Crisis in Haiti
Extreme violence, unrest, poverty, and malnutrition are threatening children in Haiti.
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Political turmoil, civil unrest, violence, crippling poverty and natural disasters: This deadly combination is jeopardizing the well-being and future of Haiti’s children. More than 3 million children – the highest number on record in Haiti – require humanitarian support.
Despite the insecure and volatile environment, UNICEF is working with partners to step up efforts to protect families and provide life-saving support.
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What’s happening in Haiti?
Even before the current crisis, Haiti was the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, having experienced decades of inadequate basic services and a lack of human capital development, combined with extremely high inequality, marginalization and social exclusion.
These challenges have been compounded by the proliferation of armed groups who are terrorizing families as they fight for territory and control, mainly in the capital Port-au-Prince and its neighbouring Artibonite department, but increasingly in other regions too. Armed groups have strangled major transport routes from the capital to the rest of the country, destroying livelihoods, starving essential services, and obstructing humanitarian assistance.
Vital health and social services are on the brink of collapse in many departments. Some health facilities are out of reach because of security constraints, leaving thousands of families and children without access to health care. The escalating insecurity has also forced hundreds of schools to close, with attacks and looting on school premises, and direct threats to teachers, disrupting the education of thousands of children.
Meanwhile, the southern part of the country – which is particularly vulnerable to natural hazards – is contending with a growing number of internally displaced persons fleeing violence in the capital. Overall, more than 360,000 people across the country have been uprooted, mostly in Port-au-Prince and Artibonite department, a twofold increase from just a year ago. Grave violations of children’s rights are also rampant.
Haiti crisis snapshot
How is the crisis affecting children in Haiti?
Children and families are enduring relentless waves of brutal violence perpetrated by armed groups. Each day brings new horrors, the loss of loved ones, homes destroyed, and an ever-present shadow of fear. Children are being killed or injured on their way to school, while women and girls face extreme sexual violence. At least 167 boys and girls died from bullet wounds in 2023 alone.
The violence has had a devastating impact on the education system, which has been crippled by shootings, ransacking and looting as unrest has spread. Children who are scared to go to school are at greater risk of social exclusion, being recruited by armed groups, and gender-based violence, particularly sexual and physical abuse.
At the same time, hunger and life-threatening malnutrition are at record levels across the country, concentrated in the capital’s poorest, most insecure and congested neighbourhoods. More and more parents can no longer provide appropriate care and nutrition for their children and are unable to take them to health centres because of the surrounding violence. Nearly one-in-four children in Haiti suffer from chronic malnutrition, known as stunting, which has long-lasting physical and cognitive consequences.
The malnutrition crisis is aggravated by a persisting cholera outbreak. By January 2024, more than 79,000 suspected cases of cholera had been reported in Haiti. As the disease rampages through neighbourhoods afflicted by violence, cholera and malnutrition create a double burden that the national health system is unable to tackle because of the shortage of human resources and supplies.
How is UNICEF helping children in Haiti?
Despite the highly volatile environment, UNICEF is stepping up efforts to protect families and provide life-saving support, including for those who are trapped and cut off from essential services. Together with the Government and partners, UNICEF is helping to sustain national, regional, and – in the most insecure areas – neighbourhood systems and services that protect children and families. In addition, UNICEF has been delivering lifesaving vaccines and therapeutic food, as well as ensuring access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
UNICEF is actively engaged in advocacy to put an end to armed violence against children and communities. As part of its response, UNICEF also prioritizes psychosocial support programmes for children and protection services for victims of gender-based violence, unaccompanied and separated children and those associated with armed groups.
For children living amidst civil unrest and urban violence, schools have always been more than places of learning: they provide a sense of normalcy, surrounded by the support of teachers and peers – and access to school meals. UNICEF is distributing school kits and using its communication channels at all levels to urge groups engaged in violence to refrain from any action that jeopardizes children’s right to an education. In addition, a nationwide cash transfer initiative is benefiting thousands of children by supporting families to enroll their children in school.
