UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarians said Friday that the situation in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince remains tense and volatile despite an agreement on leadership transition.
The Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said violence each day in the capital city brings more suffering.
"The UN and our national partners continue to work around the clock, despite the risks, to reach people in need," OCHA said, adding that the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed 14,000 hot meals to displaced people in Port-au-Prince and distributed food rations to 3,500 people in Cite Soleil.
A new WFP survey showed food security degrading further. People with the lowest levels of food consumption surged from 32 percent to 41 percent, and more than two in three households saw their incomes drop and seven in 10 departments in Haiti reported prices increasing.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported hunger and life-threatening malnutrition are at record levels across the country, concentrated in the poorest, most insecure and congested neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince.
More and more parents can no longer provide appropriate care and nutrition for their children. They also cannot take their children to health care centers due to the surrounding violence. Nearly one in four children in Haiti suffers from chronic malnutrition, also known as stunting, said UNICEF.
Leaders of the Caribbean Community meeting in nearby Kingston, Jamaica, reached an agreement on Monday on a framework for a political transition designed to end gang violence in Haiti. ■
