Today's top news: Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti, Ukraine, European Humanitarian Forum
Occupied Palestinian Territory
The Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, said that with famine imminent, we must flood Gaza with food and other life-saving aid.
In a social media post, Mr. Griffiths said the international community should hang its head in shame for failing to stop a situation in which more than 1 million people are at risk because they have been cut off from life-saving aid, markets have collapsed and fields have been destroyed.
The Under-Secretary-General said there is no time to lose, renewing his call to the Israeli authorities to allow complete and unfettered access for humanitarian goods to Gaza. Mr. Griffiths said we know that once famine is declared, it is way too late – but with action and goodwill, it can be averted.
Meanwhile, intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations – as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups – continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Deir Al Balah and near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, in the north.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , said WHO is terribly worried about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital, which is endangering civilians – patients and health workers. He reiterated that hospitals should never be battlegrounds and must be protected.
Dr. Tedros said Al-Shifa Hospital only recently restored minimal health services and warned that any hostilities or militarization of the facility jeopardizes those services, as well as access for ambulances and deliveries of life-saving supplies.
Despite the ongoing hostilities and other impediments, we and our humanitarian partners are trying to get life-saving aid to civilians in Gaza wherever and whenever we can.
Over the weekend, WHO carried out two missions to deliver supplies and assess conditions at hospitals in Gaza.
On Saturday, a WHO team visited the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, to bring medical supplies for some 80,000 patients and assess water, sanitation and hygiene capacities at the facility.
On Sunday, WHO, UNRWA and the UN Mine Action Service delivered some 10,500 litres of fuel to Nasser Hospital, also in Khan Younis. While there, they evaluated safety concerns and assessed conditions for the resumption of essential services.
Also last night, the World Food Programme (WFP) delivered 18 truckloads of food supplies – including wheat flour, food parcels and ready-to-eat rations – to Gaza city, via a new route along the border. We need this route to be made available for daily convoys so that we can have consistent and safe access to the north.
Haiti
Delivery of humanitarian assistance to people in Port-Au-Prince continues, despite the tense and volatile situation in the capital.
On Saturday, UNICEF reported that one of its containers was looted at Port-au-Prince's main port. The container held essential items for maternal, neonatal and child survival. These included resuscitators, as well as critical supplies for early childhood development and education and water equipment. UNICEF condemned the looting and emphasized that depriving children of vital health supplies amidst a collapsing healthcare system is a violation of their rights.
With more than 300 containers belonging to UN agencies and non-governmental organizations in Port-au-Prince, discussions continue with port and state authorities to secure them.
Meanwhile, since early March WFP delivered 115,000 hot meals to people forced from their homes in the capital.
On the health front, the Hôpital Universitaire la Paix, the only public hospital in Port-au-Prince with the capacity to treat trauma, continues to operate with support from the Pan American Health Organization and WHO. The hospital has activated its mass casualty plan to increase its capacity to receive more patients.
On displacement, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says in a new survey that, in addition to creating displacement within the capital area, attacks and insecurity are pushing more and more people to leave the capital to find refuge in provinces, taking the risk of passing through gangs-controlled routes.
From 8 to 14 March, IOM said nearly 17,000 people left the capital. More than half of them are heading towards the Grand Sud departments. Our colleagues tell us that this region already hosts more than 116,000 people who had fled the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince in recent months.
Ukraine
Humanitarian organizations continue to support communities affected by the recent attacks on the cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv in the south of the country.
The attacks have killed and injured dozens of civilians over the past three days. Homes, as well as gas and electricity facilities, were also affected.
In Odesa and Mykolaiv, humanitarian workers quickly mobilized, providing first aid, meals for the affected people and rescuers, and psychological support. Aid organizations distributed repair materials to cover immediate damage and are engaging in support for larger scope repairs and multi-purpose cash assistance.
Kharkiv and Sumy regions, east and north-east of Ukraine, were also attacked. Over the past few days, humanitarian organizations delivered emergency shelter kits to the affected communities. Civilian infrastructure sustained damage, including in the Velyka Pysarivka Community, where more than a dozen houses, a preschool and a hospital were damaged on an attack on 17 March.
European Humanitarian Forum
Earlier today, in Brussels, at the opening of the European Humanitarian Forum, USG Griffiths, warned that international attention frantically races from one big crisis to the next, while failing to resolve those that came before.
Mr. Griffiths said that despite the valiant efforts of donors, the UN and humanitarian partners are facing an alarming funding crisis, with colleagues, particularly in the field having to make extremely difficult decisions on a daily basis. Decisions about life and death, about what to fund, who to prioritize.
He called for the humanitarian system to be less reactive, more proactive and better at building resilience.
He emphasized that at an age of war in which reaching for the gun is increasingly the first option, political will is desperately needed and humanitarians should not be left alone helping people.