P-to-P, June 18, 2024 [AlterPresse] — The new holder of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (Mast), trade unionist Georges Wilbert Franck, is considering “urgent and realistic actions” with a view to improving the living conditions of the population, particularly the most vulnerable. , during the ceremony of its installation, Thursday June 13, 2024, observes the online agency AlterPresse.
“Haiti can no longer feed its population. Around 5 million people suffer from hunger,” notes Franck.
“As part of the transitional government’s action plan, the Mast will have to work with all the sectors concerned to fight poverty and implement a specific policy to support internally displaced people and young people.”
More than 50 years old, the aid and social protection system in Haiti, based on labor income, appears to be clearly ineffective in promoting the enjoyment of the socio-economic rights of the population, criticizes Georges Wilbert Franck.
Two thirds of households residing in the metropolitan area of the capital, Port-au-Prince, do not eat enoughsaid the World Food Program (WFP), in a report published at the end of May 2024.
65% of households in the metropolitan area of the capital, Port-au-Prince, do not have sufficient food consumption to “satisfy their macro- and micro-nutrient needs”, underlined the WAP.
At the end of March 2024, the National Coordination of Food Security (CNSA) warned of record levels of hunger recorded in Haiti in a context of worsening security crisis.
Nearly five million people, or almost half of the population in Haiti, were facing a situation of “acute hunger”, the Cnsa indicated.
Nearly 5 million people face “crisis” or higher levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phases 3+), including 1.64 million people facing “emergency” levels ( phase 4 of the Ipc).
The Artibonite Valley – the country’s breadbasket – was among the most seriously hit areas.
Security and social protection for the most vulnerable
Georges Wilbert Franck plans to establish a permanent dialogue between unions, employers and the transitional government, with the idea of ensuring the viability and security of jobs and the competitiveness of national companies.
The Mast has the obligation to establish a social protection floor, for the benefit of the most vulnerable communities, with a view to universal social protection, he recalls.
He considers it imperative to work quickly to rationalize the operation and management of social security organizations, in particular the civil service insurance service, with a view to better care of insured persons and beneficiaries more generally.
The requirements of professional social integration and accessibility for the inclusion of people with reduced mobility will also be taken into account, through adapted programs.
One of the ambitions of the Mast will be to work to achieve a global strategy for integrating standards for the protection of children’s rights, particularly with regard to children in danger, projects the new holder of the Mast.
“Over the past six months, armed gang violence has forced nearly 500,000 of our fellow citizens to take refuge in makeshift camps,” describes Mast, emphasizing how this situation constitutes a violation of their rights.
The violence of armed gangs tends to further aggravate this situation, causing job losses, particularly in the subcontracting and informal sectors, and the bankruptcy of many institutions and businesses, he explains.
Georges Wilbert Franck expresses his sympathies to all the victims of the unfortunate events, which have sowed mourning and desolation within Haitian families in recent years.
“I think of the children, girls and women who have been raped, the internally displaced people, who live in degrading conditions, the decapitalized families plunged into unemployment, those who have lost hope,” he declares, while promising to contribute, with the transitional government, to restoring hope to every Haitian. [mff emb rc apr18/06/2024 10:00]
