Half of the population is projected to experience critical food shortages by mid-2026 as armed groups block aid.
Published On 11 Oct 202511 Oct 2025
Share
More than half of Haiti’s population is experiencing critical levels of hunger as armed groups tighten their grip across the Caribbean nation and the ravaged economy continues its downward spiral.
A report released on Friday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that some 5.7 million Haitians – of a population of roughly 11 million – are facing severe food shortages. The crisis threatens to worsen as gang violence displaces families, destroys agricultural production, and prevents aid from reaching those desperately in need.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
The assessment shows 1.9 million people are already at emergency hunger levels, marked by severe food gaps and dangerous rates of malnutrition. Another 3.8 million face crisis-level food insecurity.
The situation is expected to deteriorate further, with nearly six million people projected to face acute hunger by mid-2026 as Haiti enters its lean agricultural season.
Haiti’s government announced plans on Friday to establish a Food and Nutrition Security Office to coordinate relief efforts. Louis Gerald Gilles, a member of the transitional presidential council, said authorities would mobilise resources quickly to reach those most affected.
But the response faces enormous obstacles. Armed groups now control an estimated 90 percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital, and have expanded into agricultural regions in recent months.
Violence has forced 1.3 million people from their homes – a 24 percent increase since December – with many sheltering in overcrowded temporary sites lacking basic services.
Farmers who remain on their land must negotiate with gangs for access and surrender portions of their harvests. Small businesses have shuttered, eliminating income sources for countless families. Even when crops reach normal yields, produce cannot reach Port-au-Prince because gangs block the main roads.
The economic devastation compounds the crisis. Haiti has recorded six consecutive years of recession, while food prices jumped 33 percent last July compared with the previous year.
The deepening emergency affects children with particular severity. A separate report this week found 680,000 children displaced by violence – nearly double previous figures – with more than 1,000 schools forced to close and hundreds of minors recruited by armed groups.
The international community authorised a new 5,550-member “gang suppression force” at the United Nations earlier this month, replacing a smaller mission that struggled with funding shortages.
But the security situation remains volatile. On Thursday, heavy gunfire erupted when government officials attempted to meet at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince, forcing a hasty evacuation from an area long controlled by gangs.
Martine Villeneuve, Haiti director at Action Against Hunger, warned that while some improvements have been made, progress remains fragile without long-term investment to address the crisis’s root causes.
Despite political turmoil and global uncertainties, Poland anticipates several years of strong growth will continue.
Anyone looking for proof of Poland’s enduring investment appeal found it following the June 1 presidential election, which saw the right-wing Law and Justice Party candidate Karel Nawrocki narrowly defeat the governing Civic Platform’s Rafal Trzakowski. Instead of pulling back amid fears that Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s policies would be slowed, and political divisions deepen, investors remained upbeat.
The stock market, which has been one of the world’s best performing this year, continued its record streak as the WIG Index went into early August 35% above its August 2024 mark. Shares in oil and gas producer Orlen rose 60% over that period while supermarket chain Dino and insurance company PZU both saw their share price rise more than 30%. Instead of holding firm given the economic uncertainties, the National Bank of Poland cut base interest rates to 5%, with another 25-basis point cut anticipated for September, as inflation continued its downward path.
All this reflects the resilience the Polish economy has built up over the last decade, especially pre-pandemic, when GDP growth averaged 5% a year and annual inflows of foreign direct investment typically up to 4% of GDP.
“With Poland the fastest growing economy in the region—we forecast 3% GDP growth this year and next, rising to 3.1% in 2027—our sovereign rating is A- with Stable Outlook, a level we’ve held steady for 18 years,” says Milan Trajkovic, associate director, Fitch Ratings. The size of the economy—37 million people—its diversity, and the fact that it is not overly dependent on US exports; a slowing, tariff-sensitive auto industry; or the softening German economy are all positives, he adds.
