Launch of the national awareness campaign on basic humanitarian standards in Haiti #NòmImanitèYo [EN/HT]

(Port-au-Prince, 15 May 2023) Humanitarian partners are launching a national awareness campaign about basic humanitarian standards (#NòmImanitèYo), aiming to advocate, raise awareness and change the behavior of all crisis actors and influencers. The objective of this campaign is also to facilitate humanitarian access to populations in need and the access of the Haitian population to essential services and goods, but also to strengthen the protection of the population, especially women, girls and boys, educational, medical, humanitarian personnel and their infrastructure.

Armed violence in Haiti, and its impact on the population, has continued to escalate in recent months. In the first three months of 2023, humanitarian actors reported nearly 330 impediments to humanitarian access, including three humanitarians who were injured. In the first four months of the academic year (October 2022 – February 2023), 72 schools were reportedly targeted compared to eight during the same period last year. In addition, about 48 percent of hospitals in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area are located in areas under the influence or control of gangs, and several health facilities have been forced to close due to attacks on their patients, staff or facilities.

This #NòmImanitèYo campaign was launched by the Humanitarian Coordinator a.i., OCHA and KRIFA. A press briefing was held where the brochure was presented, in Creole and French, containing key messages on basic humanitarian standards. Many local and international humanitarian partners and representatives of the diplomatic community were present. "We must mobilize the Haitian population as a whole and the international community. We must join forces to ensure these standards are respected by all actors, especially armed actors," said the Humanitarian Coordinator a.i., Philippe Branchat.

"This campaign is meant to be universal, meaning that it belongs to everyone, and therefore no logo is attached to the campaign. We want everyone to take part and be an actor of change," noted the Head of OCHA Haiti, Alexandra de Sousa.

"The participation and engagement of the civil society is essential to achieving real and sustainable behavior change. We call on all Haitian organizations, local and national, to help us ensure that these basic humanitarian standards are respected by all," stressed the Executive Director of KRIFA, Guerlyne Résidor. More information on the campaign is available here on a dedicated page.

For more information, please contact:
Alexandra de Sousa, Head of Office, desousa@un.org
Alexandra Bonvalot, Head of Communications a.i., bonvalot@un.org
OCHA press releases are Available here: www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int