Hunger in Haiti is spreading amid gang violence, aid workers warn

Tens of thousands of children are going hungry in Haiti, warn aid workers, doctors and missionaries with increasing urgency, as the Caribbean nation struggles to find its way out of political deadlock and an epidemic of deadly gang violence.

More and more people are going hungry in Haiti, warn aid workers, doctors and missionaries with increasing urgency, as the Caribbean nation struggles to find its way out of political deadlock and an epidemic of deadly gang violence. One American missionary whose organization delivers food and water to the needy in gang-controlled areas in capital city Port-au-Prince told CNN that he had already met people who hadn’t eaten in a week. In some areas of the city, there is no more food to buy, and none to bring to market for those whose livelihoods depend on small-scale trading, said the missionary, who requested anonymity for his own safety. “One by one, items disappear for good. There’s no supply chain, so when flour, sugar, salt, rice etc. run out, they’re out.” Following the resignation announcement of Prime Minister Ariel Henry last month, the country’s political leaders have not yet formed a new government, and a long-awaited multinational security mission has stalled amid the confusion. Meanwhile, gangs have cut off Port-au-Prince from the rest of the world, making it “virtually impossible” for help to reach at least 58,000 children suffering from the most dangerous levels of malnutrition, according to UNICEF. The crisis in the capital can be felt across the country, which depends heavily on imports brought through Port-au-Prince. According to the United Nations, nearly 5 million people in Haiti are suffering from acute food insecurity – defined as when a person’s inability to consume adequate food poses immediate danger to their lives or livelihoods. “This is the worst humanitarian crisis in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. I don’t think that’s sunk in,” Jean-Martin Bauer, the World Food Programme’s country director for Haiti, told CNN last week.