Haiti

After back-to-back droughts in the Horn of Africa, the World Food Programme (WFP) is expanding its assistance as levels of hunger soar. Since the start of the year, 9 million more people have slipped into severe food insecurity across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today warned that three consecutive years of severe drought in the Grand Sud of Madagascar have led to the country’s worst food crisis in 20 years, exacerbating the vulnerabilities of already poor populations.

A United Nations-chartered vessel carrying the first shipment of humanitarian food under the Black Sea Grain Initiative is expected to berth soon at Ukraine’s Yuzhny (Pivdennyi) port to collect Ukrainian wheat purchased by the World Food Programme in support of the drought-stricken Horn of Africa where there is risk of famine.

In Haiti, United Nations humanitarian colleagues have started delivering humanitarian assistance to help people in the commune of Cité Soleil, as well as in other Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods. Enough food to feed 7,000 people for a week has been distributed, along with drinking water and kits of basic relief items.

In Botswana, the United Nations team led by Resident Coordinator Zia Choudhury reports that the country is set to become the first in Africa to achieve the “95-95-95” AIDS targets set out by the United Nations General Assembly, eight years before the 2030 target.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) until 15 July 2023, deciding that its police and corrections unit will include up to 42 civilian and seconded personnel serving as advisers, and that its human rights unit will include dedicated capacity to address sexual and gender-based violence.

In Sri Lanka, the World Food Programme (WFP) is launching its emergency response in the country amid the escalating food crisis.  WFP is working to provide life-saving food, cash and voucher assistance to 3 million of the most vulnerable people who can no longer meet their food needs due to the economic crisis there.

Haitian national authorities require urgent international support to address a rapidly deteriorating security situation and deadlocked talks about future governance, the United Nations top official for that country told the Security Council today, as members underscored that the United Nations presence in Haiti must work to address unprecedented gang violence and strengthen fragile State institutions to restore the rule of law.

The Secretary-General condemned the attack in Mali which killed two peacekeepers and injured two others after their vehicle — an armoured personnel carrier — hit an improvised explosive device outside of the town of Douentza.  Despite such challenging circumstances, United Nations personnel are continuing their mandated work.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ingeborg Ulrika Ulfsdotter Richardson of Sweden as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Resident Coordinator in Haiti.