Haiti – Humanitarian aid: Thousands of displaced people urgently need water and sanitation
18.08.2024 09:26:27

Violence and insecurity have forced more than 578,000 people to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince. 112,000 of them now live in 96 informal settlements in the greater Port-au-Prince area, including schools, churches and sports fields.

Many of these places lack water and sanitation facilities such as latrines, creating harsh and dangerous living conditions and increasing the risk of water-borne diseases. In recent months, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has stepped up its efforts to provide water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to people living in makeshift camps across the city and seeking refuge in overcrowded settlements.

As part of an emergency response, MSF provided over 4.5 million litres of treated water at 15 sites. In addition, site managers were trained in water chlorination and hygiene, nine latrines and nine emergency showers were built or renovated, and hygiene kits were distributed.

In areas where access to treated water and latrines is inadequate, MSF mobile clinics treated hundreds of people for waterborne diseases, including acute watery diarrhea and scabies, a hygiene-related skin disease. Cholera, which has broken out several times in Port-au-Prince since 2022, remains a significant threat in these conditions.

However, the need for treated water and sanitation in refugee camps and violence-affected neighborhoods far exceeds what MSF can provide.

Efforts are currently underway to find actors who can continue to supply water to the 15 sites managed by MSF beyond August 31, the date on which MSF’s water and sanitation services in these areas are scheduled to cease.

“As a medical emergency response organization, we stepped in to fill gaps in water and sanitation when the health situation became critical and no other key actors could respond,” says Sophie Mealier, MSF project manager. “Now that access to existing sites has improved, it is time for other actors to respond to these needs. For our part, we continue to focus on the hardest-to-reach areas and on critical health needs.”

MSF staff stress that the prolonged displacement also brings with it other challenges. “For example, while MSF is providing clean water and other services, sanitation remains a major challenge. Waste disposal is also an ongoing problem, exacerbated by the control of armed groups over disposal sites,” explains Frenso Désir, MSF’s water and sanitation project manager.

MSF calls for increased humanitarian assistance to address the most urgent needs of the displaced, including water, sanitation and hygiene services such as water transportation, rehabilitation of latrines and showers, distribution of hygiene kits, and hygiene and health promotion. MSF also calls on stakeholders to provide the necessary resources to ensure the safety and dignity of the displaced.

HL/HaitiLibre