As of: March 26, 2024, 3:37 p.m
By: Kai Struthoff
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Annalisa Lombardo, country director of Welthungerhilfe, talks about the escalating violence in Haiti and why she still doesn't want to leave the island nation.
Port-au-Prince – The island nation of Haiti in the Caribbean is being overwhelmed by a wave of violence.
Rival gangs control large parts of the capital and have overthrown the interim government.
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe has been active in Haiti for many years.
We spoke about the situation in the country with the country director of Welthungerhilfe, Annalisa Lombardo, who is one of the few foreigners still in Haiti.
The images we receive from Haiti are horrifying. How do you experience the situation on site?
The situation has been very tense since February; on some days there are very violent clashes, while other days are calmer again.
Riots have mostly occurred in the southern and northern outskirts and in the slums of downtown Port-au-Prince, but recently violent gangs have also attacked the city's richer suburbs, higher up the mountain.
Last week the police launched a very tough and successful counter-attack on the gang of the leader known as Barbecue.
The recent attacks outside the slums are believed to have been a form of retaliation against the wealthier population as they had asked police to help protect their containers and warehouses from looting.
Excessive violence and burning barricades on the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince: A demonstrator holds up a Haitian flag during the protests.
© Odelyn Joseph/dpa
You are one of the few foreigners still in the country because most embassies and aid organizations have withdrawn their staff. Isn't that very reckless?
With my white skin and my car, which identifies me as a member of a private German aid organization, I currently feel safer than many Haitians.
If you are black and a stranger in an area, you are at great risk of being killed by armed groups defending your neighborhood, just like that, without warning.
Welthungerhilfe has been active in Haiti for a long time and is firmly rooted in the country. Does this high reputation also give you a certain security?
Welthungerhilfe, which is called Agro Action Allemande here, is primarily active in rural regions and is actually very respected there: in Jean Rabel and San Raphaël in the north and in Ouanaminthe in the center of the island near the border with the Dominican Republic.
All doors are open to us there, but not in Port-au-Prince.
There are simply too many aid organizations in the capital.
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Annalisa Lombardo © Welthungerhilfe/NH
To person
Annalisa Lombardo is Italian by birth and comes from Calabria.
In 1999 she had her first humanitarian mission as a UN aid worker in Kosovo.
She then worked as a development worker in Iran, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Sudan.
Lombardo has lived in Haiti for 16 years and is the country director of Welthungerhilfe there.
She is married to a Haitian and lives in a suburb of Port-au-Prince.
Have you considered leaving Haiti in this situation?
I am an Italian citizen and my embassy here in Haiti contacts me regularly asking if we are sure we have enough drinking water and food.
Besides, it wouldn't be that easy to leave the country.
You cannot currently travel to the Dominican Republic by car because the roads are blocked and that would be far too dangerous.
But there are flights from the UN that have long waiting lists.
Employees who were not urgently needed were initially flown out.
But with these flights, many helpers are now coming back to the country to provide humanitarian aid.
To make matters worse, relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic are not very good, making it difficult even for UN aircraft to get permission to land there.
Gang violence in Haiti: “Sexual violence against women is a sad reality here”
The situation is said to be particularly bad for women and girls because the gangs use rape to intimidate people. Is that correct?
Unfortunately yes.
However, this is not new.
Sexual violence against women is a sad reality here.
Rape is often used as a weapon by the gangs in this civil war.
Welthungerhilfe therefore supports local women's aid organizations that specifically care for victims of sexual violence.
We are currently collecting private donations in Germany so that local partner organizations can take in more affected women.
I recently spoke to one of the organizers who told me that there are even waiting lists for rape victims.
In one month, this local aid organization alone counted 160 women who were victims of sexual violence.
There is discussion about deploying foreign soldiers, especially from Kenya, in Haiti to restore peace and order. But the Haitians don't want that, why?
This is not a UN peacekeeping operation, but rather a peacekeeping mission supported by the United Nations but otherwise independent.
