Haiti’s humanitarian crisis has reached unprecedented levels amid reports of widespread hunger and gang violence, the executive directors of two UN agencies have warned.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, said “Haiti is forgotten” and it is “urgent we pay attention”.

She said the number of Haitians facing emergency-level food insecurity is the second highest in the world per capita with nearly five million struggling to eat every day – more than 115,000 children under five are expected to struggle with malnutrition this year.

More than five million people out of a population of more than 11 million need urgent humanitarian support, according to the UN agencies.

Unicef’s executive director Catherine Russell, who joined her colleague on a three-day visit which included a meeting with prime minister Ariel Henry, said: “Humanitarian needs are even greater today that after the devastating 2010 earthquake, but with far less resources to respond.”

The visit included a trip to the coastal city of Jeremie, which was hit by a 4.9 magnitude earthquake that killed at least four people, and is struggling to recover from heavy floods earlier this month which killed more than 50 people.

Haiti’s problems have worsened since the July 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, with gangs now estimated to control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince. The violence has led to a spike in starvation, with goods unable to move freely while people are forced to remain in their homes out of fear for their lives.