John, Haiti is one of the most difficult places to be a child.
In 2010, the country suffered a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew hit the island as a Category 4 storm. And just two years ago this month, another 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck. All of this has been compounded by decades of political and economic instability.
In the aftermath of disasters like the 2021 earthquake or this year’s earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, our priorities are nutrition, protection, gender-based violence prevention and psychosocial support. Our teams remain active to this day working to address the long-term impacts of violence, poverty and hunger – and their work to combat malnutrition in young children couldn’t be more urgent.
Stephanie, a Save the Children nutrition coordinator in Haiti says, “We know when a malnourished child gets to his 5th birthday, the effects are irreversible. The impact of malnutrition will remain with him for all his life.”