By Romina Acosta Bimbrera, Communications and Public Relations Advisor
Six months of violence
Since the beginning of the year, the Haitian people have been facing one of the most serious crises in their history. They have had no respite from political instability and the violence of the armed gangs that have taken control of the capital. The gangs are accused of murder, rape, looting and kidnapping for ransom. They have also blocked roads and seized the port through which most essential goods such as food, fuel and medicines are imported.
Our partners remain on the frontline in meeting people’s needs. In March, we asked them how they were with the situation and what they hoped for in the near future. We published an article setting out their views and amplifying their voice.
Back in May 2024, as members of the Concertation pour Haïti, we signed a letter (see French text) with Cooperation Canada, the Association québécoise des organismes en coopération internationale and Haitian civil society representatives. The letter, sent to the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs, and calls for three key elements:
- Support the political transition process that risks being plagued by violence and discontent.
- Take a stand against the trafficking of arms to Haiti.
- Deploy appropriate humanitarian aid to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people.
A much-awaited mission
At the request of President Ariel Henry, who was since deposed, the United Nations approved a new international mission led by Kenya in October 2023. The first contingent of 200 Kenyan police officers (of the promised 1,000) of the Multinational Security Support Mission arrived in Port-au-Prince on June 25.
With the start of this mission, people are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope for a reduction in the power and violence of the gangs.
International observers and our partners are especially hoping the Kenyan officers can lift the roadblocks where gangs charge “taxes” to let vehicles pass, severely hampering the movement of people and goods and the supply of food and medicine.
While gang violence and control are too complex a problem for 200 Kenyan police officers to solve, their arrival gives the local police and the new transition government some breathing space. The government, for its part, must examine the strategic issues that need resolution in the medium and long term, including the organization of elections.
Our current programming
Even as hopes mount that the situation will improve, more than 500,000 people remain displaced. In June, Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada approved over $180,000 in funding for four projects that will reach over 4,000 people and meet their most urgent needs. These include:
- An ITECA project that helps farming families who host people displaced by the crisis. Our support allows the provision of short-cycle crop seedlings to improve access to food and the reinforcing of the security of ITECA’s premises, which are under threat, so that they can better protect documents and materials that are essential to their work.
- An Organisation Fanm Tet Ansamn Grand’Ans (OFTAG) project that distributes food and hygiene kits to 240 vulnerable women in three communes in Grand’Anse Department.
- A Fanm Deside project that supports 200 women impoverished by the current crisis. These include victims of sexual violence; those displaced from Port-au-Prince to rural areas because of violence (general and domestic); and those who host the displaced.
- An IRATAM projectthat provides institutional support and capacity-building for grassroots organizations working in the context of the crisis. The project has four components: institutional support for IRATAM itself; organizational support in urban and rural areas; technical support and funding for several groups (through income-generating and social economy activities); and awareness-raising and exchange via radio and YouTube broadcasts.
We will continue listening to and supporting our partners, who represent the voices of change calling for opportunities for women, youths and the most vulnerable people.
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