Government's Humanitarian Emergency Responses at the Heart of Priorities

This Tuesday, July 29, 2025, on the occasion of the 19th edition of the “Tuesdays of the Nation” organized at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Haitian government detailed its strengthening of humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons. Through FAES, over one million meals have been distributed, new community restaurants have been opened, and social integration initiatives are being deployed in several departments, in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis. As armed violence gains ground, internal displacement is becoming a mass phenomenon in Haiti. This Tuesday, the Prime Minister's Office dedicated the 19th edition of the “Tuesdays of the Nation” to this humanitarian emergency affecting over one million people in the country. Political authorities and heads of social aid institutions detailed ongoing actions, while outlining a longer-term response. Speaking, the Director General of the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES), Serge Gabriel Colin, presented the latest actions carried out on the ground. Since March, over one million hot meals have been served in the most affected communes of the West department. About forty community restaurants are currently active in areas such as Delmas, Bourdon, Canapé-Vert, and Christ-Roi, each serving several meals per day. This food assistance is accompanied by the distribution of over 21,000 survival kits including sanitary products, potable water containers, and basic foodstuffs. The program also includes an integration component: several displaced persons now work in these catering structures, in an attempt to reconcile emergency aid and human dignity. But beyond FAES, the government intends to deploy a global strategy. Herwil Gaspard, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, responsible for Solidarity and Humanitarian Affairs, presented a three-pronged approach to structure the national response. A three-pronged plan: presence, relocation, recovery The first axis aims to strengthen the State's presence in host areas through a joint mobilization of several institutions: DINEPA for drinking water, the Ministry of Public Health (MSPP) for healthcare, ONM for the registration and monitoring of displaced persons, and of course FAES for food. The second axis concerns relocation. The government has launched a rental subsidy program to help families leave makeshift camps and find more stable and dignified housing. A housing voucher mechanism has been put in place for this purpose. The third component is oriented towards autonomy through economic recovery and social integration. It includes vocational training provided in partnership with the National Institute for Vocational Training (INFP), income-generating activities, as well as programs aimed at integrating displaced youth into a reintegration pathway. Herwil Gaspard emphasized that these families are not fleeing natural disasters but are “driven from their homes by the terror of weapons,” insisting on the need to “break the cycle of dependence” on humanitarian aid to restore the dignity of displaced persons. A Crisis of Unprecedented Scale The figures confirm the urgency. According to the Directorate General of Civil Protection (DGPC), over one million people are currently displaced across the country. In the West, Artibonite, and Centre departments alone, approximately 180,000 live in camps, often without access to basic services. According to United Nations data, nearly 90% of the capital is now under the direct or indirect influence of armed groups, while over 3,000 people were killed or injured in gang-related violence in the first half of 2025. In this context, government action aims to be both urgent and structural. The minister notably highlighted the launch of the PREJEUNES program, designed to offer concrete alternatives to young people living in camps, to prevent their enrollment in criminal networks. The stated objective is ambitious: to re-establish a climate of social and security stability that could eventually allow for credible elections. But on the ground, expectations remain immense, and results will have to be measured against the test of facts. The editorial team