HAITI / EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food assistance to 700,000 people. To reach them and deliver common humanitarian services, WFP is appealing for USD62 million.WFP

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:11
• Production Date: 6 December 2019
• Asset Language: English; French
• Corporate Name: WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME - WFP
• Subject Topical: FOOD AID
• Geographic Subject: HAITI
• MAMS Id: 2511228
• Parent Id: 2511228
• Alternate Title: unifeed191206c

Description

STORY: HAITI / EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE
TRT: 3:11
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / CREOLE ENGLISH /NATS

DATELINE: 23-29 NOVEMBER 2019, GONAIVES /CHANSOLME /PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

Shotlist

26 NOVEMBER 2019, GONAIVES, HAITI

1. Wide shot, vehicles on street
2. Wide shot, trash on street
3. Wide shot, people in health centre waiting room
4. Various shots, nutritionist Dumerjusten checking baby for malnutrition
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Myriam Dumerjusten, Nutritionist:
“It’s a lack of food and a lack of economic means.”

23 NOVEMBER 2019, CHANSOLME, NORD-OUEST DEPARTMENT, HAITI

6. Wide shot, WFP convoy on the road
7. Tracking shot, WFP convoy
8. Wide shot, tracks arriving at Chansolme’s school compound
9. Various shots, men unloading trucks
10. Wide shot, crowd queueing up
11. Various shots, people wait in queue
12. Pan left, Dianise walking to distribution point
13. Med shot, Dianise getting food
14. Wide shot, Dianise walking away with food
15. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Vixama Dianise, 24-year-old mother of two from Nan Moro village:
“We didn’t have anything left. Thank God we have some now. Some days, I don’t know what I will give my children to eat. I am proud to be able to share this food with my family.”

26 NOVEMBER 2019, GONAIVES, HAITI

16. Various shots, market outside Gonaives
17. Med shot, Limage talking to a seller
18. SOUNDBITE (French) Rosalie Limage, Coordinator of OFDAD:
“The most vulnerable families are in distress. They have no recourse. Only families who have the opportunity to have cultivate something in their fields could feed the children.”
19. Various shots, women at the market
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexis Masciarelli, Communications Officer, WFP:
“Vulnerable Haitian families face a very serious situation. They’ve seen prices rising, their currency devaluates and more recently social economic unrest with barricades in the streets and many schools and businesses closing and. With our partners, we are doing the utmost to reach a growing number of these people with food assistance but also cash so they can buy on local markets, like here, to feed their children.”

29 NOVEMBER 2019, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

21. Close up, Previlon peeling eggplant
22. Various shots, Previlon cooking food
23. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Osena Previlon, Farmer:
“We are not living well. We are not eating well. We don’t sleep well. We can’t even move around because of the insecurity in the country. We have paid the school fees for our children, but they are closed, and they have not gone to class.”
24. Various shots, Osena and her family eating

Storyline

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it is scaling up its operation to provide emergency food assistance to 700,000 people. To reach them and deliver common humanitarian services, WFP is appealing for USD62 million.

One in three Haitians, or 3.7 million people, need urgent food assistance, including 1 million suffering severe hunger according to a nationwide study conducted in August by the CNSA (National Coordination for Food Security) with support from WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Millions of Haitians have been hit hard by rising prices, a weakening local currency, and a drop in agricultural production. Social and civil unrest over the past three months rendered many main roads impassable too, further restricting access to food for poorer households. Recently, a slight improvement in security allowed WFP to deliver food assistance to families cut off since September.

Over the past three weeks, nearly 23,000 people have received emergency food assistance in the Nord-Ouest department, defined by the government’s report as the most food insecure in the country. WFP provides families with enough food for a month.

WFP is also expanding distributions and providing cash and vouchers to other departments affected by food insecurity. In November, 67,000 people were given cash so as local markets recover, households can purchase food locally. So far in 2019, WFP has met the emergency food needs of 138,000 people across the country. New distributions and deliveries will be organized whenever the security situation allows.

The unrest has hampered humanitarian organizations’ efforts too. Transport of WFP food to many vulnerable communities, particularly using the main roads between the capital Port-au-Prince and Artibonite and across southern Haiti has been affected.

WFP’s school feeding programme provides meals to 300,000 children annually in 1,200 schools nationwide. It is considered the largest food safety net in Haiti but only 60 percent of schools have reopened since the turmoil began three months ago.
To reach areas difficult or impossible to access by road, WFP launched a three-month air operation in late November. A chartered Mi8-AMT helicopter is providing reliable transport for cargo and staff from the entire humanitarian community. It can carry up to 22 passengers or 4 tons of cargo.

For WFP, investing in sustainable solutions is key to addressing the root causes of food insecurity in Haiti. WFP significantly increased its support to local agriculture in line with Government plans to revitalize the agriculture sector as a means of tackling food insecurity.