UNITED NATIONS, (CMC) – The United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the humanitarian situation in Haiti, particularly in the Port au Prince metropolitan area, continues to deteriorate amid extreme violence.

Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said that the extremely volatile security situation is also hindering the work of humanitarian organisations, “but we and our partners continue to provide aid to people in need as security and funding permits”.

He said that the UN Population Agency (UNFPA) is reporting that two safe spaces for women and girls remain open in the capital and mobile teams to support gender-based violence victims are being deployed to displacement sites.

However, activities have been reduced in areas due to the ongoing violence.

“Last year, OCHA estimates that three million people received at least one form of humanitarian assistance out of 3.6 million we and our partners were aiming to reach,” Dujarric said.

He said that this year’s Humanitarian Response Plan requires more than US$900 million to support 3.9 million people, almost half of them women and children.

Dujarric said food security, protection and water and sanitation are among the most pressing needs, but the current plan is financed only at five per cent or just US$46 million.

Meanwhile, a prolonged blackout threatens the population of the metropolitan area, with officials in Port au Prince acknowledging that for nearly two months, the substation supplying power to Carrefour-Feuilles, Martissant, and several other neighbourhoods has been out of service due to vandalism and sabotage.

They said that there are no efforts by teams from Haitian electricity company to rectify the problem due to the daily gunfire in these areas as criminal gangs seek to take control of the government in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country.

The Federation of Haitian Electricity Workers’ Unions (FESTRED’H) estimates that of the 10 substations supplying power to the metropolitan area, only four appear to still be operational.

The Federation is urging the authourities to deal with the situation urgently so as to address these growing difficulties and prevent the total collapse of the electricity grid.