Switzerland has sent six experts and set aside CHF2 million ($2 million) to help the survivors of Hurricane Matthew, which has devastated the Caribbean island of Haiti.

Thousands of inhabitants have been left homeless and the number of victims is rising - by Friday afternoon it stood at more than 300 according to officials - after the powerful storm slammed into the island on Tuesday.

Switzerland sent six experts from its Humanitarian Aid Unit to Haiti early this morning, a foreign ministry statement said on Friday.

“They are experts in emergency shelter, water and sanitation, logistics and security. They will be accompanied by a representative of the Swiss Red Cross,” the statement explained.

At the same time, an expert has arrived in neighbouring Dominican Republic to buy emergency supplies that are needed in Haiti.

The team will work closely with the Swiss representation in Port-au-Prince to coordinate Swiss assistance with the Haitian authorities and local partners (non-governmental organisations, embassies). It should then be able to carry out emergency aid and early recovery measures.

As Haiti is one of the priority countries of the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC), the organisation already had several experts in the field which it has been able to mobilise, the statement continued. Thus, two mobile water treatment units have been deployed in the affected areas helping to distribute clean water to around 12,000 people. Extra measures will be added as the need arises.

“A budget amounting to CHF2 million has been reserved as a first step to cover the first measures undertaken and eventual contributions to partners in the field,” the foreign ministry said.



Across Haiti, there are some 350,000 people in need of assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.



The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which has its headquarters in Geneva, has launched an emergency appeal for $6.9 million (CHF6.8 million) "to provide medical, shelter, water and sanitation assistance to 50,000 people".



Most of the deaths in Haiti were around the southern coast, with many killed by falling trees, flying debris and swollen rivers.



Category Three Matthew, with sustained winds of 193km/hour, is now heading up the coastline of the United States state of Florida but has not made landfall. It is not yet clear whether it will do so. </s> At least 473 people are now known to have died as Hurricane Matthew leveled swaths of southern Haiti last week, officials said Tuesday, as hard-hit communities struggled to rebuild homes and access food and clean water.

Haiti is observing three days of mourning for the victims of the deadly storm, which also left 75 missing and 330 injured according to the provisional toll from the nation's civil protection agency.

More than 175,500 people remain in shelters across the country, many of them in schools -- which is keeping nearly 100,000 children from resuming classes.

Matthew struck as the impoverished nation was struggling to stifle a cholera outbreak that authorities fear will now worsen, with the World Health Organization pledging Tuesday to send a million doses of the cholera vaccine.

Two water purification stations also arrived in Port-au-Prince Tuesday as part of France's first shipment of humanitarian aid, which comprised some 69 tonnes of supplies including medicine and anti-cholera kits.

But damage to roads and communications has hamstrung deliveries of supplies in some areas, according to an AFP journalist in the southern coastal village of Groteaux.

Many residents of that community were still struggling to find food and clean water as they scrambled to repair their battered homes.

Many Groteaux homes sported new tin roofs bought at inflated prices, but poorer families could not afford new metal sheets to shelter them from intense sunlight, tropical rains or bloodthirsty mosquitoes.

"Only God knows what we will eat," Jean Nelson, 68, told AFP. "We are eating only coconuts that fell."

"We don't have money for rice," he said, adding that the price of the staple has doubled in the past week.

Nelson said that even though roads are now accessible, with cell phone coverage also starting to improve, no Haitian officials or relief workers have visited the hard-hit town.

The UN envoy Sandra Honore urged the Security Council on Tuesday to keep UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti for another six months to help cope with storm damage, ahead of a vote on renewing the mission's mandate.

The world body's chief Ban Ki-moon said a massive international response was needed to help Haiti as the United Nations launched a $120 million flash appeal for the next three months. AFP </s> At least 1.4 million need aid in Haiti after Matthew: UN

Haiti faces a humanitarian crisis that requires a “massive response” from the international community, the United Nations chief said Monday, with at least 1.4 million people needing emergency aid following last week’s battering by Hurricane Matthew.

The storm left at least 372 dead in the impoverished Caribbean nation, with the toll likely to rise sharply as rescue workers reach previously inaccessible areas.

Matthew leveled homes, fouled water sources and killed livestock, with victims pleading for help to arrive quickly.

The United Nations has launched a $120 million flash appeal to cover Haiti’s needs for the next three months.

