4.6 mln people in Haiti need aid due to multiple crises: UN

The political impasse that has paralyzed Haiti is sending its economy deeper into recession, with 4.6 million people needing humanitarian aid and there is no immediate end in sight, the U.N. envoy for Haiti said Thursday.

Helen La Lime told the U.N. Security Council that the Western Hemisphere's poorest country is about to enter a second year with a caretaker government.

She warned that the effects of the strained economy and prolonged political polarization “risk further affecting the integrity and effectiveness of key institutions, such as the Haiti National Police.”

To avoid further deterioration, she said, Haitian leaders must “rise to the occasion and commit to a way out of this impasse that will best serve the interests of their people.”

La Lime said she has worked alongside the special representative of the Organization of American States and the Apostolic Nuncio in Haiti to try to create an environment that would resolve the crisis and “catalyze a reform effort aimed at restoring the population’s confidence in the state.”