February 06, 2017

Highlights

Food security improves substantially in hurricane-affected areas, WFP reports

USAID/OFDA partners assist more than 15,000 displaced people to return home

USAID/OFDA provides additional $2.5 million for hurricane-affected families

Number of suspected cholera cases continues to decline

Key Developments

The number of food-insecure people in Haiti’s hurricane-affected areas has decreased from approximately 1 million people as of late October to an estimated 400,000 people as of late December, according to the UN World Food Program (WFP)-led Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) conducted from December 2–20. The EFSA also found a significant decline in the proportion of households adopting negative coping strategies due to food insecurity, with a 74 percent decrease in Sud Department, a 58 percent decrease in Grand’Anse Department, and a 54 percent decrease in Nippes Department.

With support from USAID/FFP and other donors, WFP provided in-kind food distributions to more than 921,400 people in Grand’Anse, Nippes, and Sud as of January 26. The total represents more than 100 percent of beneficiaries targeted for first-round in-kind food distributions and more than 50 percent of beneficiaries targeted for second-round distributions, which remain ongoing.

USAID/FFP is supporting a CARE-led non-governmental organization (NGO) consortium to provide cash-based food assistance to hurricane-affected households in Grand’Anse and Sud. The consortium provided unconditional cash transfers reaching approximately 80 percent of targeted beneficiaries’ monthly food needs to nearly 20,700 hurricane-affected households in Grand’Anse and Sud as of January 27.

USAID/OFDA recently contributed nearly $2.5 million to NGO partners and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) to provide additional health, nutrition, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance to hurricane-affected families in Grand’Anse, Nippes, and Sud. The new funding brings total U.S. Government (USG) support for Hurricane Matthew relief efforts in Haiti to more than $86.8 million.

LOGISTICS SUPPORT AND RELIEF COMMODITIES

In recent weeks, response actors have increased assistance to hurricane-affected families in hard-to-reach areas of Haiti through USAID-supported, WFP-operated helicopters, the UN reports. As of January 23, humanitarian organizations distributed emergency relief supplies from the USAID/OFDA-supported, International Organization for Migration (IOM)-managed commodity pipeline to nearly 86,900 households—more than 434,400 people—in Grand’Anse, Nippes, Nord-Ouest, Ouest, Sud, and Sud-Est departments. IOM continues to coordinate with local organizations, such as agriculture cooperatives, to transport plastic sheeting and other shelter repair materials to remote areas.

EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE

Since October 2016, the number of food-insecure people in hurricane-affected areas has decreased from approximately 1 million people to an estimated 400,000 people, according to the December 2016 EFSA, conducted by WFP, in coordination with the Government of Haiti (GoH) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Despite improved food security, the EFSA identified continued food and livelihood needs among affected communities as a result of hurricane-related damage, which exacerbated three years of drought and severe flooding. In total, the EFSA found more than 1.5 million food-insecure people across Artibonite, Grand’Anse, La Gonave, Nippes, Nord-Ouest, and Sud departments as of late December. The USAID-Funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) predicts that emergency food needs in Haiti will remain elevated until July 2017 harvests.

As of January 26, WFP and implementing organizations provided in-kind food distributions to more than 921,400 people in Grand’Anse, Nippes, and Sud. The total includes nearly 849,900 severely food-insecure people—exceeding the 800,000 people targeted—in areas identified as high priority for humanitarian assistance, as well as nearly 71,600 people in other areas. To date, WFP and partners have reached approximately 275,100 people in high-priority areas with second-round food distributions. WFP has also provided supplementary food assistance to more than 19,300 children younger than five years of age and nearly 8,000 pregnant and lactating women.

WFP and implementing organizations are providing cash-based food assistance in hurricane-affected areas where markets are operational. As of January 20, WFP partner Cesvi had provided cash-based assistance to nearly 17,000 people in Grand’Anse, and WFP planned to provide cash transfers to 90,610 people by the end of January.

USAID/FFP is supporting a CARE-led NGO consortium to provide unconditional cash transfers to hurricane-affected households in Grand’Anse and Sud. The consortium aims to assist more than 100,000 households across the two departments by late February. As of January 27, the consortium had provided cash transfers meeting approximately 80 percent of beneficiaries’ monthly food needs to nearly 20,700 hurricane-affected households in Grand’Anse and Sud. In total, USAID/FFP has contributed more than $34.6 million, including more than $19.2 million to WFP and $15.4 million to CARE, to meet hurricane-affected families’ urgent food needs.

AGRICULTURE AND LIVELIHOODS

FAO and the GoH Ministry of Agriculture recently signed a $500,000 agricultural technical assistance and seed donation agreement intended to prepare more than 6,000 farming families in Sud for the April-to-June planting season, the UN reports. In addition to maize and vegetable seed distribution, the 12-month project will support food hygiene and nutrition education activities for nearly 200 community leaders in Sud’s Camp-Perrin, Cavaillon, Chantal, and Les Cayes communes.

On January 19, the Government of Belgium announced approximately $3.2 million in assistance to FAO to support emergency agricultural interventions in Haiti, including rapid distributions of cereal and vegetable seeds.

USAID/Haiti recently contributed nearly $2 million to the Feed the Future Legume Innovation Lab at Michigan State University to provide high-yield black bean varieties to smallholder farmers in hurricane-affected areas. With USAID/Haiti support, the Legume Innovation Lab is supplying improved bean seeds to NGOs for distribution to approximately 6,000 farmers. The project will also provide farmers with educational booklets and videos on bean crop management, supporting USAID efforts to help reestablish agricultural production capacities in hurricane-affected areas of Haiti.