According to UNCTAD, between 2000 and 2023, Poland attracted over $335 billion in foreign investment, almost half the combined total for the eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) states that joined the EU in 2004. Poland has been particularly successful at near-shoring, thanks to its well-educated workforce, developed infrastructure, diversified economy, and close integration with the EU.
As Finance Minister Andrzej Domański pointed out in an article for the International Monetary Fund from this June, the EU has been very good for Poland as its membership in the Single European Market has facilitated rapid technology transfer and opened the way for exports to grow to almost 3.5 times their previous level.
Indeed, the Polish Economic Institute has calculated that European integration boosted GDP by 40% over what it would have posted had Poland not joined the EU.
The nation also holds the CEE regional record in spending EU funds, led by funds distributed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Some €60 billion (about $70 billion) scheduled through the end of 2026, including €25.3 billion in grants and the rest in preferential loans, will be available to Poland under this facility, a big chunk of the €648 billion earmarked by the EU to speed recovery from the Covid pandemic and its aftermath. According to the European Commission, Poland will be the largest recipient under the €2 trillion budget being proposed for 2028-34, with additional funds to be made available for security, agriculture, and innovation.
“Poland will most likely remain a champion in both absorbing and distributing EU funds into the real economy,” says Trajkovic, “which are expected to account for 1% of GDP this year and 3% next. Along with domestic consumption and investment, they will be one of the main drivers of the economy.”
The good news continues with FDI and Greenfield investments. According to the 2025 EY Europe Attractiveness survey, while FDI within the entirety of Europe dropped some 5% over 2024 and inflows to Poland retreated from 2023’s record of $28 billion, Polish industries including new technologies, renewable energy, services, and logistics continue to see strong investor interest. Reinvested profits are on an upward trend.
The EBRD Commits
Despite some political turmoil, the country has changed dramatically in the past five years, says Andreea Moraru, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) new director for Poland and the Baltic States. “Compared to 2019, when I was last here, Warsaw is utterly transformed,” she notes. “Real estate is booming, as is construction, and companies are much more ambitious, with many now looking abroad to expand.”
Andreea Moraru, Director for Poland and the Baltic States, EBRD
Poland’s economy today is sophisticated, innovative, and cutting edge, she says: “Companies are moving away from simple manufacturing to more value-added production. However, to stay competitive, Poland will need to continue investing in its human capital.”
The EBRD invested a record €1.43 billion in 49 projects in 2024; so far this year, it has invested another €900 million, an amount that is expected to rise, reflecting the bank’s countercyclical investment approach
“Whenever there’s a funding gap, as during market volatility, we move to fill it,” says Moraru.
The EBRD’s broad investment portfolio reflects Poland’s increasing economic diversity, with a major presence in the EBRD’s portfolio—often alongside the country’s liquid and dynamic commercial banks—in the corporate sector, pharma, manufacturing, and telecoms.
Perhaps its most consistent focus, however, is energy. Some 70% of the EBRD’s 2024 investments went to support decarbonization through renewable projects and other clean-energy initiatives in an economy that is still heavily coal dependent for electricity. Projects include Poland’s first offshore wind farm, to which the bank committed €140 million and which is expected to provide some 3% of Poland’s electric power, and the innovative Bioelektra municipal waste processing plant in Wierzbica, to which the bank has committed €17 million. Green bonds are an additional focus. Between 2023 and 2025, the EBRD has invested in five such offerings by Polish banking clients alongside one sustainability bond.
Six Pillars to Prosperity
In a speech before the Warsaw Stock Exchange before the presidential election, Tusk insisted that 2025 would be a “long-awaited year of the positive,” suggesting that investments in FDI and Greenfield will exceed PLN650 billion ($175 billion), perhaps reaching as high as PLN700 billion ($189 billion), fueled by EU funds from grants and loans. Saying he wanted a “strong, modern, and prosperous Poland,” he identified six pillars to achieving this: investment in science, energy transformation, development of new technologies, development of ports and railway modernization, a dynamic capital market, and business support and deregulation.
