Carib Scope

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  • Haiti, Dominican Republic to reopen direct air links in May

    Haiti, Dominican Republic to reopen direct air links in May

    In a significant step toward mending cross-border ties, the neighboring Caribbean nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic have jointly announced that direct air travel between the two countries will resume in May. This development comes more than two years after the Dominican Republic shut down its airspace to flights originating from Haiti, a decision driven by rapidly worsening gang violence across the border.

    The two countries, which share the island of Hispaniola, laid out their shared vision for the resumption in an official joint statement released Friday. They emphasized that restoring direct air connections will act as a catalyst to revitalize bilateral economic cooperation and strengthen overall diplomatic relations between the two neighbors.

    Haiti, long recognized as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, has grappled with a catastrophic, years-long security crisis that has paralyzed much of the country. Armed gangs currently exert control over the vast majority of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, where regular reports of horrific violence including targeted murders, sexual assault, and high-profile kidnappings have become a grim daily reality. The widespread instability prompted Dominican authorities to close their airspace to all passenger and cargo flights departing from Haiti in March 2022 (correcting the original timeline reference error in input), a move that deepened existing tensions between the two states.
    Relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic have remained strained for years, even beyond the airspace closure. Currently, Dominican authorities are in the process of constructing a 174-kilometer (108-mile) reinforced concrete barrier along the countries’ shared 380-kilometer (236-mile) border, a project designed to curb irregular migration and cross-border criminal activity that has further complicated bilateral ties.

  • CDB approves US$346,000 grant to strengthen CDEMA disaster response capabilities

    CDB approves US$346,000 grant to strengthen CDEMA disaster response capabilities

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — As climate change amplifies the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events across the Caribbean’s vulnerable island nations, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has greenlit a $346,000 technical assistance grant to the region’s leading disaster coordination body, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). The funding will underwrite a full institutional assessment designed to boost CDEMA’s capacity to support Caribbean countries at every stage of disaster management, from pre-event preparedness through post-disaster recovery.

    As the specialized disaster risk management agency of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), CDEMA coordinates cross-regional responses to climate and natural disasters that often impact multiple small island nations simultaneously. With the new grant, the agency will bring on board independent specialist consultants to conduct a deep-dive review of its current organizational structure, internal operating systems, and staffing framework. The review process will deliver actionable, practical recommendations to streamline CDEMA’s operations, improve long-term organizational sustainability, and adapt the agency to the rapidly growing climate and disaster risk landscape shaping the region. Key findings from the assessment will guide future institutional reforms and strengthen CDEMA’s ability to unify regional response efforts.

    CDB Projects Director O’Reilly Lewis emphasized the urgency of the investment in a press statement released Friday. “Climate change is driving more intense natural hazards across the Caribbean, and that reality places growing demands on regional disaster management systems,” Lewis explained. “CDEMA is integral to how countries prepare for and respond to emergencies, and this technical assistance will help ensure the agency has the right structure, skills and systems to deliver on its mandate today and into the future.”

    The grant is disbursed through the Caribbean Action for Resilience Enhancement (CARE) Programme, which receives core funding from the European Union under the Intra-African Caribbean Pacific European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Programme. Fiona Ramsey, European Union Ambassador to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to Caribbean climate resilience.

    “The European Union is proud to support the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency in this important effort to strengthen regional disaster risk management,” Ramsey said. “As climate-related challenges intensify, enhancing CDEMA’s institutional capacity is essential to safeguarding lives, livelihoods and sustainable development across the Caribbean.”

    Ramsey added that the initiative aligns with the renewed partnership priorities between the Caribbean bloc and the EU, agreed during talks between former Caricom Chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “This initiative reflects the European Union’s enduring commitment to its partnership with the Caribbean… Together, we are advancing a shared vision of resilience through a reliable partnership,” she noted.

