Main content

Aid agencies say Haitian gang violence has sharply increased

Médecins Sans Frontières say it is women and children who are suffering the most.

In Haiti’s capital Port au Prince, gangs now control 90% of the city. The police are outnumbered and outgunned, government authority has all but collapsed, and ordinary Haitians are trapped in a daily struggle for survival. And it is women and children who are suffering the most with the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières telling the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ that cases of sexual violence in Haiti have tripled in the last four years. One in five victims of sexual violence is a child and some victims of rape are as young as six. We have a report from the capital.

The head of the World Health Organisation says that Israel's blockade of Gaza is responsible for a large portion of the population starving. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation as man-made starvation. We speak to people in Gaza to find out how they surviving.

And we speak to a US senator trying to stop the destruction of millions of dollars worth of contraception, which she argues could save lives and prevent unwanted pregnancies in many countries who had previously benefitted from US AID.

Presenters: Joe Inwood and Pria Rai

(Photo: Gang member in Haiti. Credit: Phil Pendlebury)

27 days left to listen

50 minutes

Broadcast

  • Thursday 06:06GMT