Key changes in government, announced after Tusk won a parliamentary confidence vote following the presidential elections, reflect his priorities. Establishment of a new energy ministry was announced a few weeks after Poland ended all purchases of Russian fossil fuels, which in 2015 still accounted for 84% of energy consumption. Tusk has confirmed that Poland is pressing ahead with a wave of new renewables projects and that first-phase ground studies have been completed for Poland’s first nuclear power station, with Bechtel and Westinghouse leading the construction and commissioning of the first unit scheduled for 2033.
Among the challenges Finance Minister Domański faces are bringing Poland’s fiscal deficit under control and stabilizing government debt in the medium term. From 2021 to 2024, the budget deficit rose from 1.7% to 6.6% of GDP, fueled by expenditures on pensions, infrastructure, and defense. Relative to GDP, Poland already spends more on its military than any other NATO country: 2% in 2021 against a rise to 5% in the medium term.
In addition, a large portion of future defense spending is slated to be done off-budget and financed through off-budget issuance, a practice that started during Covid and is expected to reach some 13% of GDP by 2028. The practice is accounted for in general government debt, helping to maintain fiscal transparency.
With the government targeting a general government deficit of 6.3% of GDP this year in its most recent progress report, reducing the shortfall is viewed as necessary if Poland is to maintain long-term economic credibility in the eyes of foreign investments and lenders and control rising debt service costs. But the going could be tough.
“The biggest challenge is having to implement fiscal consolidation in an environment not conducive to it, with global growth slowing, a continuing risk of tariffs, and high geopolitical and security risks,” Trajkovic observes.
Another challenge is the business environment. In Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, Poland dropped to 53 out of 180 countries, alongside Georgia, compared to 2016, when it ranked better at 29. The current government blames the slide on the previous Law and Justice government, which weakened judicial independence, transparency in government contracts, and judicial independence. Tusk has promised reforms, but warns this will take time, especially with President Nawrocki holding veto power.
For the moment, however, the data are looking up. “On the positive side, by almost any metric, including FDI inflows, inflation, and overall growth prospects, Poland’s diversified, resilient economy is in good shape,” Trajkovic argues.
IF you want to ensure that your home is pest free this summer, here’s what you need to know.
Hornets and wasps – hate the smell of peppermint oil so spraying this liberally around your patio or balcony can help to keep them at bay.
Moths – acidic household white vinegar is effective for deterring moths. Soak some kitchen roll in vinegar and leave it in your wardrobe as a deterrent.
Flying ants – herbs and spices, such as cinnamon, mint, chilli pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves, or garlic act as deterrents.
Mosquitoes – plants, herbs and essential oil fragrances can help deter mozzies inside and out. Try eucalyptus, lavender and lemongrass.
The United Nations has appealed to the international community to bolster its support for Haiti after a report revealed that gang violence has claimed 4,864 lives from October to June.
More than 20 percent of those deaths unfolded in the departments of Centre and Artibonite, indicating that intense violence is spilling into the areas surrounding the capital, Port-au-Prince.
In a report released on Friday, the UN explained that the growing presence of gangs like Gran Grif in those areas appears to be part of a broader strategy to control key routes connecting the capital to Haiti’s north and its border with the Dominican Republic.
“This expansion of gang territorial control poses a major risk of spreading violence and increasing transnational trafficking in arms and people,” the report said.
Among its recommendations was for the international community to better police the sale of firearms to Haiti and to continue to offer support for a Kenya-led security mission aimed at strengthening Haiti’s local law enforcement.
In a statement, Ulrika Richardson, the UN’s resident coordinator in Haiti, explained that propping up the country’s beleaguered police force is key to restoring security.
“Human rights abuses outside Port-au-Prince are intensifying in areas of the country where the presence of the State is extremely limited,” she said.
“The international community must strengthen its support to the authorities, who bear the primary responsibility for protecting the Haitian population.”
The report indicates that the violence in the regions surrounding Port-au-Prince took a turn for the worse in October, when a massacre was carried out in the town of Pont Sonde in the Artibonite department.
The Gran Grif gang had set up a checkpoint at a crossroads there, but local vigilante groups were encouraging residents to bypass it, according to the UN.
