Haiti: UN Reinforces Humanitarian Response to Violence

On Tuesday, an official source said that the United Nations (UN) is reinforcing its humanitarian response in Haiti's capital amid a "tense and volatile" situation that persists.

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In response to the crisis of violence and insecurity in Port-au-Prince, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has delivered more than 242,000 gallons of water since the beginning of March, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres, said during a briefing.

For its part, the World Food Program and its partners have provided nearly 146,000 hot meals since that date, while the World Health Organization (WHO) is providing medicines and medical equipment to the Université de Paix Hospital.

As part of these efforts, WHO and the Pan American Health Organization delivered a stock of anesthetic drugs to this institution and to the Eliazar Germain center, located in Pétion-ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, attacks in the Haitian capital against schools, hospitals and government buildings are limiting its operations.

At the same time, the shortage of medical supplies, health workers and blood availability is aggravating the situation in the health sector.

On Tuesday, the public electricity company reported that several substations in the metropolitan area were destroyed, and several areas were left without service. 

The UN estimates that half of the country's population - some 5.5 million Haitians - are in need of humanitarian aid.

However, the agency's response plan, launched at the end of February, raised only $43 million of the $674 million requested.

This represents just 6.5 percent of the UN's financial target, which aims to provide food, shelter, health, education and protection to 3.6 million people this year.