UNICEF Warns Haiti is Experiencing Serious Humanitarian Crisis

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) estimated that some 2.6 million children and adolescents in Haiti will need immediate humanitarian aid this year 2023 due to the severe crisis the Caribbean country is going through.

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Schools, Stores and Embassies Shut Down in Haiti

The director for Latin America and the Caribbean of Unicef, Garry Conille, who visited the country, acknowledged that Haiti is living a spiral of social unrest, insecurity, instability and poverty.

The declarations of the Unicef representative come as dozens of armed policemen attacked Thursday the private residence of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was not in the country.

One in two children depends on humanitarian aid to survive this year in Haiti. Over the past two years, the number of Haitian children in need of humanitarian assistance has increased by half a million.

The number of Haitian children in need of humanitarian assistance increased by half a million in the last 2 years as increased armed violence, a cholera outbreak, food insecurity and inflation restricted their access to basic services, according to Unicef.

"This is one of the most difficult times to be a child or adolescent in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, and the situation is getting worse by the day," Conille said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday approved the disbursement of $105 million to combat food shortages in Haiti, a country mired in a severe political, economic, security and health crisis, the financial body said.

With more than half of the population already below the poverty line and a cholera outbreak, the country is facing a severe humanitarian crisis, with a projected financing gap in fiscal year 2023 of at least $105 million, equivalent to 0.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Schools, stores, embassies and even public institutions remained closed in Haiti, a country that experienced the day before a convulsive day of protests due to the murder of several policemen.

In the aftermath, Henry announced for this weekend a meeting with the Superior Council of the National Police and a council of ministers "to take all necessary measures so that these acts are not repeated.

Armed gangs control a large part of Port-au-Prince and its surroundings, spreading terror, forcing the population to abandon their homes and flee.