Source: United Nations (Video News)
Press conference by Amy Pope, Director General of then International Organization for Migration (IOM), on her visit to Haiti.
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The head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that escalating violence and funding shortfalls are crippling humanitarian efforts in Haiti, where over one million people are now displaced – triple the number from just a year ago.
“It is incredibly difficult to get to the people who are most in need,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope at a press briefing in New York today (Apr 16). “The capital city of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, is 85 percent occupied by gangs. It is impossible for people to go in and out of the capital city safely by road, even for humanitarian workers and the diplomats who work in the capital.”
Gang control over vast areas of the capital has forced families to flee repeatedly, leaving many without access to shelter, clean water, or medical care. “I had the chance to see some of the humanitarian sites… and you just see thousands of people who are stacked one on top of the other in very, very tight quarters,” Pope said.
The crisis is compounded by deportations. Nearly 200,000 Haitians were returned from neighboring countries last year, placing additional strain on already overwhelmed services and infrastructure.
“Like every other UN agency, we are navigating a complex situation – not just of access, but also of financing,” Pope noted. “Many of our partners have lost funding altogether… and of course, they were not able to meet all of the humanitarian needs that existed even before these most recent funding cuts.”
Pope said IOM staff have been directly affected by the violence. “We ourselves have had staff who’ve been kidnapped, staff who have had to be evacuated, [and] otherwise been significantly impacted by the situation,” Pope said.
With resources dwindling, IOM has undertaken internal reforms to sustain critical operations. “We moved very, very fast to localize staff closer to where our operational capacity is ongoing… and we have made a number of tough decisions to make sure that we’re really focused on core IOM activities,” concluded Pope.