First Person: On Ukraine’s frontlines, humanitarians risk all to bring hope

This article is published in association with United Nations.

As gang violence across Haiti escalates, and the United States and other donors reduce their humanitarian funding, 1.3 million people who have fled their homes are facing the direst of consequences.

Women and girls face the brunt of this crisis. Gender-based violence (GBV) such as gang rape is rampant, particularly in the capital Port-au-Prince, and is exacerbated by precarious conditions in displacement camps.

Yet, recent funding cuts have shut down centres for sexual and reproductive health and GBV services. Displacement and insecurity make the services that do exist often too difficult to access.

Christian Vovi, the UN reproductive health agency’s (UNFPA) Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, has been working in the Caribbean island nation since 2022.

He sat down with UN News ahead of World Humanitarian Day to discuss this crisis and his perspective as a humanitarian on the ground.

Christian Vovi, UNFPA Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti.

Remote work

“Sometimes there is the possibility of an attack, so we are obliged to work from home.

This situation has limited our capacity to go to the field to see the affected people, to meet with women, to observe the situation in the camps and communities, so security is a barrier for us sometimes.

We can organize meetings virtually, meet with women online and with the partners to follow up and monitor activities.

Increase in GBV cases

Continued displacement creates new GBV needs that humanitarian actors must respond to, despite the limited financial capacities. There is a continuous increase in the number of reported cases of GBV.

In some of the cases we manage, we hear about how gang members arrive in the community, burn houses and then rape a mother or father in front of the family.

When you talk with women, they are desperate as they struggle to secure even the most basic necessities.

Because women don’t have access to financial resources, there has been an increase in the cases of prostitution.

© PAHO/WHO/David Lorens Mentor

People gather at a site for displaced people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Desperate for services

Protection services are urgently needed. We have more than 100 sites for displaced people, but only 11 or 12 sites are covered with the GBV protection services.

There is also the issue in terms of shelter, because when we have many families living together in a small room, there is a larger risk of GBV.

Urgent funding needs

UNFPA distributes dignity kits, which contain items that women need, and provides other goods and services, but it’s not enough, we need more.

In Haiti, there are now over one million displaced people. Since 26 per cent are women of reproductive age, we need to mobilise millions of dollars so we can meet their urgent needs.

In 2020, the US provided around 65 per cent of the humanitarian funding for the response plan in Haiti. But with the US funding cuts, we are no longer able to provide services to 25,000 women and girls in certain displacement sites.

The US also funded 100 per cent of the post-rape kit procured since 2023, so now, our stocks of these kits are very low.

© UNFPA/Wendy Desert

A woman says she was raped while fleeing from gang violence with her six children and while she was four months pregnant.

Work of UNFPA despite limitations

Despite these funding and access limitations, UNFPA and its partners continue to stay in Haiti.

UNFPA leads the GBV coordination mechanism. We continue to provide remote support for the GBV cases through the hotline to ensure that the cases can access services despite the security limitations.

We continue to ensure that if movement is limited, the affected people can access the services, psychosocial support and information on available services through the telephone hotline.

Call to action

The international community and donors must fill the large funding gap in the Haitian humanitarian response plan.

The Haitians think that their situation is neglected because they believe that the humanitarian international community has all the assets and funding to stop the violence and assist the affected people.

The government, diplomats and the international community should advocate now for a clear end to the current violence and to stop the retaliation against women and girls in Haiti.

It is important to act now because for me, tomorrow is too late regarding the humanitarian need and the living conditions of the women in the displacement sites.”