After successive crises in the besieged country – Saturday earthquake To be followed on Monday by Tropical Depression Grace – United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) She said As the official death toll and destruction continued to grow, the number of wounded exceeded 9,900.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)OchaHe said that the civil protection authorities are urging the affected people to be very careful because heavy rain and possible aftershocks of the earthquake can bring down the cracked walls and roofs of the affected houses.
1.2 million affected
UNICEF estimates that about 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, have been affected by the earthquake and that about half a million Haitian children have limited or no access to shelter, safe water, health care and nutrition.
Despite criminal violence and insecurity, including gangs controlling the main road from Port-au-Prince to the south of the country, a UNICEF truck was able to deliver medical kits to three hospitals in Les Cayes, with enough supplies – including gloves. Pain relievers, antibiotics and syringes – to treat 30,000 earthquake victims over a three-month period.
The UN agency and its partners are also distributing tarpaulins for emergency shelters; Toilets and showers. Drinkable water.
The UN agency estimates it will need $15 million to meet the most urgent needs of at least 385,000 people, including 167,000 children under the age of five, for eight weeks.
94 schools damaged or destroyed
“The children of Haiti need solidarity and support,” said Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative in Haiti. “Parents and teachers who have lost everything will need support.”
A few weeks before schools reopened, preliminary assessments by UNICEF and Haitian officials in the southern province yesterday – one of the three worst affected – showed that 94 out of 255 schools were either damaged or completely destroyed.
“It will be very difficult for parents, teachers and the government to safely get children back to school just three weeks from now,” Mr. Mays said.
After visiting a devastated school in Maznod, near Les Cayes, the UNICEF official stressed that “it is very important for children who have just gone through this traumatic experience in addition to the harsh weather, to enjoy a normal life and settle down in the classroom with their friends and teachers.”
Bringing children back to the classroom
This latest tragedy comes at a time when children have been unable to go to school for months at a time, due to political or security challenges, as well as COVID-19 pandemic.
“Bringing children back into the classroom is perhaps the best way to make sure they – and their families and communities – can recover,” said Mr. Maes.
“We will need resources to rebuild some schools, rehabilitate others, and equip classrooms with offices, teachers and students with pedagogical and school groups,” said the UNICEF representative.
UN agencies provide emergency assistance
Meanwhile, OCHA yesterday dispatched 11 people Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Country team hit hardest.
Referring to assessments that revealed the damage was worse than hoped, the United Nations office released a flash update They say the number of casualties is likely to continue to rise as search and rescue operations continue.
Besides ongoing search and rescue efforts, access is the top priority, according to OCHA, which reported that teams were able to rescue at least 34 people from the rubble.
world food program (World Food Program) said her trucks were “loaded with food, water and hygiene kits” for people in the hardest-hit areas.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM)International Organization for Migration) Engaged with the Haitian authorities, responding to the Shelter, NFI and Camp Management sectors.
“Distributions have already begun to provide rapid, life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable,” the International Organization for Migration said in a tweet.
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