“Some towns and villages have been almost wiped off the map,” he said.

“These numbers and needs are growing as more affected areas are reached.”

After pummeling Haiti on October 4 as a monster Category 4 storm, packing winds of 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour, Matthew slammed into the southeastern United States, where it killed at least 20 people.

- Worst humanitarian crisis –

 

 In Haiti, more than 300 schools have been damaged, while crops and food reserves were destroyed, Ban said.

UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien said the hurricane had triggered the worst humanitarian crisis in the country since the 2010 earthquake.

The department of Grande Anse in Haiti’s southwest, which took a direct hit, was the most devastated area, with 198 dead, 97 injured and 99,400 people staying in temporary shelters.

More than 175,500 are in shelters elsewhere in the country.

Damage to roads and communications has hamstrung deliveries of supplies.

“I understand of course the frustration,” Jean-Luc Poncelet, the country representative for the UN’s World Health Organization, said after arriving at the airport outside Jeremie, one of the worst-hit cities.

“When you have no means of communication, no radio, no telephone, no roads and even a helicopter can’t land — this is what explains the massive delay,” he told AFP.

The UN’s World Food Programme tapped into food stocks previously set aside for schools to feed hundreds of desperate families, spokesman Alexis Masciarelli said.

Twenty-fix more tons had been moved to Jeremie for distribution, and more was on its way to Les Cayes, the other major city affected on the peninsula, he said.

American military helicopters were unloading boxes of supplies from the United States Agency for International Development to be stored by the UN in Jeremie before being taken to other parts of the south.

An official at the airport who declined to be identified said nearly 20 tons of supplies — tarpaulins, rice, cooking oil and hygiene kits — were being brought in.

That added to 47 tons already flown in on US helicopters from the capital Port-au-Prince.

Honduras, which maintains a force of 60 troops in Haiti as part of a UN peacekeeping mission, was sending a planeload of aid on Tuesday, along with 50 military officers to assist the victims, President Juan Orlando Hernandez said.

But getting aid to Haitians now reduced to drinking unclean water and living in roofless houses will be challenging.

On a road crossing the mountainous center of the peninsula, some villagers blocked roads in an effort to stop aid convoys from passing through without delivering supplies.

 

 - Cholera fears -

Haiti is also grappling with a worsening cholera outbreak in the storm-hit areas.

Matthew came as Haitians were already struggling with the intestinal disease spread by contaminated food and water, with more than 500 new cases each week.

UN peacekeepers have been blamed for introducing the disease to Haiti, where it has killed 10,000 people since October 2010.

While some towns and villages reported an apparent spike in infections since the storm, Poncelet said “the number of cases of cholera that we have confirmed are low.”

He declined to give a number, but said there were “tens” of cases in one area of the peninsula.

While evaluation teams were working to get a precise picture of the health situation, medical supplies were being brought in, he said.

Mourad Wahba, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, urged aid organizations to focus on delivering supplies to smaller rural communities, where many families survive on subsistence farming and have had all their crops washed away.

If aid is only delivered to cities such as Jeremie and Les Cayes, villages will flock there for supplies and never leave, leading to overcrowding.

“We must think about developing a plan, to coordinate support and deliver it where it’s most needed and not where it’s easiest to access,” Wahba said. </s> The United Nations says the world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since 72 years, issuing a plea to avoid “a catastrophe”.

UN Humanitarian Chief, Stephen O’Brien, said at least 20 million people faced threat of famine and starvation in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria.

Mr O’Brien noted that $4.4 billion was needed by July to avert the disaster.

“We stand at a critical point in history; already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations.

“Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine.

“Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death,” the Humanitarian Chief told the UN Security Council on Friday.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had warned that about 1.4 million children could starve to death in 2017. </s> WPCNR IMMIGRANT INTELLIGENCER. From the 32BJ SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION. MAY 22, 2017



The following statement on Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians living in the U.S. can be attributed to Hector Figueroa President of 32BJ SEIU:

Granting TPS extension to the 50,000 hardworking, law-abiding Haitian already living peaceful and productive lives among us is the right thing to do for humanitarian and national security reasons.

There’s strong bipartisan and community support to extend TPS beyond the limited 6 month period announced today to avoid destabilizing the families and communities built by Haitian men and women across the United States — families and communities that contribute not only to the U.S. economy but to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Haiti is still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Mathew and will need more time to recover. The U.N. estimates at least 1.4 million Haitians are now in need of urgent assistance as clean water, food, and medicine are in short supply, and a cholera outbreak, described as the worst epidemic of cholera in recent history, is still ongoing.

