HIGHLIGHTS
- US Operation ‘Unified Response’ ends
- Update on demonstration yesterday in Port-au-Prince
- OCHA warns that hurricane threat could reverse humanitarian gains
- Internally Displaced Persons Surveillance System (IDPSS) Update
I. GENERAL SITUATION
No tropical storm development is anticipated today, however much of the Caribbean will see some wet weather throughout the day. A ridge of high pressure spinning in the mid-Atlantic will spread moist air over the region, with widespread scattered showers followed by a chance of afternoon storms. The storm-watch issued on 26 May (protectioncivile.gouv.ht/bulletin_jour.htm) continues in effect for all of Haiti, but particularly for the southern part of the country, which the Centre National de Météorologie has identified as at greatest risk for overflowing rivers, mudslides, landslides, subsidence and flooding.
The US military announced the end of major relief operations in Haiti yesterday. Spearheaded by the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division, thousands of American troops were deployed to Haiti as part of Operation Unified Response. The US has been drawing down the number of soldiers in the impoverished Caribbean country steadily in recent months. The US Southern Command in Miami also noted that a 500-strong contingent of National Guard troops would be engaged in humanitarian assistance projects in rural Haiti through September. (Source: The New York Times)
UN Special Envoy returned to Haiti yesterday on a new mission to boost recovery efforts since the devastating earthquake in January. In his first visit since being named co-chair of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Committee overseeing billions in aid, Clinton proposed credit programmes for small businesses at a meeting of community leaders yesterday in Léogâne, pledging to negotiate with landowners to secure more space for housing. The UN envoy then flew on to Dominican Republic to attend today’s first meeting of the reconstruction panel that he leads with Haiti's prime minister. The committee will oversee the allocation of more than US$5.3 billion in donor pledges over the next eighteen months.
Dozens of people protested on the morning of June 1 to demand the departure of MINUSTAH from the national territory. Students, university professors and civil society leaders marched through the streets of Port-au-Prince to demand the withdrawal of UN troops on the sixth anniversary of their deployment. The leader of the Union of Haitian Educators (UNOH) accused MINUSTAH with a host of abuses, including rape and plunder. Organizers of the action expressed their hope of influencing the UN Security Council in considering renewal of the mission mandate. This action follows in the wake of a recent incident in which peacekeepers entered the premises of the Ethnology Faculty at the Haitian State University in pursuit of an alleged stone-thrower. Despite a promise from the SRSG to investigate the matter, student leaders have so far rejected his official apology. (Source: AlterPresse)
II. SECURITY AND PUBLIC ORDER
Over the last twenty-four hours, the security situation in Haiti has remained largely stable, but the security environment continues to be characterized by persistent criminal activity.
Around the country yesterday, four peaceful demonstrations were conducted. In South Department, about 150 persons again gathered in Les Cayes to show support for the mayor, who had escaped after an arrest warrant was issued against him for attempted murder. In Southeast Department, a demonstration organized in Jacmel by about 100 members of the Mouvement Alternatif pour la Décentralisation et la Reconstruction (MADRE), renewed demands for the departure of the president and remaining senators, as well as calling for decentralization and national reconstruction. Over in Petit-Goâve in the West Department, 20 members of the Mouvement des Jeunes Révolutionnaires de Petit Goâve (MJRPG) organized a peaceful march to protest against the president and to complain of a purported lack of authority in their town, while also accusing the mayor and commissioner of diverting humanitarian aid.
Finally, in Port-au-Prince, 300 persons organized another peaceful march in the Champ-de-Mars area and on Avenue John Brown to protest against the government. Local press sources (as mentioned above) reported that participants also demanded the withdrawal of UN troops. In all these demonstrations, security operations were conducted by HNP, UNPOL, FPU and MINUSTAH military. No incidents were reported.
Today in Artibonite Department, the Mouvement des Jeunes pour Haïti Tout Neuf (MJPATN) organized a peaceful protest march in Gonaïves against the current situation in the country. The demonstration counted approximately fifty people mostly youths. A joint response by HNP UNPOL, FPU and MINUSTAH military provided security for this march without incident.
