On Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025, speaking via videoconference to reporters in New York after a visit to Haiti last week, Lola Castro, Regional Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) for Latin America and the Caribbean, indicated that in previous years, the UN agency had always had resources on the ground "to assist between 250,000 and 500,000 people" immediately after a disaster.

This year, the WFP has neither pre-positioned food stocks in Haiti nor the cash needed to organize a rapid humanitarian response in the event of a hurricane or extreme weather event, she emphasized.

Funding remains a major obstacle. The $908 million Humanitarian Action Plan for Haiti is only 8% funded, of which $72 million has been received.

Ms. Castro noted that 5.7 million Haitians, more than half the country's population, do not have enough to eat. Haiti is one of five countries in the world where the population faces catastrophic levels of hunger.

A report published by Haiti's National Food Security Coordination (CNSA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the WFP reveals that of this number, two million people are facing Emergency Food Insecurity (IPC Phase 4), facing production problems, extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition, and high levels of illness caused by insufficient nutritional intake. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, more than 5,600 displaced people (IDPs) living in temporary shelters in Port-au-Prince after fleeing their homes are now facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5, the highest). This means they are facing hunger and extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition, which could lead to their death in the short term. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43344-haiti-flash-more-than-5-600-haitians-at-risk-of-dying-of-hunger-in-the-short-term.html

The WFP has significantly scaled up its operations in Haiti, Ms. Castro emphasized, "but currently, we only have stocks and liquidity to support crisis-affected populations until July."

She noted that severe funding gaps threaten the continuity of essential programs, such as the school meals program.

With half of Haitians already suffering from hunger, a single storm could plunge millions of people into a humanitarian catastrophe.

More than one million people are currently displaced in Haiti due to armed violence, including 200,000 living in camps, a number that nearly doubled between March and April.

Most of these camps are located in flood-prone areas and lack adequate shelter, drainage, and sanitation, leaving families extremely vulnerable to storms and hurricanes.

HL/ HaitiLibre