UNDSS: Gangs control about 85 percent of Port-au-Prince; WFP says food deliveries continue with extra coordination

A United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) representative said that roughly 85 percent of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area is under the control or influence of gangs, complicating humanitarian access but not stopping food deliveries coordinated with the World Food Programme.

The UNDSS representative said, “The security context in Haiti, it's special and particular because, for example, we are talking the metropolitan area of Port Au Prince, 85 Percent is under the control or influence of the gangs.” The representative added that the gangs operate in different areas under different leaders, and that knowing each area of influence is “very important” because those are the areas where humanitarian operations take place.

The briefing described specific operational challenges. “Challenging is that the access roads from capital to the regions and from capital to the border are under the influence of different groups that require a lot of coordination, preparation for missions together with the access group to ensure that we have this acceptance and to ensure that there will be no security incidents during all the missions,” the UNDSS representative said. The briefing also said one recent mission toward the border with the Dominican Republic crossed 21 checkpoints run by organized crime groups, vigilante groups and national authorities.

Despite those constraints, a WFP staff member said the partnership between UNDSS and WFP inside the Humanitarian Access Working Group has enabled sustained deliveries. “Despite a very complex security situation, UNDSS and WFP's collaboration as part of the Humanitarian Access Working Group meant that WFP has been able to deliver food assistance almost every day in recent weeks in Por Au Prince and beyond,” the staff member said. The briefing said deliveries have targeted areas classified as facing emergency food insecurity and named vulnerable groups including pregnant women, elderly people and people with disabilities.

Speakers framed the work as ongoing coordination rather than a change in policy. The UNDSS representative described the work as requiring “a lot of coordination, preparation for missions” and acceptance from local groups to reduce the risk of security incidents. The briefing named the Humanitarian Access Working Group as the coordination forum used by agencies but did not specify funding sources, exact beneficiary counts or longer-term operational timelines.

Agencies said they will continue coordinating access and security arrangements to sustain humanitarian deliveries to hard-to-reach neighborhoods in and around Port-au-Prince.