Haitian TPS holders contribute $280 million to the U.S. GDP and $42 million to Social Security and to Medicare each year. More than 1 in 5 Haitian TPS holders are parents of US-born American children.

They are hardworking people making substantial contributions to our country and keeping Haiti as stable as possible as the country rebuilds. According to a February 2016 report, remittances to Haiti exceeded $2 billion –22.7 percent of Haiti’s GDP.

Extending TPS for Haitian and Central Americans—who will also see their temporary status expire in January—is not only a response to our commitment to our traditions and values as a welcoming country, it’s in our national interest. </s> MOSCOW – The UN is ringing the alarm over a possible cholera outbreak in Haiti, as the number of disease cases is on the rise in the troubled Caribbean nation after disastrous hurricane Matthew swept through the country killing roughly 900 people.

On Saturday, Haitian authorities reported that cholera killed 13 people in the southwest of the nation that had suffered the worst blow from the catastrophic Category 4 hurricane.

Six casualties were reported in Randel, an isolated town set in the mountains in the heart of the Tiburon peninsula and seven others were said to have died in Anse-d’Ainault, a town located on the country’s western coast.

Cholera is an infectious disease that spreads through water supplies and causes diarrhea in patients, leading to severe dehydration and subsequent death of patients. In some cases, the infection kills a patient within a few hours.

The vicious disease was believed to have been carried inadvertently to the Caribbean nation by UN peacekeepers in the aftermath of the major earthquake that left the country in ruins in 2010. Since then, hundreds of thousands people suffered from the disease with over 9,000 of them eventually dying.

In 2016, some 240 have died of Cholera, the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund stated on Friday.

Now, the major concern for Haitian authorities is that poor sanitary conditions in the country, which have been deteriorated by complete destruction of critical infrastructure such as water supplies, would cause the rapid spread of the disease.

“People have started dying,” Eli Pierre Celestin of the state health ministry said, noting that rescue operations are hampered by the remoteness of the affected regions and the lack of personnel needed to address the possible outbreak.

A total of 62 people were diagnosed with cholera in the aftermath of the hurricane, according to official data. Celestin said that outbreaks have been registered in Port-a-Piment and Les Anglais in the southwestern tip of the peninsula.

“Hurricane Matthew is feared to significantly worsen the situation and increase the risk of a larger outbreak,” UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund said in a statement.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said that a surge in disease cases will continue into 2017.

Meanwhile, people in the affected areas lack food and medical assistance. French humanitarian organization CARE estimated that up to a million people are in dire need of urgent assistance.

Still the international community has failed to keep up with providing people with basic supplies, locals say.

“The government is not giving us anything,” Donny St Germain, a pastor at El Shaddai Ministries International, told Al Jazeera. “The international community continues to do inspections while people are dying of hunger — and so right now, we need supplies.”

Matthew, classified as a Category 4 hurricane at the time of landfall, ripped through Haiti on Tuesday, killing some 877 people. The death toll is increasing, as scores of people have been reported missing.

After leaving Haiti, Matthew moved to the US’ eastern coast, raking coastal Florida and Georgia before making landfall in South Carolina on Saturday morning. (PNA/Sputnik) </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Yemen's war is leaving children on the brink of famine. Warning: This video contains some distressing scenes

The world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since 1945, the United Nations says, issuing a plea for help to avoid "a catastrophe".

UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien said that more than 20 million people faced the threat of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

Unicef has already warned 1.4m children could starve to death this year.

Mr O'Brien said $4.4bn (£3.6bn) was needed by July to avert disaster.

"We stand at a critical point in history," Mr O'Brien told the Security Council on Friday. "Already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations."

"Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine. Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. Many more will suffer and die from disease.

"Children stunted and out of school. Livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost. Communities' resilience rapidly wilting away. Development gains reversed. Many will be displaced and will continue to move in search for survival, creating ever more instability across entire regions."

Mr O'Brien's comments follow on from a similar appeal made by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres last month.

At that time, he revealed the UN had only received $90m (£74m) so far in 2017, despite generous pledges.

Like Mr O'Brien, he urged more financial support for the four countries. But why are they in such dire need?

