Haiti in a state of emergency: civil war and gangster violence threaten life!

Haiti in a state of emergency: civil war and gangster violence threaten life!

Haiti - The catastrophic situation in Haiti attracts international attention. The ecumenical advice of the churches in Austria (ÖRKÖ) announced a large donation project to combat hunger and violence in the Caribbean country. In 2025, the Council would like to focus on the introduction of sustainable agriculture and solidarity financial systems in Haiti. According to the ÖRKÖ, 3.6 million people are affected by nutritional uncertainty. The organization will support people together with the Swiss “Fasting” by agricultural ecology in order to grow food in the long term. This initiative should benefit about 9,000 people, as reported on the Website by kathpress

parallel to the help of help, Haiti declared the state of emergency on Sunday evening due to increasing gang power. In the capital Port-Au-Prince and surrounding communities, the situation is explosive: In January 2024, the UN reported over 1,100 acts of violence, including killings and kidnappings. Jocelyne Colas from the "Commission Justitia et Pax" reports that the Catholic Church is also affected and several of its members have been kidnapped in the past few months. Even during its aid projects, the church sees itself as the goal of gangs that do not spare a institution. The law enforcement against these violent perpetrators does not occur, since the government apparently has no interest in solving the prevailing crisis. Colas complains that the rulers use the violence of the gangs for their own stability, which exacerbates the situation in Haiti. This depressing situation is discussed in an interview in Vatican News

Problems of daily lifestyle

The violent anarchy and the economic need have drastically affected the life of the Haitian population. The prices for everyday goods are continuously increasing, which still exacerbates the situation. The initiative of the ÖRKÖ, which focuses on sustainable agriculture, aims to enable people to produce their own foods and organize themselves in solidarity groups to help with each other in emergencies. In view of these dramatic circumstances, there is hope for improvement through international support and local resilience. The urgent appeal to participate in this and similar projects illustrates the urgency of the situation in Haiti.