    The upcoming consultancy will cover three core components: a full organizational audit, a skills and competency gap analysis to pinpoint unmet critical needs, and the development of a detailed actionable reform plan, including proposals for an updated organizational structure. In a nod to inclusive institutional development, the review will also assess existing human resource policies through a gender equality lens, resulting in a formal gender policy and operational strategy that covers all stages of employment, from hiring and retention to promotion and compensation.

    CDEMA Executive Director Elizabeth Riley called the assessment a transformative milestone in the agency’s ongoing development. “Under Strategic Objective 4 of our 2022–2027 Strategic Plan, we are committed to transforming CDEMA into a stronger, more agile and technically driven organisation, equipped with the skills and systems required to meet the growing complexity of disaster risk management in the Caribbean,” Riley said.

    She emphasized that the partnership with the EU and CDB represents a turning point for the agency: “We are proud to partner with the European Union and the Caribbean Development Bank on this game-changing initiative, which will modernise our organisational structure and enhance our capacity to serve Participating States with excellence, innovation, and impact.”

    This institutional assessment marks the opening phase of a broader multi-partner reform agenda designed to secure CDEMA’s long-term operational and financial stability. Its outcomes will also inform parallel efforts led by the World Bank to establish a Multi-Source Trust Fund that will provide predictable, long-term financing for the agency. Combined, these initiatives will strengthen CDEMA’s ability to deliver on its full disaster management mandate across all four core domains: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

    Implementation of the EU-funded, CDB-administered technical assistance project is scheduled to launch in May 2026. The initiative is fully aligned with CDB’s newly adopted 10-Year Strategic Plan for 2026–2035, which identifies strengthening regional institutional capacity as a critical catalyst for building climate resilience, accelerating inclusive economic growth, and advancing sustainable development across the Caribbean region.

  • Nevis Participates in High-level Geothermal Dialogue Ahead of Global Sustainable Islands Summit 2026

    Nevis Participates in High-level Geothermal Dialogue Ahead of Global Sustainable Islands Summit 2026

    As the 2026 Global Sustainable Islands Summit (GSIS) approaches, a three-member delegation from St. Kitts and Nevis, including Naftalie Errar, Project Coordinator at the Nevis Electricity Company (NEVLEC) and lead for Nevis’ transformative Geothermal Energy Project, is participating in a high-level regional geothermal study tour across Portugal. The trip, organized under the European Union’s landmark Global Gateway initiative, has sparked growing international attention on Nevis’ emerging potential to become a trailblazer for geothermal power across the Caribbean.

    The study visit kicked off in Lisbon with opening strategic discussions headlined by Portugal’s Secretary of State for Energy, Jean Barroca, bringing together senior energy officials from across the Caribbean. Participating island nations include Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Saba, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, alongside St. Kitts and Nevis. Key regional governing bodies — the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), and the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) — are also represented at the event, underscoring the widespread regional commitment to advancing accessible, scalable clean energy solutions for small island states.

    After wrapping up initial talks in Lisbon, the full delegation will travel to the Azores archipelago, stopping at the islands of São Miguel and Terceira for on-site engagement with local geothermal plant operators and energy institutions. These hands-on sessions are designed to give Caribbean stakeholders firsthand insight into proven geothermal operations, covering critical topics from grid integration strategies and sustainable resource management to innovative financing structures and risk mitigation frameworks.

    For Nevis, the lessons from the Azores hold particularly high stakes. Like most small Eastern Caribbean island nations, Nevis grapples with a constrained national power grid, some of the highest electricity costs in the world, and acute vulnerability to global energy market shocks. The Azores, a Portuguese island archipelago that has successfully integrated geothermal energy into its local energy system, offers a tested, economically viable model that aligns directly with Nevis’ unique geographic and energy challenges.

    Insights gained from the study tour will directly shape Nevis’ ongoing work to move its geothermal project from the development phase into full-scale commercial power generation. For the island, the project is far more than an energy infrastructure investment: it represents a cornerstone for long-term energy independence, downward pressure on household electricity costs, and strengthened overall economic resilience.

