PORT-AU-PRINCE — France had contributed about $903,500 to support two malnutrition programs to help children in Haiti’s earthquake-ravaged south, UNICEF announced Dec. 9.
The UNICEF programs aim to improve treatment for acute malnutrition and reduce the number of malnutrition-related deaths, the UN agency said. Children under five in the departments of the South, Grand’Anse and Nippes, which were affected by the Aug.14 earthquake, are especially vulnerable.
“When crises follow one another in Haiti due to insecurity or natural disasters, the most vulnerable families do not have enough possibilities to continue their socio-economic activities, which makes them much weaker and exposes children to malnutrition,” said Bruno Maes, a UNICEF representative in Haiti.
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children estimates that roughly 96,000 children suffered from acute malnutrition in Haiti in 2021.