Making Sanitation and Hygiene Safer: Reducing Vulnerabilities to Violence

On 9 October 2016 in Les Cayes, Haiti, several hundered people who have lost their homes shelter in a neighbourhood high school. Unicef has installed a water bladder on the grounds of the school. Hurricane Matthew passed over Haiti on Tuesday October 4, 2016, with heavy rains and winds. While the capital Port au Prince was mostly spared from the full strength of the class 4 hurricane, the western area of Grand Anse, however was in the direct path. The cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie received the full force sustaining wind and water damage across wide areas. Coastal towns were severely damaged as were many homes in remote mountainous regions. International relief efforts are underway to provide food water and shelter to the people affected by the storm. Les Cayes is one of the worst affected areas in Grand South with massive flooding in low-lying areas and damage to the town’s hospital and other health centres. Families are struggling to find safe water and adequate latrines. As of 7 October 2016, up to 80 per cent of homes in the south of Haiti were reportedly damaged with nearly 16,000 people are staying in temporary shelters. As of 10 October 2016, more than 100,000 children are missing out on learning after their schools were either damaged or converted into shelters. A first truck with water-treatment tablets and water bladders arrived in Les Cayes on 6 October 2016 with six more water trucks arriving on 8 October into Les Cayes and Jeremie. In addition, a water bladder was made available for the hospital of Les Cayes and more water storage containers are on their way to the affected areas to be used in shelters housing displaced families. UNICEF had pre-positioned water treatment supplies before the hurricane hit.