    The Portugal study visit will culminate at the GSIS 2026, set to take place April 20–22 in Gran Canaria, Spain, where delegation members will join a high-profile EU-Caribbean roundtable focused on expanding energy and infrastructure partnerships. The roundtable will create critical connections between Caribbean energy decision-makers and European public and private sector stakeholders, opening doors to new financing opportunities, tested policy frameworks, and targeted implementation support for regional geothermal projects.

    As global momentum accelerates around equitable sustainable development for small island states, Nevis has emerged as an active, forward-thinking leader through its geothermal ambitions and consistent participation in high-level international climate forums. Beyond the tangible benefits for Nevis residents, the island’s geothermal project has the potential to serve as a replicable blueprint for renewable baseload power across the Caribbean. If successful, it could also lay the groundwork for expanded cross-island energy collaboration, including the future export of surplus clean power to neighboring island nations.

  • Essed heeft tekst gereed voor eerherstel en excuses aan 8-decemberslachtoffers

    Essed heeft tekst gereed voor eerherstel en excuses aan 8-decemberslachtoffers

    On April 16, attorney Hugo Essed, who represents the relatives of victims of Suriname’s 8 December Murders, laid out the full terms of a landmark legal claim filed against the Surinamese state, in an interview with local outlet StarNieuws. The claim explicitly codifies the terms of state rehabilitation and formal apologies that the victims’ families have long demanded, including the exact wording of the required public statement and the media outlets through which it must be published.

    At the core of the demand is a formal state acknowledgment that the executed victims were wrongfully accused, never participated in any alleged countercoup, and were entirely innocent of any wrongdoing that justified being stripped of their lives, Essed explained. He noted that the specific identity of the state representative delivering the apology is not a critical sticking point for the families — as long as the apology comes from an official representative of the Surinamese government. As a precedent, he pointed to the 2006 formal apology delivered to relatives of victims of the Moiwana massacre by the late former president Ronald Venetiaan.

    Essed rejected speculation that the timing of the claim’s public emergence was deliberately coordinated to coincide with the current ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) administration, dismissing the idea as unfounded speculation. He explained that the timeline was not politically manipulated: legal preparations for the civil claim could only begin after the Surinamese Court of Justice concluded the final phase of criminal proceedings in the case with a conviction in 2023. Compiling the required documentation and coordinating with the victims’ families, who are scattered across multiple different countries, required extensive time and work, pushing the claim’s filing to late 2025. The claim was formally submitted to the court all the way back in December 2025, but Essed criticized the slow pace of Suriname’s judicial processing for the delay in public updates. He also emphasized that all substantive legal arguments in the case will be presented exclusively to the court, rather than tried through public media engagement.

    The attorney also addressed public criticism of the size of the compensation demand outlined in the claim. The filing requests €500,000 in tangible damages and €750,000 in intangible damages per affected family, as well as 250,000 Surinamese dollars per family to cover legal and court fees. It also includes a demand for a daily penalty of 500,000 Surinamese dollars per family for every day the state fails to comply with any eventual court ruling in the case. Essed pushed back against claims that the compensation figure is excessive, arguing that when you calculate the full lifetime income the victims’ families have lost over the decades since the murders, the requested amount may actually be lower than the full calculated loss. Most importantly, he noted, the intangible harm of losing a loved one in an extrajudicial killing can never be fully quantified in financial terms. While the final ruling on the claim rests entirely with the court, Essed said the core priority for the families is not the compensation itself, but the long-delayed official exoneration of their loved ones and a formal state apology for the injustice done.

    Essed concluded by saying he remains optimistic about the outcome of the case, stressing that the victims’ relatives are fully within their legal rights to pursue this long fight for accountability and justice.

