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USAID Information:
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Overview of the Humanitarian Assistance to Haiti
U.S. Government Response
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
Press: (202) 712-4320
Public Information: (202) 712-4810
2004-009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2004
In early February (February 9th) two USAID regional advisors traveled to Port-au-Prince on the growing assessment to assist USAID/Haiti and partner organizations with contingency planning for the humanitarian need in Haiti. On February 24th, USAID replaced the Regional advisors with a four-person assessment team including a senior regional advisor as team leader, a health officer, a food officer and an information officer. On February 18th, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James B. Foley issued a disaster declaration due to the ongoing complex emergency in Haiti.
As an initial response to the situation, the U.S. government provided $50,000 through USAID/Haiti to support the transport and distribution of emergency relief supplies, including 12 medical kits and three surgical kits, valued at approximately $87,000. Each medical kit is equipped to serve 10,000 people for approximately three months. On February 26th, the medical kits arrived in Port-au-Prince. In addition, USAID approved $400,000 in funding for Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to purchase additional medical supplies and to conduct emergency relief activities in Haiti. On March 1st, USAID approved $412,287 for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for emergency cash grants to support local institutions and provide services for most the vulnerable populations.
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Structural and institutional weaknesses in Haiti, closely linked to the country's historical, socio-economic and agricultural development have had long-term effects on numerous aspects of Haiti's development; such as food security, water and sanitation, health and nutrition. For many years, Haiti has been the poorest and least developed country in the Western Hemisphere. The country was ranked 150th out of 173 countries in the 2003 United Nations (U.N.) Development Program Human Development Report.Due to the ongoing and chronic nature of Haiti's underdevelopment, the country is vulnerable to rapid deterioration of humanitarian indicators in a complex emergency. However, certain impacts of a complex emergency such as malnutrition are not sudden-onset situations and typically require several months to develop. Two important factors contribute to food insecurity in Haiti; rising or unstable prices and a drop in remittances. Haiti is heavily dependent on remittances; it is estimated that Haiti receives an average of $800 million annually.
Additionally, there are three key factors that may contribute to a humanitarian crisis:
- Food insecurity;
- The rising incidence of disease;
- Displacement
USAID and its partners are monitoring all of these indicators as closely as possible. The U.S. Government through USAID is Haiti's largest bilateral donor. In FY 2003, USAID contributed $71 million to Haiti. From 1995-2003, USAID provided a total of $850 million in direct bilateral assistance, and in 2004, USAID plans to provide $52 million in assistance for programs including health, democracy and governance, education, and economic growth. To ensure that assistance goes to those Haitians most in need, USAID assistance is channeled through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The United States government provides food and food-related assistance to 640,000 Haitians annually.
FOOD
USAID's NGO food aid partners and the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) have provided 15,000 metric tons (MT) of food stocks to Haiti. Daily contacts with USAID's four partners in Haiti - CARE, Savethe Children Foundation (SCF), World Vision International (WVI), and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) - indicate that the current level of food stocks in country are enough to sustain .
On February 22nd, a crowd of looters broke into a WFP warehouse in Cap-Haïtien and took 800 MT of food stocks, mainly vegetable oil and beans. Despite the loss of food stocks, WFP estimates that it still has sufficient stocks either in Haiti or en route to the country to provide assistance to 373,000 people. WFP has reported that a shipment of 1,200 MT of rice scheduled to arrive at the Cap-Haïtien port is on hold until the security situation improves. According to WFP, a total of 268,000 people are in need of food in the north and northeast, where prices have increased by 20 to 30 percent. However, the prices of these commodities decreased after the February 22 looting of the WFP warehouse in Cap-Haïtien.
World Vision does not anticipate a food crisis erupting in its targeted areas of Central Plateau and Île de la Gonâve, even if distributions stop for a few months. Because of the strong coping mechanisms among the populations and the good December harvest; WVI currently operates at 100 percent on Île de la Gonâve. According to CRS, only 30 percent of orphanages in Haiti recently received food supplies to meet needs into the next month. Other orphanages may begin to run out of food by early next week, and CRS is considering using available funds to provide these orphanages with cash to purchase food on the local market.
HUMANITARIAN ACCESS
USAID and its partners continue to report that the primary humanitarian concerns at present are access, security, safe passage for the transport and distribution of relief supplies, fuel and food commodities. NGOs have stressed the need for a statement on behalf of all parties to the conflict ensuring the free passage of humanitarian operations.
FUEL
USAID reports that there is enough fuel in storage in Port-au-Prince to supply the country. However, access and distribution remain obstacles for humanitarian deliveries, as well as for regular consumption. Fuel is not only vital for transport, but for the continued operation of facilities and equipment such as hospitals, bakeries, forklifts at ports, etc.
HEALTH
ICRC Operations: On February 19th, a joint International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Haitian Red Cross convoy carrying medical supplies arrived safely in Saint-Marc and Gonaïves. On February 25th, ICRC sent another convoy of medical supplies from Port-au-Prince to Gonaïves. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) sent measles and polio vaccines, as well as propane gas for the cold chain, along with the convoy. The convoy had significant difficulty leaving the capital and had to continually negotiate passage en route.
