(2017) Humanitarian Action for Children 2017: Haiti

2017 © UNICEF Haiti/2016/Bradley Humanitarian Action for Children Haiti Even before Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti in October 2016, children were suffering from high levels of vulnerability due to the three-year El-Niño-induced drought, related food insecurity and malnutrition, and considerable child protection concerns. The cholera crisis has continued, with a spike in suspected cases since October 2016 due to the hurricane. In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the population’s coping mechanisms and the Government’s capacities have been stretched to the breaking point. The hurricane displaced 175,000 people to temporary shelters and left 806,000 people in dire need of life-saving multisectoral assistance.3 In 2017, an estimated 48,000 children under 5 will suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), including 18,000 affected by humanitarian situations. Disruptions in access to safe drinking water, adequate hygiene and sanitation are further increasing the risk of water-borne diseases, including cholera. Between October and December, there were 7,803 suspected cases of cholera. There is a growing protection crisis, especially for children without parental care in hurricane-affected zones, and for unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) of Haitian origin who are repatriated or deported from the Dominican Republic. Children are also exposed to risks due to disruptions in schooling. Humanitarian strategy Results from 2016 As of 31 October 2016, UNICEF had In line with the forthcoming 2017 received US$20 million against the US$36.6 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), UNICEF is addressing the immediate basic million appeal (55 per cent funded).5 Within six weeks of Hurricane Matthew, UNICEF needs of children and families affected by contributed to cholera prevention by scaling humanitarian crises, including those up the number of response teams from five to impacted by Hurricane Matthew and 36 within the first six weeks post-hurricane, cholera. In order to sustain the expanded cholera response4 in Haiti and the response and through support to the 2016 cholera vaccination campaigns, which reached at to hurricane-affected people, UNICEF is least 807,395 people, including 309,000 facilitating an integrated, multi-sectoral set of activities aimed at controlling the disease. children aged 1 to 14 years. UNICEF’s vaccination intervention emphasized This includes strengthening communityinformation and social mobilization, including based surveillance, establishing rapid the promotion of good hygiene and sanitation response alert systems, protecting at-risk water systems and restoring safe conditions practices for cholera prevention. In addition, nearly 294,000 people received safe water in hurricane-affected treatment centres. Efforts will be made to integrate cholera and for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene and 450,000 people benefited from a other humanitarian responses into existing programming, provide supplies, equipment, complete WASH package. In response to the effects of the El Niño-induced drought, training and operational support to cholera treatment and response actors in hurricane- 15,260 children received micronutrients to prevent malnutrition. With the Ministry of affected areas, and scale up responses to Public Health, UNICEF developed a crisis emerging needs. Further to this approach, communication plan and prepared a radio UNICEF and the humanitarian community will continue its focus on cholera in the 2017 programme on Zika prevention, which was broadcast on 40 community radio stations. In HRP, combining health, water, sanitation response to both the bi-national6 and postand hygiene (WASH), education and hurricane crisis, UNICEF also supported Communication for Development unaccompanied children with family tracing interventions all under one sectoral and prevention of exploitation and abuse, and response. UNICEF will support the provided technical support to the national Government by co-leading coordination in the WASH, education and nutrition sectors Child Welfare Service. More than 23,000 and the child protection sub-sector. UNICEF people received information on violence, child abuse and gender-based violence, and 14 will support health-related coordination led schools were rehabilitated to ensure by the Pan American Health Organization adequate learning environments. UNICEF’s and the Ministry of Health. response to Hurricane Matthew will continue into 2017 with much of the scale up that was realized in 2016 bearing results in 2017. Total population in need: 2.7 million Total children (<18) in need: 1.1 million1 Total people to be reached in 2017: 1,237,500 Total children to be reached in 2017: 532,1252 2017 programme targets Cholera  1.24 million people reached by rapid response teams and benefiting from the cordon sanitaire  770,000 people reached through the oral cholera vaccine campaign Nutrition  13,000 children aged 6 to 59 months treated for SAM7  15,600 children aged 6 to 59 months treated for moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) Health  34,100 children under age 1 receiving routine vaccinations8  39,200 pregnant women attending at least two pre-natal visits WASH9  150,000 people provided with safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene  150,000 people reached with key hygiene behaviour messages including hand washing  40,000 people accessing safe sanitation Child protection  4,000 UASC assisted with interim care and family reunification support  3,500 people accessing social work to prevent family separation Education  85,000 children aged 5 to 14 received learning materials to