Haiti: UN humanitarian agencies make progress despite obstacles

(New York: 9 November 2004) - UN agencies operating in Haiti report that the humanitarian situation in Haiti's north-western city of Gonaives is improving though serious concerns remain.

Although access to the city of Gonaives, the area hardest hit by a recent string of natural disasters, has been restored, delivering aid there remains difficult. Last week, two trucks carrying humanitarian supplies were attacked as they entered the city. One of the trucks, which were contracted to the UN World Food Programme, was looted of more than 30 metric tonnes of food.

Despite the security concerns, there has been progress in humanitarians' efforts to supply clean water to people in need around Gonaives. Though the work of UN Agencies, government authorities and NGOs has greatly increased the amount of clean water being distributed to 500 cubic meters per day, that amount is still far short of the 3,500 cubic meters that a population of some 200,000 people would normally require. The UN Children's Fund and the NGO Oxfam are working together to restore clean water supply to some 50 schools in Gonaives. They are also working together to clean and disinfect wells in the area.

Due in large part to the presence of a 120-bed Canadian/Norwegian Red Cross field hospital, health care in Gonaives is now considered to be better than it was before storms battered the city in September. But the health sector still suffers from a lack of Haitian doctors at the Red Cross Hospital, a shortage of free medical services and difficulty in replacing epidemiologists who have left the area. A recent assessment by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) showed that the Haitian Ministry of Health will not be able to sustain the provision of free health care from the main hospital in Gonaives. UNFPA has therefore decided to help by funding the hiring of Haitian personnel to coordinate medical services.

As the vast majority of Gonaives' population depends on agriculture for employment, and 80% of the area's irrigation systems were destroyed, restoring those systems is an urgent priority. Humanitarian groups would like to begin work in this area before winter begins around 15 November, but they are hampered by a lack of resources---no funds have been pledged for rehabilitation programmes described under the Haiti Floods Flash Appeal for Haiti launched last month. WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and NGOs such as Concern and World Vision are working to address the needs of rural populations by distributing seeds in villages outside Gonaives.

UN Humanitarian Agencies have received only 27 per cent of the US$ 37 million required under the Haiti Floods Flash Appeal.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel.: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.: 41 22 917 2653, mobile 41(0) 79 473 4570.