Yemen

Image copyright Unicef Image caption Five-year-old Mohannad Ali sits in hospital in Yemen in December. His younger cousin - aged just two - died of hunger

The pictures were among the most shocking of last year: emaciated children, clinging on to life with what little strength they had left. Four-year-olds not bigger than infants. And mothers unable to do anything to stop their children dying.

It is thought a child dies every 10 minutes in Yemen from a preventable disease, while half-a-million children under five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

The UN estimates some 19 million people - or two thirds of Yemen's population - is in need of some sort of humanitarian help following two years of war between Houthi insurgents and the government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

What's hampering aid?

Continuing fighting, lack of rule of law, poor governance, under-development.

A naval embargo imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, fighting around the government-controlled port of Aden and air strikes on the rebel-held port of Hudaydah, have severely reduced imports since 2015.

A lack of fuel, coupled with insecurity and damage to markets and roads, have also prevented supplies from being distributed.

Read more: How bad is Yemen's humanitarian crisis?

South Sudan

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ravaged by war, now famine has hit South Sudan

UN agencies say 100,000 people are facing starvation in South Sudan, while a further million are classified as being on the brink of famine.

It is the most acute of the present food emergencies, and the most widespread nationally.

Overall, says the UN, 4.9 million people - or 40% of South Sudan's population - are "in need of urgent food, agriculture and nutrition assistance".

What's hampering aid?

Continuing fighting in the country that now has been at war since 2013, lack of rule of law, under-development.

Some UN officials have suggested President Salva Kiir's government has been blocking food aid to certain areas - a claim denied by the authorities.

There have also been reports of humanitarian convoys and warehouses coming under attack or being looted, either by government or rebel forces.

Read more: Why are there still famines?

Nigeria

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Starvation could kill more people than Boko Haram

The UN has described the unfolding disaster in north-eastern Nigeria as the "greatest crisis on the continent" - the full extent of which has only been revealed as extremist militant group Boko Haram is pushed back.

It was already known the Islamist group had killed 15,000 and pushed more than two million from their homes. But as they retreated, it became clear there were thousands more people living in famine-like conditions in urgent need of help.

The UN estimated in December there were 75,000 children at risk of starving to death. Another 7.1 million people in Nigeria and the neighbouring Lake Chad area are considered "severely food insecure".

What's hampering aid?

Boko Haram attacks, lack of rule of law, under-development.

There are still areas under the control of Boko Haram, which aid agencies cannot reach.

Thee have also been allegations of widespread aid theft, which are being investigated by Nigeria's senate.

Read more: 'We survived militants but face starvation'

Somalia

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Hospitals are seeing children with severe dehydration

The last time a famine was declared in Somalia - just six years ago - nearly 260,000 people died.

At the beginning of March, there were reports of 110 people dying in just one region in a 48-hour period.

Humanitarian groups fear this could be just the beginning: a lack of water - blamed partially on the El Nino weather phenomenon - has killed off livestock and crops, leaving 6.2 million people in urgent need of help.

What's hampering aid?

Continuing attacks by Islamist militant group al-Shabab, lack of rule of law, under-development.

Piracy off Somalia's coast impeded shipments in the past - however attacks have reduced significantly in recent years.

Read more: More than 100 die from hunger in one region </s> The storm ripped through Haiti on Tuesday, causing heavy flooding and knocking down houses.

Citing Haitian authorities, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at least 350,000 people needed immediate assistance.

The full impact remained unclear, however, with communications down in many of the worst-affected areas.

Here are what some of the world's leading aid agencies expect will be humanitarian needs in Haiti in the storm's wake.

"Initial information reaching us is worrying. Many affected people have lost their homes, crops, and livestock. We will have to face a logistical challenge to reach these very remote areas and provide humanitarian assistance which these isolated populations need. We also fear that the floods caused by Hurricane Matthew entail substantial health risks such as the spread of cholera." Carlos Veloso, World Food Programme's country director:

"Because of the severity in the south, we expect that certain roads will be closed and we need to repair them immediately. The second big challenge will be the access to populations in the mountains in the south. Normally access here is not easy, and with a hurricane the strength of Matthew it will become more difficult." Sylvie Savard, country representative in the joint office of the Lutheran World Federation and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Haiti:

