The economic, hunger and security crisis persist in Haiti one year after the earthquake in magnitude 7.2 that the country suffered and that left more than 2,200 dead, recalled this Thursday the NGO Save the Children, which requested financial support for the Caribbean nation. On August 14, 2021 the strong earthquake, whose epicenter was about 150 kilometers west of Port-au-Prince, shook the Tiburón peninsula, leaving 800,000 victims, including 340,000 minors, and deepening the humanitarian crisis that the country was already suffering. “In the last twelve months we have seen a worrying trend of increasing hunger throughout Haitia fact that is becoming a great challenge for children and their families, for which more help is needed, ”explained Perpetue Vendredi, director of program operations for Save the Children, in a statement.
Need for international cooperation
Despite an estimated 4.5 million people experiencing severe food insecurity in Haiti, 100,000 more than before the earthquake, Vendredi noted that “the humanitarian response remains woefully underfunded, as this crisis has been largely ignored as other world events have taken over.".
With an inflation of 26%, many families have difficult access to basic products and food, and as in every food crisis, children are the most vulnerable to hunger, so aid must focus on this group so that they do not run the risk of suffering from malnutrition. Save the Children’s director of programs assured that “In addition to increasing funding for immediate life-saving servicesdonors must continue to invest in early warning and prevention actions to better manage the risk of hunger crises and mitigate their impacts before it is too late". This NGO supports five health centers and hospitals in Haiti, Eleven centers are run for advice on child nutrition and training programs for front-line health workers are promoted.