Since the last UN peacekeeping mission Minustah in 2014 and 2015, people in Haiti have been very skeptical about official UN missions (the blue helmet soldiers had been accused of sexual assault, and they also apparently brought in cholera - editor's note).
That's why many Haitians reject foreign intervention - regardless of the mandate.
I also don't think that military intervention would make much difference here, because the country's problems are very complex.
What is the alternative?
It probably won't be possible without the military, because the airport and the port in particular need to be protected.
All relief supplies come into the country this way, and if supplies are cut off, supplies will quickly run out.
The country is currently in a state of siege that must be ended quickly.
It can no longer be accepted that gangs control and block supply routes.
After that, a political solution and a new president are needed. Are there any suitable candidates who could lead and reunite the country?
There are many intelligent, committed and passionate people in Haiti who would do everything they could to help their country.
I work with some of these personalities.
But there is probably no one in a position to garner widespread support at the moment.
Because the interests of the different population groups are very, very different.
In addition, some of the possible candidates for high political office are popular with the Haitian population, but would be rejected as partners by the international community because of their political past, their radical attitudes and, in some cases, because they are critical of the USA.
“Haiti has enormous agricultural potential”
But international support is vital for Haiti's survival. After the earthquake, an enormous amount of money flowed into the country - and seeped away. Haiti is a failed state. You can just throw your money out the window?
This is a legitimate and very complex question to which there are no easy answers.
Of course, a lot of mistakes have been made in the past.
However, I cannot speak for all organizations, only for Welthungerhilfe's project work.
We receive financial support from the EU, various German federal ministries and also private donations.
These do not go to the Haitian government or state authorities, but rather go directly to people in need.
This funding is project-related and is closely monitored and evaluated.
We work closely with local aid organizations - and our work on site continues, despite the unrest.
Our biggest problem at the moment is the scarce resources such as petrol or other materials.
Haiti: The desperately poor Caribbean state cannot find peace
Haiti, with its eleven million inhabitants, is located together with the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is repeatedly hit by natural disasters such as earthquakes in 2010 and 2022 and hurricanes.
The country is dependent on foreign aid payments.
The political situation is fragile and trust in politics is low.
Corruption, violence and crime are omnipresent.
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe has been active in Haiti since 1974 and currently employs around 100 local and four foreign employees.
The focus of the work is disaster relief as well as rural and economic development.
In 2022, Welthungerhilfe supported ten projects here with around 7.3 million euros, directly reaching almost 60,000 people.
For 2024, the United Nations estimates the financial need for humanitarian aid alone to be over 670 million euros.
Which projects does Welthungerhilfe support in Haiti?
For example, we work with the village population to set up irrigation systems for agriculture and work on reforestation to prevent soil erosion.
Haiti does have enormous agricultural potential and a lot of good cultivated land.
Our work is always about sustainability.
People should be able to help and feed themselves at some point.
Such projects are investments in the future and they take time.
In the region around Jean Rabel in northern Haiti, thanks to cooperation with Welthungerhilfe, residents were able to increase their income by 500 percent - in a country that is largely collapsing.
Of course this is just a drop in the ocean, but our work still gives people new hope.
Women sort carrots in a Welthungerhilfe agricultural aid project in the north of Haiti.
Through their work in the project, they secure an income for their families.
© Thomas Rommel/Welthungerhilfe
You have lived in Haiti for 16 years. What fascinates you so much about this desperately poor, crisis-ridden country?
(laughs) I first fell in love with Haiti and then with my husband.
I like the complexity, the spirituality, the exuberance and the richness of art, music, literature.
It is the pride with which the people here report on their eventful history, of resistance and rebellion against the former colonial power France.
After 16 years in Haiti, I can clearly see the many contradictions and the many shortcomings.
And yet this country is unique.
What gives you the strength to keep going every day despite all the setbacks and problems?
I can't just turn around and leave.
I would feel like a traitor after living in this country for so long.
The country is suffering from an enormous brain drain, from the loss of many intelligent and committed people who are simply leaving.
Everyone is responsible for the future of the country together - and I want to help the Haitians on their long journey.
The interview was conducted by Kai A. Struthoff.
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