News Center- Haiti is one of five countries in the world with catastrophic levels of hunger, with roughly half the population, 5.7 million people, facing some sort of emergency level of hunger.

“Despite all the violence, displacement and collapse, WFP remains in Haiti,” Lola Castro, Regional Director for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Latin America and the Caribbean, said during a briefing on Tuesday, having recently returned from the country.

Displaced populations, notably in and around Port-au-Prince, are faced with a “very problematic” situation, she said, as hostilities have recently uprooted around 14,000 people from the commune of Kenscoff. 

6,000 cases of gender-based violence

With 6,000 cases of gender-based violence having been reported this year, the situation of women and girls in Port-au-Prince is dramatic, according to Lola Castro.

“The hurricane season began on 1 June and runs through the end of November,” said Lola Castro, warning that at this moment when half of all Haitians are already going hungry, a single storm could push millions into a "humanitarian catastrophe". 

“We cannot forget the people of Haiti,” Lola Castro said, calling on the humanitarian community to provide urgent support.