El Niño, Drought Blamed As Severe Food Insecurity Doubles In 6 Months In Haiti
Haiti’s third consecutive year of drought, exacerbated by the global El Niño weather phenomenon, has driven people deeper into poverty and hunger, and doubled the severely food-insecure population, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today.
Some 3.6 million Haitians are facing food insecurity, among them more than 1.5 million people who are severely food insecure. This was a key finding from an Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) conducted by WFP, the Food and Agriculture Organization and National Food Security Coordination.
The main 2015 harvest fell below average with losses of up to 70 percent in some areas. This is a severe blow to food security in Haiti, where agriculture employs half of the working population and 75 percent of people live on less than US$2 per day.
OAS urges D.R. to restore nationality to Haitian descendants
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a body of the Organization of American States, on Tuesday asked the Dominican Republic to restore nationality to thousands of people of Haitian descent affected by a controversial decision by the Dominican Constitutional Tribunal, Fox News Latino reported.
“The criteria adopted by the Constitutional Tribunal disproportionally affected persons of Haitian descent and retroactively deprived them of nationality, relegating them to the status of stateless persons,” the commission said.
The commission, an autonomous agency of the OAS, also urges the Dominican government to end “the practices of denying Dominican nationality to persons born in the territory based on the origin of their parents or ancestors, or the migratory status of their parents.”
Haitian PM assumes control of govt after Martelly departs
Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul delivered an address to the nation, following the departure of Michel Martelly whose mandate to rule expired, FultonCounty.com reported.
In a speech delivered from his home late Sunday, Evans invited dialogue between all groups in order to achieve what he called “the miracle of Haiti” and establishment of the the country’s institutions.
“This is a very special day for our country. The president left his chair without a successor, now we have to find a solution,” he said just hours after Martelly left office without transferring power to a successor. “We have a great challenge, we have to give everything for Haiti. All to dialogue for resolving the crisis”, he added.