UN team starts assessment of humanitarian needs in northern Haiti

A United Nations team today begins assessing the humanitarian situation in two northern Haitian towns as unrest blocks access to parts of the troubled country, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

The 10-member mission was set to fly to the northeastern town of Cap Haitien and the northwestern town of Port-de-Paix.

The mission, along with the UN country team, has established a task force to coordinate the work of UN agencies and their partners, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and CARE, which have entered the strategic town of Gonaïves with emergency supplies.

The current political crisis started in Gonaïves, which is also the site of several other key historical developments in the Caribbean country.

In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced concern about developments in Haiti. He told reporters that the world body is "reviewing what the UN can do to support the efforts that are being made to try and settle and pacify the situation on the ground."

Health care in Haiti is a major concern, according to OCHA. Several hospitals have been targeted by protesters and the University Hospital of Port-au-Prince has not functioned for several weeks. Private hospitals have been operating, but they are overwhelmed by the demand, while soaring costs are beyond the means of the many poor people in need.

Transportation and distribution problems have also affected the food supply nationwide, OCHA said. During this month, the World Food Programme (WFP) needs to deliver 1,400 tons of cereals to its warehouses in Cap Haitien in the north and Bombardopolis in the northwest to help 268,000 people in those areas.

Universities have been closed since 5 December and other schools have opened only intermittently, OCHA said.