Haiti

USAID is providing water and sanitation supplies to Haiti from our warehouse in Miami in response to the recent cholera outbreak.

Photo credit: USAID

Key Developments

Armed groups have blocked access to the capital city of Port-au-Prince's Varreux Terminal, Haiti's main port of fuel entry, since mid-September, resulting in widespread fuel shortages and civil unrest.

Fuel and food prices have increased significantly in Haiti in recent months, adversely affecting vulnerable populations and exacerbating food insecurity.

The Government of Haiti had reported 115 confirmed cases of cholera and 964 suspected cases, including 33 related deaths, as of October 19.

In response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Haiti, USAID activated a DART and RMT on October 14, helping to coordinate the urgent delivery of critical relief supplies.

Background

Haiti’s endemic poverty and civil unrest—combined with recurring shocks from natural disasters, including droughts, earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes—have resulted in food insecurity and other humanitarian needs throughout the country.  Since the January 2010 earthquake and October 2010 cholera outbreak, USAID has focused both on providing immediate response to affected populations and on supporting disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs that promote local and national self-sufficiency in disaster preparedness, response, and management. Since 2010, USAID has provided approximately $186 million to support stand-alone DRR programs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including nearly $32.2 million in funding to support DRR efforts in Haiti. In addition to stand-alone DRR programs, USAID contributed nearly $133 million to support programs integrating preparedness and mitigation activities into early recovery and transition programs in response to the January 2010 earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak in Haiti.

Since 2011, USAID has supported the International Organization for Migration to pre-position emergency relief supplies in the event of disasters, as well as to develop Government of Haiti personnel capacity to manage facilities and deploy supplies when necessary. Pre-positioning relief commodities—including plastic sheeting, hygiene kits, and water containers—ensured that relief supplies were available for distribution to affected populations immediately following Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, and Hurricane Irma in September 2017.

In recent years, USAID has deployed Disaster Assistance Response Teams to Haiti following Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Irma to conduct disaster assessments and coordinate response activities with the Government of Haiti and humanitarian organizations.