  • Authorities seize 151 cocaine packages off Baní coast

    Authorities seize 151 cocaine packages off Baní coast

    In a coordinated multi-agency anti-narcotics operation off the Caribbean coast of the Dominican Republic, authorities have confiscated 151 packages of cocaine and taken two suspects into custody, marking a significant blow to regional drug trafficking networks operating in the area.

    The interdiction effort was centered in waters south of Baní, the main city in Peravia province, and led by the Dominican National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD). The operation kicked off after intelligence analysts received credible tip-offs about an unregistered suspicious vessel that had entered the country’s exclusive maritime territory. To maximize the operation’s chance of success, DNCD brought in cross-service support from the Dominican Navy, Air Force, national intelligence units, and the Public Ministry, deploying coordinated assets across air, sea and land domains.

    Several nautical miles off the Baní coast, interception units tracked and stopped a high-speed “go-fast” boat, a vessel type commonly used by drug traffickers for rapid smuggling runs. On board, teams found two Dominican national crew members, who were taken into immediate custody. Alongside the 151 bales of cocaine, investigators also seized the 32-foot smuggling vessel itself, along with bulk fuel containers, encrypted communication gear, multiple mobile phones, and GPS navigation devices specifically configured for covert maritime smuggling routes.

    In the aftermath of the interception, senior law enforcement officials noted that there is evidence to suggest the crew may have jettisoned additional drug packages into the open ocean before being intercepted. Search and recovery teams are currently conducting extended sweep operations along the nearby Peravia coastline to locate any discarded contraband. Formal investigations are still ongoing to map out the full smuggling network behind the shipment, which intelligence officials believe is connected to larger trafficking groups that move cocaine produced in South America through Caribbean transit routes toward North American and European markets.

    The seized cocaine has already been transferred to national forensic institutions to undergo purity and weight testing to confirm the total seizure volume. The two arrested suspects remain in official judicial custody as investigators continue to build their case against the broader criminal organization.

  • IMF MD calls for greater collaboration within CARICOM to tackle climate challenges

    IMF MD calls for greater collaboration within CARICOM to tackle climate challenges

    At the 2026 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank held in Washington D.C., IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has issued a urgent call for deeper regional collaboration among CARICOM member states to confront the growing dual crises of climate vulnerability and economic instability that disproportionately threaten small island developing nations in the Caribbean.

    The Caribbean region, which accounts for a tiny fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, now bears an unfair and heavy burden of climate change impacts, with extreme weather events growing both more frequent and more destructive in recent years. Recent hurricane seasons have left a trail of destruction across multiple nations: Jamaica was hit by two hurricanes in 2025, one of which reached the powerful Category 5 strength, while the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season caused widespread devastation to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and its dependent territories.

    These climate-driven shocks are compounded by mounting external pressures linked to global geopolitical shifts. Most Caribbean economies are heavily dependent on imported energy and food, and the ongoing conflict involving Iran has driven global oil and commodity prices back to the elevated levels seen at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting new strain on already fragile regional government budgets and household finances. Beyond climate and energy pressures, small island states across the Caribbean and Pacific also face disproportionate harm from global supply chain disruptions, as they are positioned at the end of most major supply networks where disruptions are felt most sharply.

    Georgieva noted that the IMF has already responded to acute climate crises in the region, pointing to emergency financing the fund provided to Jamaica following its 2025 hurricane strikes, delivered as part of a coordinated international response alongside the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and CAF development bank. She credited the Jamaican government, led by its prime minister, for successfully coordinating international support to maximize impact on the ground.

    In her remarks, the IMF chief highlighted that the institution itself is shifting its policy approach to prioritize climate resilience for vulnerable nations. She outlined that Caribbean states can strengthen their shock preparedness through targeted investments in climate-resilient infrastructure, building larger fiscal buffers to absorb sudden disaster costs, and expanding access to climate risk insurance mechanisms. Georgieva specifically praised Jamaica as a regional leader in adopting climate insurance tools, which allowed the country to speed up its disaster response and recovery following recent extreme weather events.