ICRC has organized regular convoy with humanitarian relief supplies to Gonaïves and Cap-Haïtien in cooperation with the Haitian Red Cross. On February 27th, ICRC sent an aircraft carrying equipment for two hospitals to Haiti.
ICRC pre-positioned one medical/surgical kit in Saint-Marc, Gonaïves, Cap-Haïtien, Jacmel, and Port-au-Prince. An ICRC team is now permanently based at the hospital in Gonaïves, and a complete ICRC expatriate surgical team will arrive in the city next week for a total of seven staff. ICRC plans to maintain the private Canapé Vert Hospital in Port-au-Prince under its protection, and will treat the injured free of charge. If necessary, ICRC is prepared to triple the capacity of the hospital, from 42 beds to 120. ICRC has 15 expatriates in Haiti, in addition to local staff, and more expatriate staff are expected to arrive. Currently, ICRC's first priority is the protection of medical staff, convoys and medical supplies. ICRC is also conducting visits to detainees in prison and police stations.
UNICEF Operations: On February 20th, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) began visits to hospitals and health centers in the capital. Occupancy rates have reportedly decreased 80 percent in some medical centers due to fears of violence inside the centers. UNICEF is supporting public health services with medicine and surgery kits supplies.
According to UNICEF, the immunization coverage in Haiti was estimated at 60 percent in 2003. Although this is a 30 percent increase from previous years, the immunization rate is still not adequate to prevent serious outbreaks. The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) has sentinel sites in Haiti, of which 30 to 40 percent are still functional and operating. Currently there are no reports of an outbreak of the six major childhood vaccine-preventable diseases.
PAHO Operations: A Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) epidemiologist recently arrived in Haiti to reactivate the health surveillance system, as Haiti lacks adequate surveillance data from health facilities throughout the country. PAHO will monitor data on measles outbreaks, polio, diphtheria, typhoid and violence, as well as acute malnutrition. According to PAHO, there is a shortage of tuberculosis (TB) drugs and a disruption of TB programs in the north. Médicins Sans Frontières-Belgium (MSF-B) is requesting TB drugs from PAHO.
MDM Operations: Medècins du Monde (MDM)-Canada is operating in Cité Soleil, a chimère stronghold with an estimated population of 600,000. MDM-Canada plans to assist the hospital in Cité Soil with a medical team composed of a nurse, surgeon, and generalist/obstetrician. The hospital barely functions due to low staff levels. prior to the recent unrest. The hospital has one functional operating room.
MDM-France operates a post-operative care center in Port-au-Prince referred to as a Safe House for trauma patients. MDM-France opened the Safe House on February 24 because trauma patients have feared possible retribution if they stay in hospitals. Currently, one patient is being treated at the center to date. MDM-France started its program with private funding and has requested funds from the Humanitarian Aid Office of the European Commission (ECHO).
DISPLACED POPULATIONS
USAID and its NGO partners continue to report very limited displacement and no "sites" with concentrations of internally displaced persons (IDPs). According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), numbers of IDPs cannot be accurately assessed at present. However, UN OCHA notes that significant numbers of residents are moving from insecure cities toward other areas or returning to their native villages in the mountains. Movements have also been reported from rural areas to main cities.
On February 23rd, the Government of the Dominican Republic indicated that the Dominican Republic does not have structures in place to manage a migratory wave of refugees. The Government of the Dominican Republic also noted that Dominican authorities have reinforced the border with Haiti along critical points. On February 24th, the Government of the Dominican Republic sent 1,200 additional troops to patrol its border with Haiti. The Government of the Dominican Republic has declined to state the total number of troops along the 225-mile border.
BACKGROUND
Haiti's 200-year history has been marked by political instability and weak institutional capacity, resulting in a severely debilitated economy and an impoverished population. The current complex emergency is rooted in the country's inability to resolve a four-year political impasse. Following a military coup that ousted elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991, the international community intervened militarily to restore Aristide to power in 1994. In May 2000, Aristide's party, Lavalas Family, claimed an overall victory in disputed legislative and municipal elections. In November 2000, the opposition boycotted the presidential election that Aristide won unopposed with low voter turnout. On December 17, 2001, the crisis escalated as armed commandos stormed the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince in an assault that the Government of Haiti characterized as an attempted coup d'état.
Since 2000, the electoral controversy has paralyzed the Aristide administration despite ongoing negotiations by the Organization of American States (OAS) between the opposition and the Government of Haiti. As a result, Aristide has lost popular support due to the inability of the government to attract investment to the country, create jobs, or reduce poverty. Consequently, growing lawlessness, instability, and politically-motivated violence began to overwhelm the country in 2002.
