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The out­go­ing UN res­i­dent and hu­man­i­tar­i­an co­or­di­na­tor for Haiti, Ul­ri­ka Richard­son, says she of­ten felt un­able to de­scribe the sit­u­a­tion in the French-speak­ing Caribbean Com­mu­ni­ty (CARI­COM) coun­try where crim­i­nal gangs are seek­ing to over­throw the gov­ern­ment and where peo­ple—in­clud­ing women and chil­dren—are killed and dis­placed.

“I of­ten feel that I can­not even find words any longer to de­scribe the sit­u­a­tion. Is it alarm­ing, is it acute, is it ur­gent? It is all of that and even more,” Richard­son told the dai­ly brief­ing at the Unit­ed Na­tions.

The UN said Haiti is cur­rent­ly fac­ing a pro­tract­ed and wors­en­ing hu­man­i­tar­i­an cri­sis, with the gang vi­o­lence ex­pand­ing be­yond the cap­i­tal of Port-au-Prince and civil­ians in­creas­ing­ly bear­ing the brunt of this ter­ror.