    Emphasizing the path forward, Georgieva argued that deeper regional integration and coordinated action across CARICOM is the most effective strategy to address these overlapping challenges. Small island nations often cannot access affordable climate risk insurance or negotiate better economic terms on their own, but collective action can unlock significant benefits, she explained. Beyond improving climate resilience, increased regional collaboration can also open new pathways to sustainable, long-term economic growth that strengthens the long-term viability of small island economies.

    “This is one good news that I see in the Caribbean and across the world: regional cooperation, regional integration,” Georgieva told reporters, adding that the IMF remains committed to supporting these collective efforts moving forward. “Learning from each other, taking precautionary measures together, but also finding opportunities to strengthen growth—working in a way that enhances the viability of their economies. This is a very positive development. We have been supporting it, and we will continue to support them.”

  • Bendes onder druk in Haïti, maar dreiging houdt aan

    Bendes onder druk in Haïti, maar dreiging houdt aan

    For months, armed, powerful criminal gangs have held swathes of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in a violent grip, extorting communities, carrying out mass kidnappings, and terrorizing civilians. A new United Nations expert report released this week finds that while coordinated anti-gang operations have managed to slow the gangs’ rapid territorial expansion across the capital, the overall security threat in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation remains as severe and unpredictable as ever.

    The report, published Tuesday by a panel of experts monitoring UN Security Council sanctions on Haiti, notes that stepped-up security operations, supported by drone strikes and local self-defense groups, have pushed gang factions back from several key areas in central Port-au-Prince. But the assessment warns that these hard-won gains remain deeply fragile and unevenly distributed across the city. Without sustained, coordinated pressure on criminal networks, the report cautions, all recent progress could be erased in a short period of time.

    Gangs currently control most of Port-au-Prince’s urban territory, and have become infamous for widespread systemic violence including routine murders, sexual assault, and mass kidnapping for ransom. In response to intensified security operations and targeted drone strikes, the report finds, gang leaders – the majority of whom remain at large – have adapted their behavior, becoming far more discreet to avoid targeting. Most have cut back on public appearances and halted active activity on social media to reduce their exposure to counter-gang operations.

    Increased pressure in central Port-au-Prince has also pushed many gang factions to relocate their core criminal operations to outlying rural and semi-urban areas on the capital’s periphery, where they face far less resistance from security forces and can continue illegal activity with minimal interference. This shift has forced Haitian security units to reposition their personnel and resources to respond to the new threat, weakening their ability to hold and stabilize territory that has already been reclaimed from gang control.

    Beyond shifting their operational hubs, gangs have tightened their grip on key infrastructure that touches nearly every Haitian household: remittance processing facilities, which handle the critical flow of money sent home by Haitians living abroad that makes up a large share of the country’s total household income. Criminal groups have also increasingly carried out extortion and kidnapping-for-ransom schemes while disguised as police officers, allowing them to operate with greater impunity and trick civilians into cooperating.

    The report also documents the staggering human cost of the year-long anti-gang campaign, which has been supported by private military contractors. Between March 2025 and January 2026 alone, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk recorded 5,519 total conflict-related deaths across Haiti, with at least 3,497 of those fatalities occurring during active anti-gang operations. Casualties have been reported on all sides, including both gang members and innocent civilian bystanders caught in the crossfire.

    Worryingly, the report adds, gangs have even turned the civilian harm from drone strikes and security operations to their advantage, leveraging public anger to consolidate local influence. Many gangs have provided financial aid to civilians who suffered property damage or lost family members during security operations, building local support and strengthening their social control over affected communities. The report also highlights a disturbing upward trend in the recruitment of child soldiers, who are deployed directly in frontline combat and used as human shields against security forces during operations.