In an apparent act of retaliation, the gang launched an attack on Pont Sonde. The UN describes gang members as firing “indiscriminately at houses” along the road to the checkpoint, killing at least 100 people and wounding 16. They also set 45 houses and 34 vehicles on fire.
The chaos forced more than 6,270 people to flee Pont Sonde for their safety, contributing to an already dire crisis of internal displacement.
The UN notes that, as of June, more than 92,300 people were displaced from the Artibonite department, and 147,000 from Centre — a 118-percent increase over that department’s statistics from December.
Overall, nearly 1.3 million people have been displaced throughout the country.
The massacre at Pont Sondé prompted a backlash, with security forces briefly surging to the area. But that presence was not sustained, and Gran Grif has begun to reassert its control in recent months.
Meanwhile, the report documents a wave of reprisal killings, as vigilante groups answered the gang’s actions with violence of their own.
Around December 11, for instance, the UN noted that the gangs killed more than 70 people near the town of Petite-Riviere de l’Artibonite, and vigilante groups killed 67 people, many of them assumed to be relatives or romantic partners of local gang members.
Police units are also accused of committing 17 extrajudicial killings in that wave of violence, as they targeted suspected gang collaborators. The UN reports that new massacres have unfolded in the months since.
In the Centre department, a border region where gangs operate trafficking networks, similar acts of retaliation have been reported as the gangs and vigilante groups clash for control of the roads.
One instance the UN chronicles from March involved the police interception of a minibus driving from the city of Gonaives to Port-au-Prince. Officers allegedly found three firearms and 10,488 cartridges inside the bus, a fact which sparked concern and uproar among residents nearby.
“Enraged, members of the local population who witnessed the scene lynched to death, using stones, sticks, and machetes, two individuals: the driver and another man present in the vehicle,” the report said.
Haiti has been grappling with an intense period of gang violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. Criminal networks have used the resulting power vacuum to expand their presence and power, seizing control of as much as 90 percent of the capital.
A transitional government council, meanwhile, has struggled to re-establish order amid controversies, tensions and leadership turnover. The council, however, has said it plans to hold its first presidential election in nearly a decade in 2026.
Meanwhile, Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, warned that civilians will continue to suffer as the cycle of violence continues.
“Caught in the middle of this unending horror story are the Haitian people, who are at the mercy of horrific violence by gangs and exposed to human rights violations from the security forces and abuses by the so-called ‘self-defence’ groups,” he said.
MASKED yobs hurled petrol bombs and fireworks at cops for a fifth night in Northern Ireland, in what has been dubbed a “week of shame” for the region.
Cops battled another night of violence as thugs continued to cause widespread devastation after the chaos began on Monday.
3
A rioter walks past burning flames after chaos in Northern IrelandCredit: Getty
3
Riot police were out in force but were met by a barrage of petrol bombs and fireworksCredit: Getty
3
Riot police officers walk near a fire during the fourth night of unrest following a protest over an alleged sexual assault on a local teenage girlCredit: Reuters
The unrest began on Monday in Ballymena over the alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town and the subsequent arrest of two 14-year-old boys.
But the focus of the violence and unrest has since shifted to Portadown.
One officer was directly in the impact of a petrol bomb that landed behind a line of police vehicles during a sustained standoff with those participating in the unrest yesterday.
Fireworks, masonry, and bottles were among other items thrown at riot police deployed in the town.
Shortly before midnight, the PSNI used a water cannon on the crowd in an effort to disperse those gathered on West Street into other areas.
The force used the water cannon again at around 12.30am on Saturday.
Elsewhere on Friday, there were reports of disruption and damage to public property as riot police responded to another protest in the Tullyally area of Londonderry.
It came after a senior officer said there would be a “scaled-up” policing presence across Northern Ireland in anticipation of further disorder over the weekend.
Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the mobilisation, which would include officers sent over from Scotland, was “to reassure our communities and protect our streets”.
