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United States Latin America & The Caribbean Weekly Situation Update as of 1 April 2024 - Haiti
Attachments
KEY FIGURES
3.5M cases of dengue across LAC so far in 2024
200K children deprived of education in Haiti
5.2K people evacuate due to flooding in Brazil
HAITI: EDUCATION
UNICEF has strongly condemned the burning of a school in the centre of the capital Port-au-Prince on 25 March, when heavily armed groups entered the premises and set fire to 23 classrooms. Since the beginning of the year, at least 900 schools have closed temporarily due to growing insecurity in the country, depriving an estimated 200,000 children of their right to education. Threats to school security are particularly acute in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and in the northern part of Artibonite. UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Education to roll out a distance learning initiative, delivered through broadcasts on Haiti’s national radio station.
REGIONAL: DENGUE
PAHO is calling for collective action as dengue cases across the region continue to soar. As of epidemiological week 12 in 2024, there have been 3,578,414 reported cases of dengue, more than 3 times the number of cases reported in the same period in 2023, a record year with more than 4.5 million cases. The most affected countries are those of the Southern Cone subregion, including Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, where the hot and rainy season is conducive to high rates of transmission. The subregion has seen a 254 per cent increase in cases compared to the same period in 2023 and 408 per cent compared to the average of the last 5 years. There has also been an increase in cases in Barbados, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Martinique and Mexico, where transmission typically peaks in the second half of the year. PAHO has renewed calls for intensified efforts to eliminate mosquito breeding sites, to strengthen health service capacities for early diagnosis and timely treatment and to educate the public on prevention and symptom recognition.
COLOMBIA: VIOLENCE
On 24 March, a human rights defender and member of the network of mothers and caregivers of young victims of homicides (“Red de Madres y Cuidadoras de Jóvenes Víctimas de Homicidios en Quibdó”) was murdered in the municipality of Quibdó, Chocó. The incident marks the second homicide of a social leader in the municipality within the last month alone. The urban area continues to grapple with persistent violence and insecurity, largely attributed to the presence of criminal gangs, often affiliated with NSAGs. These groups are known to perpetrate acts of extortion, threats, homicides and attacks using Explosive Traps (ET) against the civilian population, particularly affecting young people between 18 and 25 years old. To date in 2024, 27 homicides have been reported in the municipality.
BRAZIL: FLOODING
Following a record heatwave that saw Rio de Janeiro’s heat index hit 62 degrees Celsius, intense rainfall has brought flooding and landslides to the southeastern states of Rio de Janeiro and Espiritu Santo. According to the Civil Defense, the severe weather forced some 5,200 people to evacuate from their homes and left at least 27 fatalities, 19 in Espiritu Santo and 8 in Rio de Janeiro. Mounting concerns over flooding and landslides remain as rainfall is expected to continue over the coming week. Global climate change is inducing more intense and frequent rainfall which, combined with rapid urbanization, is increasing the vulnerability of the population. In 2023, more than 30 people were killed in Rio Grande do Sul, while another 20 people were killed in Sao Paul due to flooding.
