landslides associated with the rainy and hurricane seasons. Since the January 2010 earthquake and October 2010 cholera outbreak, USAID/OFDA 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/OFDA has provided approximately $110 million to support stand-alone DRR programs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including nearly $31.2 million in funding to support DRR efforts in Haiti. In addition to stand-alone DRR programs, USAID/OFDA 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/OFDA has supported the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to pre-position emergency relief supplies in the event of disasters—such as flooding and landslides—during the rainy and hurricane seasons, as well as to develop GoH 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/OFDA has deployed Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) to Haiti following Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Irma to conduct disaster assessments and coordinate response activities with the GoH and humanitarian organizations.