pregnant and girls These are the groups hardest hit by the food crisis in Haiti, where 4.3 million people go hungry in a total population of about 11 million, aid organization Plan International said Wednesday.
This is due, according to the organization, to the fact that they do not have the economic means to survive, which makes them vulnerable to all types of violence (physical, verbal, psychological and sexual) and many mothers who are heads of households with children during lactation and pregnant women suffering from malnutrition.
Some even have to keep intercourse as their sole livelihood, Plan said in a press release.
Lokita, a 24-year-old single mother who lives with her father and 3-year-old son in a one-room house and shares a kitchen with others in the area, exemplifies the plight of many women.
“I’m pregnant and malnourished because I can’t get food. Sometimes I don’t eat anything during the day, I buy food on credit or the neighbors give me something to eat, but I have to give my son because he doesn’t have the same level of resistance as I explain.
40% of the affected population
As per latest update Integrated Food Safety Phase Classification (IPC)4.3 million people in Haiti They face hunger, about 40% of its population, with 22% of minors suffering from chronic malnutrition, making it the country with the biggest food crisis in America.
Haitians are the eighth most hungry in the world and have one of the highest levels of insecurity food as a consequence of the political, economic and social instability of recent years, exacerbated by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021 and the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook the south of the country a month later.
Banditry, food insecurity or civil unrest, among other problems, are exacerbated by rising food, fuel and fertilizer prices due to the conflict in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deborah Kobar, Plan International Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, said that “girls are currently among the main victims of the political situation and insecurity in Haiti”.
“When families are starving, girls they are often forced to care for younger siblings so that the parents can work or forage for food. Too often they are forced to drop out of school, which puts their future at risk and increases the risk of violence”, he pointed out.
Haiti is one of eight countries in the world that Plan International has declared a “red alert” due to hunger crisis along with Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
EFE
Source: RPP
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