The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it has approved a US$60 million grant to improve food security, enhance the medium- and long-term climate resilience of vulnerable populations in Haiti, and better assist displaced people and returning migrants.
“Natural disasters, including hurricanes and earthquakes; social and political instability; and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic have aggravated poverty and fragility, eroding the quality of life of the people of Haiti, especially that of the country’s most vulnerable segments,” said the Washington-based financial institution in a statement.
It said an initial US$40 million component of the grant offers cash transfers to provide temporary income in food-insecure areas.
To qualify for some of the transfers, the IDB said recipients must participate in community projects focused on resilience and climate change mitigation.
This program also includes activities to attend to the unique needs of vulnerable women, the IDB said.
It said the transfers will begin flowing in January 2023 and will benefit about 52,000 households, with a total of 260,000 people.
The IDB said a second US$13 million component of the aid is designed to expand essential health services for displaced people and returning migrants, and improve the continuity of these services.
Part of the funds will also go toward broadening the information system of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor to identify those most in need of help.
The financial institution said it also supports efforts to counter the cholera epidemic in the Caribbean country.
Together with other partners, the IDB said it is supporting an awareness campaign to prevent the disease.
Two United Nations agencies have warned of “catastrophic” hunger being recorded in Haiti for the first time.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said “an unrelenting series of crises has trapped vulnerable Haitians in a cycle of growing desperation, without access to food, fuel, markets, jobs, and public services.”
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