access education  48,000 children’s access to education supported through rehabilitation and/or equipping of schools www.unicef.org/appeals/haiti UNICEF 2016 targets UNICEF resultsi UASC as well as children in residential care centres benefited from family tracing and reintegration support 5,800 712ii Children and families affected by Hurricane Matthew who received recreational and/or psychosocial support activities 10,000 5,733 Schools affected by Hurricane Matthew repaired and equipped 160 14iii Children aged 5 to 14 years receiving school and learning materials in areas affected by Hurricane Matthew 65,000 1,906iv Children under 5 suffering from malnutrition received treatment through a nutrition package at home 20,000 15,260 Pregnant or lactating women benefited from a nutrition package 120,000 85,000 Children under 5 affected by emergencies receiving micronutrients 45,000 23,193 750,000 807,395 127 37v People provided with safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene 400,000 294,000 People in cholera-affected areas benefiting from a complete WASH response package 750,000 450,000 Internally displaced persons benefiting from alternative sustainable sanitation strategies 360,000 52,260 CHILD PROTECTION EDUCATION NUTRITION HEALTH People living in high-risk areas, including the hurricane zone, received cholera vaccine Health centres affected by Hurricane Matthew have a functional cold chain WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE Results are through 25 November 2016 unless otherwise noted. (i) Prior to Hurricane Matthew, there were no sectoral coordination mechanisms or clusters. All sectoral coordination groups were formed after Hurricane Matthew. Humanitarian Action for Children 2016 covers all of UNICEF’s humanitarian action, and as such, no cluster or sectoral targets exist. (ii) The target for this indicator was initially 800 children and was focused on children being forcibly repatriated from the Dominican Republic. Following Hurricane Matthew, the target was substantially increased to 5,800. The number of UASC resulting from Hurricane Matthew, however, was considerably lower than anticipated, with only seven cases of UASC in affected areas being identified. As such the revised target will not be met. (iii) The level of destruction of the schools selected by UNICEF was greater than initially anticipated. The time required to rehabilitate the schools increased accordingly. This target will be met in 2017. (iv) The children targeted for the distribution of school and learning materials are the same children who will benefit from rehabilitated schools. They will not receive the materials until the schools officially reopen. This target is anticipated to be reached in the final month of 2016 and first month of 2017. (v) Progress towards this indicator was made through repairs to existing cold chain systems. Procurement of new systems, however, was dependent on donor financing, which was not made available. Future progress will depend on donor commitments. Funding requirements 2017 requirements (US$) Sector In line with the forthcoming Haiti HRP, UNICEF urgently needs US$42.4 million to meet the humanitarian needs of children and women in Haiti in 2017. With this funding, UNICEF will be able to scale up the level of surveillance and rapid response required nationwide for each case of cholera and increase it in the areas affected by Hurricane Matthew, ensure nutritional surveillance and treatment of children suffering from SAM and MAM, assist vulnerable children – including those being repatriated or deported from the Dominican Republic – and restore access to basic health and nutrition services in emergency-affected regions of the country. 1 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ‘2017 Haiti Humanitarian Needs Cholera10 15,600,000 Nutrition 4,692,000 Health 6,820,000 Water, sanitation and hygiene 3,775,000 Child protection 3,710,000 Education 7,755,000 Total 42,352,000 Overview’, OCHA. 2 Calculated based on the demographic percentage of the population that is children under 18 years of age (43 per cent) and applied to the total number of people to be reached (1,237,500). 3 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ‘2017 Haiti Humanitarian Needs Overview’, OCHA. 4 This is in line with the national strategy and the United Nations New Approach to Cholera in Haiti. 5 Available funds included funding received against the current appeal of US$15 million and US$5 million carried forward from the previous year. 6 Bi-national refers to the crisis of the Dominican Republic deporting and repatriating individuals of Haitian origin to Haiti. 7 This is a subset of the nationwide projected caseload of 48,596. In Humanitarian Action for Children 2017, UNICEF is targeting children with SAM that are also affected by humanitarian emergencies. Additional SAM programing will occur through regular programming. 8 Routine vaccination includes Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, haemophilus influenza, polio, measles and rubella. 9 The targets for 2017 are smaller than those of 2016 to account for the reduction of acute needs immediately following hurricane Matthew. 10 The cholera response encompasses a multi-sectorial intervention with a strong WASH, health and Communication for Development component. As such, the cholera financial requirements are relatively elevated when compared with other sectors. Who to contact for further information: Marc Vincent Representative- Haiti Tel: +509 37027916 Email mvincent@unicef.org Yasmin Haque Deputy Director, Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS) Tel: +1 212 326 7150 Email: yhaque@unicef.org Olav Kjorven Director, Public Partnership Division (PPD) Tel: +1 212 326 7160 Email: okjorven@unicef.org