UNITED NATIONS (CMC) – The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday said it is “deeply concerned” by rising displacement in Haiti in recent months, as escalating gang violence deepens the country’s humanitarian crisis.

According to new figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 700,000 people are now internally displaced in Haiti, an increase of 22 per cent since June. More than half of the people displaced are children.

Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, told reporters that about three-quarters of the displaced seek shelter in other provinces, with the Grand Sud region alone hosting nearly half of the total displaced population.

He said in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where the security situation remains highly unstable, a quarter of those displaced live in overcrowded sites, with limited access to basic services.

Dujarric said Tuesday marked the start of the school year in Haiti, “but as you can imagine, our humanitarian partners have been working closely with the authorities to support the national back-to-school campaign”.

He said the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), through its “Back to Learning” campaign, is working to help children impacted by the crisis resume their education.

Dujarric said 1.4 million children and teachers have experienced severe disruptions to education over the past year due to ongoing insecurity.

“In partnership with local organisations, UNICEF is offering various forms of support, including by providing cash transfers so that families can cover school-related costs, helping displaced children integrate into host schools, distributing school kits, and doing whatever we can to support these children and their teachers,” Dujarric said, adding “however, the response remains, as you will not be surprised, severely underfunded”.

The UN said that just 30 per cent of the US$30 million needed to provide education support for Haiti this year has been received.

“Overall, the Humanitarian Response Plan remains only 39 per cent funded, with US$264 million on the bank out of the US$674 million we need. We continue to call on member states to step up and support Haiti,” Dujarric told reporters.