Violence originally erupted on Monday, stemming from an initially peaceful gathering to support a girl and her family after an alleged sexual assault.
Two 14-year-old boys appeared in court charged with attempted rape on Monday.
A third man, 28, was also arrested over the alleged sexual assault.
The boys confirmed their names – which cannot be reported – and their ages through a Romanian interpreter at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court.
But within hours of their court appearance, disorder broke out in Co Antrim.
Families in the town of Ballymena have been forced to flee their homes as the riots continue.
Crowds set fire to piles of furniture in the middle of the streets, homes were set alight, and multiple cars went up in flames.
Harrowing photos from the last two nights show the charred remains of residents’ property.
Footage showed masked and hooded rioters lobbing petrol bombs, fireworks and bricks at cops trying to calm the unrest on Tuesday.
On December 15, 2024, a powerful storm swept through the Black Sea. Two Russian oil tankers were wrecked in the Kerch Strait, spilling vast quantities of fuel oil into the surrounding waters. Within days, the thick black substance reached the shores of Russia’s Krasnodar region, annexed Crimea, and the Sea of Azov.
Evening reports from Greenpeace warned that the incident could mark one of the worst environmental disasters in decades. Yet, over six months later, key questions remain unanswered: how much fuel oil was on board, how much has spilled, and how much continues to leak? Russia has released no official data, and the opacity surrounding the incident has alarmed environmental observers across the region.
Scientists fear the worst. In the absence of containment, oil residues may soon reach the coastlines of Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna, Bulgaria, has been monitoring the situation closely. While no immediate threat has been detected in Bulgarian waters, local experts are cautious. The pollution zone, they say, could expand rapidly with changing winds and currents.
The Ukrainian Scientific Centre for Marine Ecology has published several projections showing the slow eastward spread of the slick through the Black Sea. Ukrainian Greenpeace confirms that oil traces have already reached the Odessa region and are approaching Romanian maritime boundaries.
Meanwhile, Russia’s official response — or lack thereof — has drawn sharp criticism. Unlike the Norilsk diesel spill in 2020, when a federal emergency was declared and Norilsk Nickel was fined billions, the Black Sea disaster has triggered no significant federal action. It is worth noting, however, that in the Norilsk case, the company went on to carry out extensive remediation, including full-scale river cleanup and contaminated soil removal.
In contrast, in 2025, volunteers are still collecting fuel oil from Russian beaches by hand. The companies responsible continue to dispute their liability in court. No fines, no cleanup mandate, no transparency. Only silence.
Samii Wood wants to encourage touch as she believes the health benefits are substantial
Every fortnight, Samii Wood snuggles up with a group of strangers for a “cuddle puddle”.
These gatherings see attendees melt into a large nest of cushions and blankets, offering each other platonic touch and comfort.
Samii, who is 41 and based in Bedford, is a professional cuddler, who also offers one-to-one cuddle therapy.
She believes human touch is not just comforting but also has measurable health benefits.
“Your serotonin levels, which is your feel-good hormone, are boosted and so is your oxytocin level, which is your love and bonding hormone,” she says.
Samii Wood
Samii invites people to explore the healing power of touch at “cuddle puddles” in Bedfordshire
Touch can also lower your levels of stress hormone cortisol and “can regulate the nervous system”, she adds.
Samii’s clients are sometimes suffering with nervous system issues, post-traumatic stress disorder or loneliness.
“People think that my service will be just full of creepy guys,” she says.
“It’s not like that. I have a variety of ages and males and females that come to these events.”
Pep Valerio, 36, from Bedford, has been attending Samii’s cuddle puddles for a couple of months.
“It’s healing without words. You don’t need to know people’s problems; you just know your touch is providing aid to them,” he said.
Samii describes how in group sessions, attendees are told to imagine certain scenarios to give specific emotional context.
“Sometimes I say, ‘Imagine the person you’re hugging is the person you’d most like to hug just one more time’,” she adds.
“That always chokes me up, and and we’ve had men and women both literally just sobbing on each other.”
