Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CMC) – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern about the health and nutrition of children in Haiti following recent findings from an analysis conducted by the Integrated Food Security Classification Framework (IPC). .
The report notes that the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) has increased by 19% so far this year in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.
The analysis also shows that 1.64 million people face significant levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4), putting children at particularly high risk of wasting and malnutrition in eight regions of the country. .
It added that armed violence in the Artibonite and Western departments, including the capital Port-au-Prince, is disrupting the delivery of aid, shaking an already fragile health system and seriously threatening the lives of more than 125,000 children. . Risk of severe acute malnutrition and associated diseases.
“Violence and insecurity in Haiti have implications far beyond the risks associated with the violence itself. The situation is creating a health and nutrition crisis that could cost countless children their lives. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said.
“Thousands of children are on the brink and will receive essential supplies once the violence stops and roads and hospitals reopen. This nutrition crisis is completely man-made. For the people of Haiti “Basic safety conditions are urgently needed so that the critical services they rely on can function and humanitarian workers can reach the children and families who desperately need them,” she said. said.
Since January, the security situation in Haiti has worsened, leaving UNICEF unable to store, deliver and resupply essential aid to the population, and earlier this month, 17 UNICEF containers were depleted. One was looted from the Caribbean Port Authority of the port. -au-Prince.
