▲ Children in a shelter in Ciudad del Sol, Haiti, during a press visit.Photo Ap
From the Editorial
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, December 8, 2024, p. 19
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urgently requested more funding and a strong, coordinated response to continue assisting children, the population sector most affected, along with women, by the growing violence in Haiti and the magnitude of the humanitarian and security crisis it is experiencing.
The international organization stressed that more than 42 thousand people were forced to flee their homes, some of them for the second or third time, even in neighborhoods previously considered quietin search of greater protection, in addition to the fact that these movements brought with them the interruption of essential services for families, according to information from the Europa Press information agency.
The initial purpose of the fund is to provide “immediate assistance in displaced camps and the poorest neighborhoods while a medium and long-term recovery plan.
UNICEF explained on its website that obstacles to aid distribution include armed violence, blocked roads, fuel shortages and threats to staff safety, factors that delay the delivery of vital supplies by reducing the mobility of people. humanitarian staff.
Due to this context of gang violence in the Caribbean country, the organization and its partners resort to alternative means such as sea and air transportation to reach those in need, although Relief operations still present great challenges given the unreliable, unstable and unpredictable situation..
The fund for children explained that to prevent the recruitment of children by armed groups, the teams offer psychological assistance and a social shielding program for unaccompanied minors, “in addition, they try to intervene against gender violence.” in nine places that concentrate thousands of displaced people.
Haiti has not had a president since July 2021 because an armed group broke into the official residence and murdered the then president Jovenel Mose.