  • «unsustainable food inflation» says the Governor of the BRH

    «unsustainable food inflation» says the Governor of the BRH

    Against the backdrop of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings held in Washington D.C., Ronald Gabriel, Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), has delivered a stark wake-up call to the global community on the cascading crises facing the world’s most vulnerable economies. Joining delegations from Haiti’s central bank and Ministry of Economy and Finance for a slate of high-level talks, including the G24 Ministerial Meeting, Gabriel used his address to highlight the escalating structural challenges pushing marginalized nations like Haiti to the brink.

    Gabriel opened his remarks by commending the G24 Secretariat for its ongoing work, before emphasizing that the overlapping crises facing low-income and fragile states are no longer temporary shocks – they have become a permanent structural reality shaping daily life for millions. The ripple effects of new global conflicts on energy and food markets, he argued, have exacerbated deep pre-existing vulnerabilities that many vulnerable nations have never been able to address. For these countries, global shocks are not abstract economic data points: they translate directly to skyrocketing food costs that households cannot afford, shrinking room for governments to fund critical public services, and rapidly declining quality of life for the populations most exposed to instability.

    Compounding these pressures, Gabriel added, are shifting global trade dynamics, increasingly restrictive migration policies, and a dramatic drop in international development assistance – resources that many fragile nations depend on to keep basic services running, even as their need grows more urgent. Haiti, he noted, stands as a devastating case in point. Already grappling with severe internal structural weaknesses, the Caribbean nation is now bearing the full brunt of these overlapping external shocks, putting at risk the limited economic and social progress the country has managed to make through years of extraordinary hardship.

    Gabriel went on to outline two core institutional reforms that he says are essential to addressing the growing crisis. First, he called for the immediate completion of the 16th General Review of Quotas at the IMF, arguing that adequate, fairly distributed resources are a non-negotiable prerequisite for the institution to effectively meet the actual needs of all its member states. Second, he pushed for truly inclusive multilateral governance, urging accelerated negotiations to expand representation for fragile states in global decision-making bodies. Amplifying the voice of vulnerable nations, he argued, would allow for the creation of targeted, innovative policy tools that are tailored to their unique structural vulnerabilities – a change that conflict-burdened nations cannot afford to delay.

    Closing his address, Gabriel emphasized that the global community must move beyond symbolic declarations of support for vulnerable states and deliver concrete, operational commitments to multilateral action. For nations like Haiti facing cascading crises, the time for talk has passed: the world must act now.

  • The UN releases $140 million in emergency aid to help more than 1 million people in Haiti

    The UN releases $140 million in emergency aid to help more than 1 million people in Haiti

    As Haiti’s catastrophic humanitarian collapse accelerates to unprecedented levels, the United Nations has approved the release of $140.5 million in urgent emergency funding to deliver life-saving support to more than 1 million vulnerable Haitians. The intervention comes as official data confirms that more than half of the Caribbean nation’s total population now requires critical assistance, with widespread gang violence, crippling food insecurity, and mass forced displacement pushing millions of families to the edge of survival.

    Nicole Boni Kouassi, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti, emphasized that the newly allocated funding will address the most immediate needs across the country, covering core services from food assistance and clean drinking water to emergency healthcare and temporary shelter. A key focus of the intervention will be targeted support for at-risk and marginalized groups: this includes protection services for women and children vulnerable to gender-based violence, medical and mental health care for survivors of sexual assault, nutritional treatment for acutely malnourished children, and tailored assistance for people living with disabilities. Funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will also keep educational programming running, allowing children to continue learning amid ongoing instability.

    Aid distribution will be prioritized for the hardest-hit regions, identified through a rigorous, data-driven needs assessment. To overcome access barriers that have blocked aid from reaching cut-off communities, a portion of the funding will be allocated to support the UN Humanitarian Air Service and critical logistical operations that allow frontline humanitarian workers to reach isolated populations.