Yesterday in the West Department, three unidentified suspects threatened a man at gunpoint in Carrefour, robbing him of US$4,000 and documents in front of SOGEBANK branch in Mon Repos. An investigation was opened.
Yesterday, in Port au Prince, an UNPOL mobile patrol was suddenly assaulted by unknown persons who threw stones at a vehicle carrying three UNPOL and one HNP officers, along with their Haitian interpreter. Although the front left side window was smashed in the attack, none of the passengers sustained any injuries. An investigation was opened.
During the last twenty-four hours, UNPOL and HNP have conducted 312 joint patrols and 50 checkpoints throughout the country. A total of eight arrests were reported. MINUSTAH military conducted 991 security operations, involving 5,087 troops, and 18 maritime patrols, sailing 260 nautical miles.
III. HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS
With the arrival of the hurricane season yesterday, OCHA issued a warning that a new crisis could threaten Haiti even as the humanitarian response to the earthquake still faced daunting challenges. In order to prepare for the menace posed by rains, tropical storms and hurricanes, contingency planning has forged ahead in collaboration with the Haitian Civil Protection Directorate. Humanitarian rapid-response teams will be deployed in response to such an event, while other measures already taken include the pre-positioning of 2-million emergency food rations by WFP and emergency items in ten towns and cities by ICRC. As agencies working in the shelter sector are stockpiling quantities of shelter material, clusters focusing on water and sanitation, logistics, communications and camp management have equally swung into action to prepare for an eventual disaster. The danger posed by hurricanes to the already vulnerable populations left homeless by the quake cannot be underestimated. (Source: OCHA)
To protect Haiti’s youngest from the lifelong scarring effects of hunger, WFP is providing over 550,000 nursing mothers and children under four with foods specially designed to stave off malnutrition. Kids are eating healthy doses of Plumpy’nut, a nutritional supplement that packs 500 calories and over 16 vitamins and minerals into a 92g package of fortified peanut paste. Families also receive rations of corn soya blend, oil and sugar to take home and prepare for the rest of the family. In addition to the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince’s slums, the programme is also targeting families who have left the capital for Haiti’s rural countryside.
In the most recent update of the Internally Displaced Persons Surveillance System (IDPSS), the total number of clinic visits documented through week 20 stood at 207,537, of which 42,795 cases presented reportable conditions listed in the surveillance form. The total number of clinic visits by children under five with reportable illnesses reached 18,901, representing 44.2% of the total. Acute respiratory infections (ARI) remain the most commonly reported illness, with an overall prevalence of 9.4% of total reported clinic visits since February, followed by watery diarrhoea (3.9%), suspected malaria cases (3.7%), fever of unknown origin (2.0%), suspected typhoid (0.7%) and bloody diarrhoea (0.4%).
One additional confirmed fatal diphtheria case emerged during week 18 from Pétion-Ville. IDPSS collects data on diphtheria, but among the 207,537 visits documented, only two have been reported. This endemic disease in Haiti is vaccine-preventable. In addition, 94 confirmed malaria cases have been reported to IDPSS. Overall, the surveillance system has detected little change in recent weeks in the number and percentages of diseases/illnesses reported, with ARI remaining the most commonly reported. Finally, although the number of sites reporting to IDPSS has increased over the past three weeks, a frequent delay of a week or more has been observed. Timely reporting would improve the quality and stability of week-to- week data rather than relying on retrospective adjustments. (Source: IDPSS Google Group)
In the last twenty-four hours, MINUSTAH military have conducted 11 humanitarian assistance missions involving 146 troops. These missions included medical assistance, food and water distributions benefiting about 2,235 families and 1,903 people.
IV. JOTC
The Joint Operations and Tasking Centre (JOTC) continued to respond to requests for assistance from humanitarian partners, the Government and the Project Management Coordination Cell (PMCC). To date, 800 requests for support have been received and 505 completed. Most of the requests pertain to the provision of security and engineering support.
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