United Nations, Oct 3: More than 700,000 people are now internally displaced in Haiti, an increase of 22 per cent since June.

Over half of the people displaced are children, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General at a daily briefing.

He said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is deeply concerned by rising displacement in recent months, as escalating gang violence deepens the country's humanitarian crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.

About three-quarters of the displaced seek shelter in other provinces, with the Grand Sud region alone hosting nearly half of the total displaced population. In Port-au-Prince, the capital, where the security situation remains highly unstable, a quarter of those displaced live in overcrowded sites, with limited access to basic services, said Dujarric.

The school year started in Haiti on Tuesday, and UN humanitarian partners have been working closely with the authorities to support the national back-to-school campaign. Some 1.4 million students and teachers have experienced severe disruptions to education over the past year due to ongoing insecurity.

Dujarric said that in partnership with local organisations, the UN Children's Fund is offering various forms of support, including providing cash transfers so that families can cover school-related costs, helping displaced children integrate into host schools, distributing school kits, and ensuring schools are rehabilitated and have adequate supplies.

"However, these response efforts remain significantly underfunded," he said, adding that just 30 per cent of the 30 million US dollars needed to provide education support to children in Haiti this year has been received.

Overall, the humanitarian response plan for Haiti this year remains only 39 per cent funded, with 264 million dollars of the 674 million dollars required to provide life-saving assistance to the people of the country, said Dujarric.

--IANS

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