Stories from the Field: Coordinating humanitarian action amid Haiti's escalating crisis

How would you describe the current humanitarian situation in Haiti?

Gerson: Haiti is a place where you see the extent of the crisis in front of you because the number of people displaced by violence is so high that you see displaced people in your neighborhood. As an international staff working for humanitarian organizations, we normally have the privilege of living in areas which are rather stable where we don't see the crisis, where there is security, and that is definitely not the case in Port-au-Prince and Haiti in general.

There are nearly 1.5 million people displaced within the country, which is approximately 12 percent of Haiti’s population. This means that you see people literally sleeping on the streets, families roaming around. And then you understand that this crisis is not invisible. In our reports and across the media, we keep talking about the crisis in Haiti as an invisible because it is not seen or prioritized by the international community. But in fact, the crisis is very visible, and I see this every day when driving to the office, and that is quite shocking. We have also data reporting that more than 50 percent of the Haitians are food insecure. That’s as simple as ordinary people like anyone of us, adults and children, do not have enough to eat – and it is more than half of the population of a country!

Meanwhile, the security situation keeps getting worse. I went to Kenscoff after deadly attack on 23 August. As important as obtaining first-hand information about events as serious as the killing of innocent people was the need to flag concerns around protection of civilians. Field missions such as my visit to Kenscoff offer an excellent occasion to understand humanitarian consequences, supporting coordination and engaging with local responders, particularly government officials and local NGOs. Kenscoff has not been different where local colleagues worked around the clock to ensure that those fleeing violence were given temporary shelter, receive some assistance whether it is food or non-food items such as hygiene supplies.

More than half of the population needs humanitarian assistance, and displacement is growing. Gender-based violence is prevalent with more than 7,000 incidents reported since January 2026, and deadly attacks by armed groups continue. And now it is hurricane season with hurricane Melissa fresh in memory from last year. Still, only half of the required funding for 2026 is provided. How do you prioritize the response with scarce resources?

Gerson: Indeed, it is a deep crisis with high needs across several areas. From access to health care, provision of nutrition supplies, decent shelter, psychosocial support, tackling food insecurity and so on. For OCHA, it is of course an extremely difficult role to have to lead the coordination, support collective analysis and prioritization in a context of competing needs. I often find myself shifting between being frustrated about the things we cannot do and being proud about the assistance we are able to provide together with our partners with limited resources and under extremely difficult conditions.

OCHA has the privilege to hold this hot potato called coordination, trying to bring people together and achieve a common understanding and agreement of where to go and how to get there. We try to bring the available data together and assess the multi-sectoral severity – so the needs across multiple areas such as nutrition, access to education, GBV services, shelter etc. Then we agree on providing assistance where the collective impact will be highest, although that means not going to places where people would also have strong needs and the surely right to be supported during these trying times.

More than 200,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti in the first eight months of 2026. What kind of life do they return to?

Gerson: Of course, many of the Haitians who have fled the country genuinely want to return if the conditions allow them to. They did not leave their homes because they wanted to. They left because it was not safe for them to stay. While going back is what most of them eventually want to, the minimum conditions have to be there. And many returnees go back and often find their houses burned down and the schools occupied. OCHA works closely with IOM and other organizations directly engaged in the relocation, we are in dialogue with governmental counterparts advocating that the people returning get the assistance they need, so we avoid creating a disaster on top of a disaster.

It is not your first time working in Haiti. You were on assignment there in 2021. How has the situation changed over these five years?

Gerson: I am genuinely overwhelmed by the deterioration of the situation in Port-au-Prince. When I was visiting the capital during my assignment in 2021, there was freedom. You could go to restaurants and move around with your colleagues to socialize. And national colleagues used to open their doors of their homes, and it was a great way for international staff like me to learn about the context and culture of Haiti which they were proud to talk about. That is no longer possible to do. Today, there is fear and lack of freedom. Insecurity and kidnapping risks significantly restrict movement for staff both international staff and Haitians.

When I arrived in Port-au-Prince in March I also immediately got surprised about the increase in prices. Price levels are so high now, and it’s the same for both supermarkets in diplomatic neighborhoods and the local markets. The humanitarian impact of armed control of key roads, checkpoints, informal levies on businesses and farmers bringing their limited harvest to the markets is pretty much part of daily life nowadays. I used to go with local colleagues to local restaurants where the food would be three times better and three times cheaper. Now it is far less affordable but also unsafe.  

When you applied for your current position, I assume that you knew to some extent what the situation in Haiti was like. Why did you want to go back anyway?

