Haiti’s crisis deepens: Gangs target UN aid for maternity, neonatal care in Port-au-Prince

With Haiti’s leadership in crisis, gangs have tightened their grip and intensified their attacks. Medical aid and key institutions are targeted by the gangs as the Caribbean leaders struggle to find a solution to Haiti’s administration unrest.

In the recent attacks, aid agency UNICEF said that a container carrying essential items for newborn babies and their mothers–including resuscitators and other critical supplies was looted in Port-au-Prince.

In a statement, UNICEF said that the looted container also held “early childhood development and education and water equipment.”

The theft of the supplies “occurs at a critical moment when children need them the most,” said UNICEF representative Bruno Maes in Haiti.

“Looting of supplies that are essential for life-saving support for children must end immediately and humanitarian access must remain safe,” Maes added.

“Depriving children of vital health supplies amidst a collapsing healthcare system is a violation of their rights,” he added.

Violence in Haiti intensified since January with the gang leader Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier demanding PM Ariel Henry to step down. The violence in Haiti has been brutal forcing Henry to submit his resignation.

With the political parties rejecting the plan to create a presidential council, the crisis has deepened. The transitional council would be responsible for selecting an interim prime minister and a council of ministers that would set a new path for the Caribbean country gripped with gang violence.

High-profile Haitian politicians declined to participate in the proposed council.

Under the circumstances, there are only two functional surgical operating facilities available in the capital city. Six out of the 10 hospitals across the country are unable to function due to electricity, fuel and medical supply shortages.

Meanwhile, the government of Guatemala said on Saturday that the offices of its honorary consul in Haiti were ransacked.

The details of the damage or thefts were not disclosed by the ministry. However, it said that only paperwork and documentation of the last four or five years had been previously transferred” to the Guatemala Embassy for Haiti.