One-to-one sessions are catered more towards an individual’s needs.
They can range from simply sitting close together and talking with an arm around them, to lying down and spooning.
It can also involve other nurturing touch, such as back stroking or cradling.
Samii Wood
The professional cuddler believes intimate touch can help release happy hormones
Some might raise an eyebrow at the thought that people are paying for this, but Sammi stresses it is a “fully clothed, platonic, nurturing service”.
To safeguard all involved, she screens clients before taking them on and gets them to sign consent forms that explicitly state boundaries.
“It’s very client-led, so they tell me what they want and what they’re comfortable with. It’s an ongoing dialogue,” Samii says.
She acknowledges that intimate touch can lead to arousal, but in those cases she enforces a break or change of position to refocus clients on the nurturing aspect of the session.
There is no regulatory body in the UK for this type of therapy, but professionals like Samii can gain accreditation from Cuddle Professionals International (CPI).
This body insists its members are taught to observe “ethical touch protocols” that rely on informed consent.
While many practices may uphold professional standards, it is potentially an easy environment to misuse and exploit.
Samii says people can report any wrongdoing to the police, local authority or CPI.
The body was founded by wellness expert Claire Mendelsohn, who according to her website, “recognised the need for regulation within the profession”.
CPI is now a registered college with the Complementary Medical Association, and approved by the International Institute for Complementary Therapists to deliver training.
Samii Wood
The events are attended by a variety of ages and genders
Samii discovered cuddle therapy after watching a documentary showing how popular it was overseas.
However, in the UK, she finds that people are more reluctant to touch and be touched.
She blames the Covid pandemic and lockdowns for simultaneously making people “crave it more” but also be “more fearful of having it”.
She explains: “It’s huge in America and in Europe, not so much over here, but we really need it and people wouldn’t come to professional cuddlers like myself if we did not need that.
“We think we’re all connected because we’re online, but that’s why we’re so much more disconnected.
“We’re all seeking that connection and there’s no shame in saying, ‘I just want to be held by someone and I want to be hugged. I want to be seen and drop my walls and and have that’.”
The science of cuddles
Getty Images
One expert suggests people need to feel familiar with those they are cuddling
They found there was no difference in health benefits in adults between touch from a familiar person or a health care professional.
However, Sophie Scott, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London, argues that while touch has demonstrable benefits, the relationship between people involved is important.
Referring to another study, she says: “They put people in a scanner and physically hurt them; you could see the brain responding to the pain.
“However, when a partner held their hand, they had a reduced response to the pain. So there are chemical changes making you feel better, but that isn’t a random person; that is your partner.
“What worries me slightly about somebody doing that professionally is you need to develop that relationship. You wouldn’t just let anybody hold your hand.
“People like going to get their haircut or a manicure. Those are quite neutral parts of the body. Hugging might get a bit closer to their danger zones.
“What I’m saying is people would need to feel safe. If they didn’t feel safe, it would be highly adversive to do that”.
Numerous other studies have highlighted the benefit of touch and its potential to benefit mental and physical health.
Kimberley Piper/BBC
Pep Valerio encourages “anybody with an open mind” to try cuddle therapy
Mr Valerio had been exploring alternative methods of healing, such as tapping and tai-chi, when he came across cuddle therapy.
“It relieves stress, promotes relaxation and togetherness,” he says.
He says Samii has created a safe environment by playing a soothing soundtrack and getting people to take part in warm-up hug-based exercises at the start.
“Once you’ve done a few exercises, to break down those walls, it feels like the most natural thing lie on the floor and cuddle a lot of strangers,” he says.
“There are people are crying before we have settled into the cuddle puddle, just based on the hug-based exercises we’ve done and some of the emotions that are brought up.”
He has also taken part in one-to-one exercises with Samii, which he says allow for “a deeper bond”.
“Spooning feels vulnerable, especially being the guy spooned by a woman. It allows you to experience holding and being held,” he says.
“Afterwards I feel held, I feel supported, I feel as if I’ve shed some of my load and my wall has been lowered.”
