UNITED NATIONS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and its partners are reaching hundreds of thousands of Haitians with critical assistance despite continuing violence in the capital of Port-au-Prince, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the World Food Programme (WFP) reports providing more than 210,000 school children across the country with meals and distributing cash transfers to more than 18,000 people on Wednesday.

In the capital, WFP provided hot meals to more than 13,000 displaced people and more than 100 metric tons of food rations to about 8,000 more people as part of its emergency response plan.

The gang violence wracking Haiti worsened considerably after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Last month, acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned, making way for a ruling transitional council to form and prepare for presidential elections.

Meanwhile, deployment of the UN Security Council-authorized Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, an international police force, remains on hold over funding and political problems. It was approved in October 2023 to assist in restoring law and order.

The UN secretary-general's special representative to Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, reported in January that gangs killed, injured, or kidnapped more than 8,400 people in Haiti last year, a 122 percent increase from 2022. Enditem

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