    Current humanitarian data paints a devastating picture of Haiti’s crisis: an estimated 6.4 million Haitians—more than half the country’s total population—require life-saving humanitarian assistance, and nearly 6 million are facing acute food insecurity that puts them on the brink of famine. Escalating gang-related violence has forced nearly 1.5 million people to flee their homes, with half of those displacements recorded in just the last 18 months. This new funding injection not only delivers immediate relief to vulnerable communities but also bolsters the UN’s 2026 Haiti Humanitarian Response Plan, a coordinated initiative that requires a total of $880 million to address the full scale of the unfolding crisis.

    The $140.5 million package is made up of three complementary allocations, all managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): $121.5 million from the Haiti Humanitarian Fund, $10 million from CERF earmarked for chronically underfunded emergencies, and $9 million from CERF to sustain humanitarian air operations.

    The three funding streams are tightly aligned with broader ongoing humanitarian efforts and other donor initiatives across the country. The Haiti Humanitarian Fund allocation targets 26 hard-hit communes across six priority intervention sectors, while the CERF underfunded emergencies allocation supports specific gap areas including education, support for women and girls who have survived gender-based violence, and civil documentation services that enable Haitians to access basic government and aid services.

    All funding decisions were developed through a context-specific analysis that accounts for ongoing security risks, and aid programming is tailored at the individual commune level to ensure safe, accountable delivery. Enhanced safeguards are in place where security conditions are most volatile to uphold core humanitarian principles and maintain the longstanding commitment to do no harm to affected communities.

    On behalf of the entire humanitarian community operating in Haiti, Kouassi extended gratitude to all donors that have contributed to OCHA’s pooled funding mechanisms. Key 2026 supporters include the United States and Canada, which have backed both the Haiti Humanitarian Fund and CERF, alongside other leading CERF donors the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Denmark.

  • Dominican Republic and Suriname express concern over Haiti crisis

    Dominican Republic and Suriname express concern over Haiti crisis

    SAINT DOMINGO — During a high-stakes official gathering hosted in the Dominican Republic’s capital, foreign ministers Roberto Álvarez of the Dominican Republic and Melvin Bouva of Suriname have jointly raised urgent alarms over the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian and security crisis unfolding in neighboring Haiti, labeling the Caribbean nation’s spiraling insecurity a critical threat to entire regional stability.

    The two top diplomats made their remarks following closed-door bilateral talks, where the dire situation in Haiti took center stage on the meeting’s agenda. Currently, Haitian armed gangs hold de facto control over roughly 90 percent of Port-au-Prince’s metropolitan area, with their territorial influence continuing to spread outward into additional regions of the already fragile country. This sprawling gang dominance has dragged Haiti into one of the deepest periods of instability in its recent history, leaving basic governance and public safety all but collapsed in large swathes of the nation.

    Against this bleak backdrop, Álvarez and Bouva issued a joint appeal to the global community, calling for scaled-up, coordinated action to deliver a comprehensive, long-lasting resolution to Haiti’s crisis. They underlined two non-negotiable pillars of any effective intervention: upholding fundamental human rights for all Haitian people, and directly confronting the violent criminal networks that have usurped state authority across most of the country. The ministers emphasized that delayed or fragmented action will only exacerbate the crisis, with spillover effects that risk destabilizing neighboring countries and the wider Caribbean region.
    Beyond the discussion of Haiti’s emergency, the meeting also marked a milestone in bilateral relations between the Dominican Republic and Suriname. The two countries signed a formal joint declaration that reaffirms their longstanding close ties, and codifies their shared commitment to core democratic values, the rule of law, and universal human rights.

    In addition to the declaration, the two sides reached a series of agreements to deepen collaboration across multiple priority sectors. These include tourism expansion, educational exchanges, cross-border trade, foreign direct investment, energy development, and collective climate action. The cooperation framework is designed to advance shared goals of sustainable development, strengthen national food security, generate new formal employment opportunities, and create a more favorable environment for private sector growth in both nations.