HEALTH AND WASH

Suspected cholera case counts reported in affected areas continue to decline. The GoH Ministry of Public Health and Population reported approximately 60 suspected cholera cases in Grand’Anse, Nippes, and Sud from December 18–24, a significant decrease from the estimated 140 cases reported the previous week. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has integrated post-hurricane activities into routine surveillance and WASH interventions, and USAID/OFDA partners continue cholera prevention, detection, and response activities through the provision of primary health care, cholera treatment, and WASH services in hurricane-affected areas.

In early January, USAID/OFDA partner IOM completed the second delivery of calcium hypochlorite (HTH) to the GoH National Directorate for Water and Sanitation (DINEPA) to chlorinate piped water systems in hurricane-affected areas. In total, USAID/OFDA has provided more than 38 metric tons of HTH and 5.7 million water purification tablets to DINEPA, facilitating access to safe drinking water for up to 280,000 people.

With support from USAID/OFDA partner the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the health directorates of Grand’Anse, Nippes, and Sud continue to provide maternal and reproductive health care in hurricane-affected areas. In November and December 2016, midwife teams at mobile clinics provided health consultations for nearly 1,200 women and girls across the three departments. The teams also conducted more than 40 home visits to assist vulnerable women and girls.

USAID/OFDA recently contributed more than $300,000 in additional funding to Heart-to-Heart International (HHI) for ongoing health services in Grand’Anse. To increase access to health care services and treatment capacity for cholera and other waterborne illnesses, HHI is restoring pre-existing cholera treatment units and adjacent primary health care facilities, as well as operating a mobile medical clinic. As of January 23, HHI reported two consecutive weeks with no new patients at the cholera treatment facility in Grand’Anse’s Marfranc commune, indicating potential success in preventing the spread of cholera in Marfranc and surrounding areas. HHI provided nearly 950 consultations at USAID/OFDA-supported mobile clinics and primary health facilities in Marfranc from January 1–27.

Through $500,000 in additional assistance from USAID/OFDA, International Medical Corps (IMC) is providing health, nutrition, protection, and WASH support to approximately 36,900 hurricane-affected people in Grand’Anse and Sud. IMC is improving access to primary health care services and providing treatment for waterborne illnesses through the operation of six mobile medical clinics and more than ten oral rehydration points. In addition, IMC is strengthening cholera treatment capacity at cholera treatment facilities and supporting debris removal campaigns to improve WASH conditions at program sites.

In addition to other funding to PAHO, USAID/OFDA recently provided more than $325,000 to PAHO to boslter cholera treatment capacity in Grand’Anse, Nippes, Sud, and Sud-Est, including through trainings for facility staff on case management and WASH procedures and monitoring of treatment facilities to ensure adherence to best practices for treating cholera and other waterborne illnesses. PAHO also plans to pre-position cholera and WASH items in key cholera treatment facilities as needed.

To date, USAID/OFDA has provided more than $10 million for health and WASH interventions—including providing primary and reproductive health services, promoting safe hygiene practices, rehabilitating damaged sanitation facilities, and installing water treatment systems to increase access to safe drinking water—in hurricane-affected areas.

SHELTER AND SETTLEMENTS

Humanitarian organizations, including USAID/OFDA partners, continue to assist displaced families to vacate schools and other public sites used as temporary shelters. As of January 20, USAID/OFDA partners had assisted more than 15,000 collective shelter occupants to return home. For example, USAID/OFDA partner J/P Haitian Relief Organization ( J/P HRO), in coordination with local NGOs, recently provided shelter assistance to more than 100 families who vacated a school in Jeremie commune; during the week ending January 20, USAID/OFDA partner World Concern Development Organization (WCDO) assisted nearly 70 individuals in Sud to return home from collective shelters. WCDO also distributed plastic sheeting and shelter repair kits to more than 1,000 households in Sud’s Port-Salut and Saint Jean du Sud communes and supported repairs to nearly 500 households in the two communes.

USAID/OFDA partner the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) distributed emergency repair kits to more than 12,300 households in Grand’Anse’s Anse d’Hainault and Jeremie communes as of January 23. In the coming weeks, ACTED plans to distribute repair kits to more than 8,500 additional households, including 6,000 households in Sud and 2,500 households in Grand’Anse. In total, USAID/OFDA partners had provided plastic sheeting and repair kits to nearly 38,200 hurricane-affected households as of January 31.

USAID/OFDA recently contributed an additional $750,000 to J/P HRO for shelter assistance to hurricane-affected households in Grand’Anse. Through the provision of shelter kits and technical assistance, J/P HRO-supported mobile teams will support the most vulnerable households to rehabilitate their homes. USAID/OFDA has provided more than $9.3 million to date for shelter assistance in hurricane-affected areas of Haiti.

PROTECTION

USAID/OFDA recently provided $300,000 to Oxfam/España (Oxfam/E) for protection activities—including interventions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, facilitating hurricane-affected individuals’ access to legal resources, and advocating for protection mainstreaming in civil society and humanitarian programming—in Grand’Anse and Sud. Oxfam/E aims to assist approximately 7,300 people across the two departments through protection interventions. USAID/OFDA has provided nearly $1.5 million to date for protection interventions in hurricane-affected areas, including the provision of psychosocial support and the establishment of child-friendly spaces and safe spaces for women and girls.

OTHER HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

The revised UN flash appeal, released in November 2016, requests $139 million to meet the humanitarian needs of up to to 806,000 hurricane-affected people in Haiti. As of February 6, international donors had contributed an estimated $88.9 million—approximately 64 percent of the requested total—toward the appeal. In total, international donors had contributed more than $151.7 million for the Hurricane Matthew response as of February 6, the UN reports.

*Funding figures reflect contributions from the top donors as of February 6, 2017. All international figures are according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian