Amid ongoing violence and escalating armed clashes between armed groups in Port-au-Prince over the past months, thousands of vulnerable people – including children, families and people with disabilities – have been either violently removed from their homes or forced to flee for their safety. While some have sought refuge with friends and family, many others have been forced to flee to informal displaced person sites.

MSF is present in three of these sites – a school in the neighbourhood of Delmas 103, a parish in Delmas 5, and a sports stadium in Solino. In all three sites the unsanitary conditions and over-crowding are a major health risk, particularly for potential outbreaks related to infectious diseases, such as acute watery diarrhoea and COVID-19 which has seen a recent spike in cases across Haiti. Additionally, there is a lack of food due to non-existent food assistance, limited and ill-equipped toilets and showers and other basic needs such as clothes, shoes and proper shelter, including tarps to protect from the rain and mattresses to sleep on. Many people are treated gastro intestinal diseases, skin infections, respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections with co-morbidities and complications, which also could be attributed to the rudimentary and substandard living conditions.