UNITED NATIONS (CMC) – The United Nations has reiterated its call for an improvement of the situation in Haiti, saying hunger continues to deepen across the country.

“The food crisis is compounded by ongoing violence, which is disrupting local food production in areas such as the commune of Kenscoff and the Artibonite department. These regions are often referred to as Haiti’s breadbaskets,” said UN spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.

“As we mentioned, as of May, more than 5.7 million people in Haiti are estimated to be food insecure, with many unable to meet their basic food needs. That’s what our humanitarian colleagues are telling us.

“We and our partners are responding wherever and whenever we can. Between January and May, more than 1.1 million people have received emergency food distributions, while nearly 247,000 others received support to restore their agricultural livelihoods or strengthening their resilience,” Dujarric said.

He said that in addition, 242,000 people sheltering at displacement sites received hot meals.

“But overall, we have been able to reach just 38 per cent of the people we aim to support on food security this year – that’s 1.33 million out of 3.4 million in total. This is due to ongoing violence, to insecurity, severe underfunding of the response, and the obvious access challenges,” he said.

Dujarric said as of today, Haiti remains, unfortunately and sadly, the least-funded of the many humanitarian appeals that we coordinate.

He said funding shortfalls for food security in Haiti are even more extreme, with just over two per cent of the US$425 million have been received to date.

Dujarric said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) continues to work closely with partners to scale up food assistance.

“However, we just need more money to do our work to reach those people who need it,” he added.