“Half of Haiti is hungry,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a tweet.
“While 5.7 million people suffer from severe hunger, child malnutrition has doubled in just two years,” he added.
Today, 14 percent of children under five are malnourished, up from 7 percent, with some areas seeing even higher rates.
139 million dollars are needed
The UN agency highlighted that armed violence, economic decline, persistent inflation and poor agricultural production are fueling Haiti’s deepening crisis.
“WFP has reached a record 2.2 million Haitians, but it is not enough. We urgently need resources to support families in dire need,” said Ms. McCain.
Over the next 12 months, the agency needs $139 million to help Haiti’s most vulnerable people as the crisis remains underfunded.
Sudan: UN condemns repeated attacks on civilians in El Fasher
At least 57 civilians were killed in drone strikes in El Fasher, Sudan, on Friday and Saturday.
At a press conference on Monday, UN spokesman Farhan Haq echoed the statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Denise Brown, in which she “condemned in the strongest possible terms the repeated and deliberate attacks against civilians in the besieged city of El-Fasher.”
In her statement, Ms. Brown emphasized that “hospitals, shelters and places of refuge must not be attacked” and reiterated her call for “respect for international humanitarian law and an immediate end to attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
The attacks were reportedly carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the sides in the conflict in Sudan, and hit a location where displaced people had sought refuge.
Haq added that in recent days the UN has seen reports from local community leaders uncovering new civilian casualties in an alleged drone attack in an area controlled by the RSF.
“We and our humanitarian partners remain committed to supporting the people of El Fasher and all those affected by the conflict across Sudan, but the humanitarian community needs safe and unimpeded access,” he said.
“Civilians must be protected and, above all, the people of Sudan need the violence to stop.”
Maldives is the first country to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B
The Maldives has become the first country to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday, hailing the development as a historic public health achievement.
The island nation, located in the Indian Ocean, has already eliminated mother-to-baby transmission of HIV and syphilis and the HIV milestone was proof of its commitment to providing healthcare for all, the UN agency said.
“The Maldives has shown that, with strong political will and sustained investment in maternal and child health, it is possible to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of these deadly diseases and the suffering they bring,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.
Transmission from mother to child causes infections that affect millions of people around the world.
In Southeast Asia alone, more than 8,000 babies were born with congenital syphilis in 2024, the WHO said.
Around 25,000 HIV-positive pregnant women needed treatment to prevent transmission to their babies, while hepatitis B continues to affect more than 42 million people across the region.
The WHO said it will support the Maldives in its efforts to achieve broader progress in maternal, child and adolescent health.