"The most affected groups are those most vulnerable living in areas along the coast, in low lying areas or close to steep slopes. Many people, especially in rural areas, live in poorly constructed homes that could not stand up to the winds and rains. People have been evacuated to save their lives, but the storm and the floods will have swept away what little they have." Jean Claude Fignole, Oxfam's influence program director in Haiti:

"Our first response will concentrate on saving lives by providing safe water and hygiene kits to avoid the spread of cholera. Right now there are at least 10,000 people displaced from their homes and in need of safe shelter, water and food." Ravi Tripptrap, Malteser International Americas' executive director:

"The floods have been particularly damaging in the slum community of Cité Soleil. Sewage canals are overflowing and filling the streets with garbage and human waste; make-shift shanty homes have been washed away. This is where our help is needed." </s> UNITED NATIONS — The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Friday.

Stephen O’Brien told the U.N. Security Council that “without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death” and “many more will suffer and die from disease.”

He urged an immediate injection of funds for Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeast Nigeria plus safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid “to avert a catastrophe.”

“To be precise,” O’Brien said, “we need $4.4 billion by July.”

Without a major infusion of money, he said, children will be stunted by severe malnutrition and won’t be able to go to school, gains in economic development will be reversed and “livelihoods, futures and hope will be lost.”

U.N. and food organizations define famine as when more than 30 percent of children under age 5 suffer from acute malnutrition and mortality rates are two or more deaths per 10,000 people every day, among other criteria.

“Already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations,” O’Brien said. “Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine.”

O’Brien said the largest humanitarian crisis is in Yemen where two-thirds of the population — 18.8 million people — need aid and more than seven million people are hungry and don’t know where their next meal will come from. “That is three million people more than in January,” he said.

The Arab world’s poorest nation is engulfed in conflict and O’Brien said more than 48,000 people fled fighting just in the past two months.

During his recent visit to Yemen, O’Brien said he met senior leaders of the government and the Shiite Houthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa, and all promised access for aid.

“Yet all parties to the conflict are arbitrarily denying sustained humanitarian access and politicize aid,” he said, warning if that behavior doesn’t change now “they must be held accountable for the inevitable famine, unnecessary deaths and associated amplification in suffering that will follow.”

For 2017, O’Brien said $2.1 billion is needed to reach 12 million Yemenis “with life-saving assistance and protection” but only 6 percent has been received so far. He announced that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will chair a pledging conference for Yemen on April 25 in Geneva.

The U.N. humanitarian chief also visited South Sudan, the world’s newest nation which has been ravaged by a three-year civil war, and said “the situation is worse than it has ever been.”

“The famine in South Sudan is man-made,” he said. “Parties to the conflict are parties to the famine — as are those not intervening to make the violence stop.”

O’Brien said more than 7.5 million people need aid, up by 1.4 million from last year, and about 3.4 million South Sudanese are displaced by fighting including almost 200,000 who have fled the country since January.

“More than one million children are estimated to be acutely malnourished across the country, including 270,000 children who face the imminent risk of death should they not be reached in time with assistance,” he said. “Meanwhile, the cholera outbreak that began in June 2016 has spread to more locations.”

In Somalia, which O’Brien also visited, more than half the population — 6.2 million people — need humanitarian assistance and protection, including 2.9 million who are at risk of famine and require immediate help “to save or sustain their lives.”

He warned that close to one million children under the age of five will be “acutely malnourished” this year.

“What I saw and heard during my visit to Somalia was distressing — women and children walk for weeks in search of food and water. They have lost their livestock, water sources have dried up and they have nothing left to survive on,” O’Brien said. “With everything lost, women, boys, girls and men now move to urban centers.”

The humanitarian chief said current indicators mirror “the tragic picture of 2011 when Somalia last suffered a famine.” But he said the U.N.’s humanitarian partners have a larger footprint, better controls on resources, and a stronger partnership with the new government which recently declared the drought a national disaster.

“To be clear, we can avert a famine,” O’Brien said. “We’re ready despite incredible risk and danger … but we need those huge funds now.”

In northeast Nigeria, a seven-year uprising by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes. A U.N. humanitarian coordinator said last month that malnutrition in the northeast is so pronounced that some adults are too weak to walk and some communities have lost all their toddlers.

EU provides P156 million to victims of humanitarian crises in PH

Gov’t girds for possible humanitarian crisis in South
The United Nations launches an emergency appeal for almost U.S.$120 million in life-saving help for 750,000 survivors in Haiti at risk of starvation and/or cholera.