In late 2003, anti-government demonstrations in Port-au-Prince, Gonaïves, Petit-Goâve, and other townships began to increase in size, frequency and violence. The most recent surge in conflict and violence began on February 5, 2004, when members of armed opposition groups seized control of Gonaïves, Haiti's fourth-largest city. Armed groups opposed to President Aristide have since expanded their control throughout most of the northern region and as a result, the democratic opposition has distanced itself from the armed groups. Since the takeover of Gonaïves, approximately 80 people have been killed in the violence.
CURRENT SITUATION
SECURITY/POLITICAL
Since the February 5 takeover of Gonaïves, armed opposition groups have carried out attacks throughout parts of the Central, North, Artibonite, Northeast and South departments. Armed opposition groups now control all of northern Haiti, including the cities of Hinche, Ounaminthe, Cap-Haïtien, and Port-de-Paix. Armed opposition groups have also taken over Île de la Tortue (an island with a population of 50,000 located off the coast of northern Haiti), the southern city of Les Cayes, Côtes de Fer, Cavaillon, and the crossroads town of Mirebalais, located 57 km northeast of Port-au-Prince in the Central Plateau department. Police have abandoned the main police station in Les Cayes (population 125,000) after an attack by a group calling itself Base Resistance
The armed opposition has effectively isolated the north from the rest of the country by blocking the two main highways at Gonaïves and Hinche, preventing the northward transport of food and oil. The armed groups appear to have coalesced under the leadership of at least three former members of the army, Guy Philippe, Louis-Jodel Chamblain, and Remissainthe Ravix. Another armed opposition leader, Buter Metayer, recently declared himself President of the Independent Country of Artibonite.
Armed combatants are reportedly moving closer to the capital city of Port-au-Prince, which the armed opposition has targeted for takeover, unless President Aristide resigns. An attack on the capital could result in high numbers of casualties as the Chimères (armed gangs loyal to President Aristide) are known to be well armed. Armed opposition groups have also threatened to carry out an attack on Saint-Marc, a port city located approximately 70 km northwest of Port-au-Prince. Haitian police officers have deployed 50 heavily armed Special Forces agents to Saint-Marc in preparation for an attack.
Civil unrest has mounted in Port-au-Prince, as residents prepare for a possible attack. Over the past week, there have been reports of violent conflicts between opposition protestors and government supporters, isolated cases of looting, robberies of civilians at roadblocks erected throughout the capital to prevent the entrance of armed opposition forces, and attacks on two police stations outside of Port-au-Prince.
Chimères robbed a business office and a warehouse at a private port in Port-au-Prince on February 25. On the same day, there was a disorganized attempt to loot warehouses containing USAID-funded commodities, but this attempt was unsuccessful. The port in Port-au-Prince is now closed. On February 26, there was an attempted attack on warehouses in the Port-au-Prince port. Police and others repelled the attack, during which one warehouse burned, but food stocks were left intact. No USAID commodities were affected in this or other looting attempts to date.
On February 24th, the Democratic Platform coalition, a broad alliance of opposition groups, formally rejected the peace plan for political reform presented by diplomats from the United States, Canada, France, and CARICOM, and insisted that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide must resign. Aristide had accepted the terms of the plan on February 21st. The Democratic Opposition in Port-au-Prince has tried to distance itself from the armed combatant groups that now control the northern and central departments. A spokesman for the Democratic Platform coalition in Port-au-Prince announced that the Democratic Opposition refuses to have contact with the armed combatants, as well as with Aristide.
On February 26th, the Government of Haiti delegation arrived in Paris for talks proposed by the Government of France to find a political solution to the crisis. The political opposition stated on February 25th that it would not attend the talks. On February 26th, the Government of France called for the immediate formation of a U.N.-backed security force to go into Haiti. On February 26th, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution asking the Security Council to take "all the necessary and appropriate urgent measures" to resolve the situation. On February 26th, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed John Reginald Dumas as his Special Adviser on Haiti.
Implementing
Partner | Activity | Location | Amount |
|---|
| USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE1 |
| USAID/Haiti | Transport and distribution of emergency relief supplies | Port-au-Prince and other affected areas | $137,000 |
| Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) | Medical equipment and emergency health activities | Nationwide | $400,000 |
| Catholic Releif Services | Emergency cash grants | Port-au-Prince and the southern peninsula | $412,287 |
| TOTAL USAID/OFDA | $949,287 |
| TOTAL USG HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO HAITI IN FY 2004 (TO DATE) | $949,287 |
|---|
| 1USAID/OFDA funding represents committed and/or obligated amount as of March 1, 2004. |
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PUBLIC DONATION INFORMATION
The most effective way people can assist relief efforts is by making cash contributions to humanitarian organizations that are conducting relief operations. A list of humanitarian organizations that are accepting cash donations for their response efforts in Haiti can be found in the "How Can I Help" section of www.usaid.gov/haiti.
USAID encourages cash donations because they allow aid professionals to procure the exact items needed (often in the affected region); reduce the burden on scarce resources (such as transportation routes, staff time, warehouse space, etc.); can be transferred very quickly and without transportation costs; support the economy of the disaster-stricken region and ensure culturally, dietary, and environmentally appropriate assistance.
More information on making donations and volunteering services can be found at:
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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