PRINCE PORT.- The violence by armed groups in Haiti caused some 170,000 children have had to leave their homesaccording to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), which warned of the serious humanitarian crisis in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
The “alarming” figure is already double that of a year ago and, to Unicef“highlights the rapid deterioration of the situation and its profound impact on the most vulnerable boys, girls and families in the country.”
In total, about 314,000 people live as displaced people, mainly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and the department of Artibonite. In less than two weeks, 2,500 Haitians have had to leave their homesmostly women and children.
The representative of Unicef in Haiti, Bruno Maes, lamented how these “relentless waves of brutal violence” leave “new horrors” and “an ever-present shadow of fear” among the population. “It is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes,” Maes warned in a statement.
Unicef denounced the blockages of basic services, including health and education, and the recurring violations of children’s rights, which even threatens forced recruitment. Furthermore, part of the attacks that children suffer occur when they are on their way to class.
“We cannot sit idly by while the future of the boys and girls of Haiti it is eroded by endless suffering. Every moment of inaction aggravates the crisis that consumes their lives,” Maes stressed, appealing to the international community to achieve “hope and change” for young people.
Some three million children will need this year humanitarian aid in Haiti and the UN fears that the figure will increase if conditions on the ground worsen. Unicef requested 221.7 million dollars (204.6 million euros) to carry out its programs in 2024 in Haiti.
Source: With information from Europa Press
