The UN warned about the unprecedented Haitian crisis on Wednesday, marked by widespread violence, massive displacement and acute food insecurity, as nearly 2 million people are "facing emergency food insecurity conditions."
"According to the government, we now have 5 million people in Haiti that are acutely food insecure, of which 1.6 million are classified as facing emergency food insecurity conditions," Jean-Martin Bauer, World Food Programme (WFP) country director in Haiti told reporters in a virtual news conference.
Bauer said the situation since March has been "violent" and "unsettled," and emphasized that there has been "large-scale displacement."
He said displacement from the nation's capital of Port-au-Prince affects "especially the south of the country, a place with very limited infrastructure. This is making the food crisis here even worse."
Bauer noted the need for humanitarians to be "ready to act, need to be ready to support Haiti at a time of increased risk" with the hurricane season nearing.
He said one of the effects of an ongoing displacement is increasing food prices.
"We know that food prices in Port-au-Prince have increased by 27% since January," he said, adding that income in the city is "very low" because of ongoing violence.
He vowed to continue focusing on the crisis in Haiti.
"We know that there hasn't been enough attention on Haiti because we're looking at other places, we're looking elsewhere," he said.
He stressed the necessity of responding to the crisis in Haiti and said the UN humanitarian response plan remains "underfunded."
"There's no famine in Haiti, but there could be if there's no response. We need a robust humanitarian response right now in Haiti," he said.
Haiti has been struggling with gang violence and political instability for years. The situation has worsened in recent months, with kidnappings, killings, armed robberies and other violent crimes becoming commonplace.
Haiti has called for international assistance to help restore order and security.