Following her mission to Haiti, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan is launching an appeal for urgent action to respond to the humanitarian and food crisis facing the country. After four days of visits and meetings, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan concluded her high-level mission to Haiti. This Thursday, April 30, 2026, she held a press conference to provide an assessment of her days spent in the country and the perspectives of this mission. The Princess has been in Haiti since April 27, following an invitation from the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Haiti, Nicole Boni Kouassi, facilitated by the Country Director of the World Food Programme, Wanja Kaaria.
At the heart of this visit were the country’s humanitarian situation, specifically maternal and neonatal health on one hand, and the food crisis on the other—two primary areas of focus for this committed activist. Her mission led her to meet with senior national leaders, including Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, as well as civil society organizations, particularly women’s groups, humanitarian actors on the ground, and to visit institutions such as the La Paix university hospital.
At the end of these meetings, Sarah Zeid provided a somber assessment of Haiti’s humanitarian situation. Her narrative describes the reality of tens of thousands of citizens living daily in destitution, without access to basic services like clean water and food, and lacking other essentials like electricity, healthcare, or education. On the front lines are displaced persons living in camps in situations of great vulnerability, especially women, girls, and children. To illustrate this, the Princess explained: “We went to visit a community displaced by violence here in Port-au-Prince. Very difficult conditions in a displacement site where up to six thousand people live, crowded into precarious dwellings, with a lack of clean water, hygiene, and sanitation […] There is no electricity, the corridors are narrow. And it is in these conditions that we met a woman who gave birth to twins at this site, brought into the world with the help of a health system worker.”
A visit to advocate for Haiti’s cause
This official advocacy visit has specific goals: “to mobilize national and international commitment, increase funding, and promote political solutions that place maternal and neonatal health, food security, and the empowerment of Haitian women—the pillar of the country’s informal economy—at the center of priorities,” according to a press release from the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator. The Princess expressed her determination to plead Haiti’s cause before international bodies.
According to Nicole Boni Kouassi, following this visit, the UN system in Haiti will utilize Sarah Zeid’s “great mobilization capacity” to create a platform of friends, partners, and influencers around Haiti. They aim to establish a fund to finance associations and actions by women close to vulnerable populations, with the specific goal of reaching sectors that are currently hard to access. Through this program, the UN representative stated they wish to “bridge the gap between humanitarian aid and development, focusing on women.”
The visit also has another objective: to change existing perceptions of the country. Beyond a space weakened by a double security and food crisis, the Princess intends to advocate to international bodies for the resilience, determination, and desire for a better future of the Haitian people, moving past the humanitarian crisis and difficult living conditions that often characterize the country in the eyes of the world.
A joint declaration signed
The commitments jointly made by Princess Sarah Zeid, the UN head in Haiti, Nicole Boni Kouassi, and WFP Country Director, Wanja Kaaria, were recorded in a common declaration signed by the three UN officials at the end of the ceremony, along with Haitian businesswoman Delphine Gardère of the Barbancourt Foundation. In this document, the signatories emphasize the importance of sustained international solidarity for Haiti, encourage the creation of a platform for a group of friends and influencers to maintain international visibility, and support the exploration of innovative mechanisms to facilitate investments in maternal and child health, nutrition, education, and social protection. The document concludes with a pledge by Princess Sarah Zeid to “continue to defend the cause of Haiti and support initiatives that place women and children at the center.”
