UNITED NATIONS – United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has held talks with the President of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) in Haiti, Anthony Franck Laurent Saint Cyr on the ongoing socio-economic and political situation in the country.
Anthony Franck Laurent Saint Cyr (File Photo)A statement issued late Sunday following the talks said that Guterres “recognized the progress made in the transition roadmap, noting the importance of unity amongst national actors to ensure its implementation”.
It said that Guterres and Saint Cyr “agreed that urgent international action is needed to help restore security, including efforts to address gang violence, create conditions for the holding of credible, inclusive and participatory elections and mobilize greater humanitarian assistance”.
Ahead of the United nations General Assembly (UNGA) that gets underway here this week, Guterres has painted a grim picture of Haiti’s unraveling state, saying that the country is crumbling as armed groups tighten their grip on Port-au-Prince and surrounding regions, forcing families to flee and disrupting daily life.
He said with six million people in need of aid and 1.3 million displaced, Haiti’s humanitarian crisis is deepening and yet less than 10 per cent of the US$908 million appeal has been funded.
“Shamefully overlooked and woefully underfunded,” the UN chief said, warning that 1.7 million people may receive no assistance at all.
Earlier this month, Tom Fletcher, who heads the UN emergency relief agency, OCHA, said he felt “ashamed on behalf of the world that we cannot find it in ourselves to be more compassionate, to be more kind, to recognize what people in Haiti are going through”.
The UN said that a country of 11 million, Haiti continues to face a severe humanitarian and protection crisis amid a cholera outbreak and rising malnutrition rates.