It’s a beautiful country. When you are arriving by plane, you are flying over the most beautiful beaches and landscapes that one can think of, it is like: “Wow, I am on holiday!” Then you land and realize how bad the situation is. But you also quickly connect with the kindness and hospitality of the Haitian people. Their way of being is strong in my memory from my time here five years ago, and I remember feeling very happy to work with and for these people, and that made me keen to return to the country. At the same time, this makes it so hard for me to grasp how there can be so much distress and violence when the country is full of such generous, warm and welcoming people. Luckily, there is still a strong sense of community and belonging among the staff I am working with. A true sense of “nothing is going to stop us” attitude. So, we are taking every opportunity to socialize and celebrate and take care of each other, trying to strengthen the team spirit no matter how difficult the circumstances may be.

You are deployed to OCHA Haiti as Humanitarian Affairs Officer. How would you describe the purpose of your work?

Gerson: OCHA’s key role is ensuring that the humanitarian organizations can and will walk an extra mile if working in a coordinated way. Coordination is paramount in any context, particularly when resources are limited. If you don’t work in a coordinated way, it can lead to a crisis within the crisis. Everybody has their own mandates, expertise and ways of seeing and meeting needs. My role working for OCHA is to support senior management bringing the different actors together, coordinating their efforts to maximize the collective impact, avoid duplication of activities, find synergies, and help prioritize the limited resources available to meet pressing needs of the Haitian people. A typical working day is far from homogeneous, involving varying degrees of coordination, communication, and liaison with different UN partners, local and international NGOs, as well as government counterparts. It normally requires follow-up on reported incidents and discussions with partners implementing emergency programmes funded by the common “Haiti humanitarian fund” managed by OCHA.

What role do local actors play in delivering humanitarian assistance in Haiti, and how are you involved in strengthening their role in the response?

Gerson: Local organizations play a distinctive role in crisis response, and I am proud to support the strong push for localization in Haiti. Their contextual knowledge, community ties, and operational presence in hard-to-reach areas are essential to informed decision-making and effective action. Haiti is fortunate to have many capable local partners who advocate for the humanitarian principles of independence, neutrality, and impartiality, strengthening our collective voice against the politicization of aid.

OCHA’s dedicated Localization Advisor leads the development of a strategy to strengthen local NGOs’ participation and contributions in OCHA-facilitated coordination forums. Other than being the backstop of the localization advisor, I work closely with this person on capacity strengthening and outreach to local organisations, ensuring they are familiar with the humanitarian coordination architecture and the features of OCHA’s work such as advocacy, the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and the management of humanitarian funding. And as partners to OCHA and other international actors present in Haiti, local organizations are well placed to conduct primary assessments of needs and to gather and share vital information that makes the base for an effective response.

How do you cope with living in a place with such high risks in terms of safety and security?

Gerson: So, staying sane in this context can be difficult, and having a good work environment is key. Hats off to our national colleagues here who are pushing for social gatherings trying to organize happy hours, allowing us internationals to taste their delicious dishes, watching football matches and celebrating the richness of Haiti’s culture. Those are small things that you don't always realize are really important moments and ways of breaking the endless cycle of being busy and frustrated with work.

What will be the top priorities for you in your role for the remainder of your deployment?

Gerson: One of the most important things will be the continuation of my work on advocacy. To assist in raising awareness about the situation and needs in the country and thereby hopefully contribute to raising more funds for the joint humanitarian response plan. At the end of the day, you can have the capacity and the commitment, but without adequate resources, humanitarian capacity cannot translate into assistance at the scale required.

In addition to advocacy efforts and continuing the work on the Humanitarian Reset, I will focus on streamlining coordination at the central level while supporting focal points in strengthening decentralized coordination that is closer to people’s needs. During this final month, will also work closely with the funding unit to wrap up the six months of US-funded emergency projects which, despite the various security and access constraints faced daily by humanitarian organizations, have, as of end of August provided life-saving assistance to more than 730,000 people and is well on target to reach more than 1 million people by the end of October.

You are an experienced humanitarian and have completed several deployments with the DRC Standby Roster. What have you learned from this particular deployment to Haiti?

Gerson: These deployments are always an excellent opportunity to bring fresh eyes into the management of an emergency or the various emergencies as it is the case in Haiti, a country confronted by natural disasters, endemic cholera and confrontation by armed groups This deployment has also been a powerful reminder that not only international humanitarian-mandated organizations can do the job of meeting the most pressing needs of people affected by crisis. Local actors play a key role as well, bringing both invaluable experience, contextual knowledge, and acceptance by their community.

Furthermore, this assignment confirmed my beliefs that every effort must be made to ensure coordination with all the actors. Efforts should be made to ensure that local capacities are strengthened as emergency deployments are temporary while local colleagues are there to stay.