*Samantha Power, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced that the US through USAID intends to provide an additional US$25m in humanitarian assistance for Haiti. This builds on the US$33m for humanitarian assistance announced last week by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in response to the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Haiti, where armed gangs have launched unprecedented attacks, compelling Prime Minister Ariel Henry to announce that he will resign once a new presidential transitional council is sworn in. A USAID statement says that the funding will support efforts by United Nations and NGO partners to “provide immediate food assistance, essential relief supplies, relocation support, psycho-social support, emergency health care, safe drinking water, and protection services for the most vulnerable, including women and girls, among other vital assistance”. According to USAID at least 362,000 people are displaced, and 5.5m people (out of a population of 11.45m) are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance in Haiti as the most basic necessities including food, health care, water, and hygiene, are increasingly difficult to access. The same statement notes that the US is the single largest humanitarian donor to Haiti and the latest funding announcements build on the US$146m that the US through USAID has provided since October 2022.
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