Children in Haiti caught in a cycle of violence

UNICEF’s Executive Director calls on the international community to scale up and support the humanitarian response and recovery efforts in Haiti as children and families continue to suffer: “Now is the time for all of us to invest in Haiti, its people and its future.”

Violence forced 14-year-old Solona to flee her home in a community south of Port-au-Prince in May. Conditions in the displaced persons camp are terrible, she says, but she has no other choice. “Shootings, that’s why I couldn’t stay,” she says. ‘Rape, that kind of thing. I just couldn’t stay (home).” Armed groups in Haiti seeking to expand their territory have forced tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, to flee areas previously considered safe. Many, like Solona, are now sheltering in the municipality of Léogâne.

Displaced, malnourished, recruited by armed groups: Haiti’s children face multiple threats

The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Haiti continues to deteriorate, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned at a press conference UN Security Council briefing on October 22.

“Every day, Haitians face the worst abuses, rights violations and threats to their lives seen anywhere in the world,” Russell said.

Ongoing political unrest, disease outbreaks, disasters and escalating armed violence persist. An estimated 3 million children in the country require humanitarian assistance.

Violence by armed groups in Haiti has increased dramatically since May 2024, spreading to previously safe areas such as Gressier, a municipality just south of Port-au-Prince. Tens of thousands, mainly women and children, fled to Léogâne, a municipality on the southwestern coast. The camps are overcrowded and lack essential basic services.

More than 3,600 people have been murdered since January 2024, including at least 100 children. The number of reports of sexual violence against women and children this year is unprecedented.

Another major concern is that children are actively recruited by armed groups – some are forced to fight, others are used as informants, cooks or sex slaves. UNICEF estimates that 30 to 50 percent of armed groups’ members are children.

Rising malnutrition rates and a lack of access to education

Nearly half of the Haitian population is confronted with this severe food insecurityMalnutrition among children continues to increase.

At last count, there were 700,000 people internally displaced by violence. While some seek shelter with relatives, thousands of others live in overcrowded camps.

“Every day, Haitians suffer some of the worst abuses, rights violations and threats to their lives seen anywhere in the world.”

Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF

And hundreds of thousands of students are being deprived of their rights right to education.

“So far this year, more than 300,000 children have lost their education, with schools closed, attacked or repurposed as temporary shelter for displaced people,” Russell said. “As the new school year gets underway, children who are out of school are at increased risk of violence and recruitment by armed groups.”

Children displaced by violence in Pont-Sondé, Artibonite department, Haiti, line up for food at an aid distribution point. Ongoing conflicts, with armed groups controlling key roads, have severely hampered the delivery of humanitarian aid in some areas. UNICEF works with local partners to deliver essential medical supplies, strengthen hospital capacity to support survivors of gender-based violence, distribute hygiene kits to support basic sanitation, establish child-friendly spaces and provide psychosocial support to traumatized children.

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UNICEF teams remain on the ground in Haiti and are working with partners to provide urgent support and protection to children and families. But violence and insecurity in certain areas have made it difficult to consistently reach everyone in need. An estimated 1.6 million women and children living in besieged communities remain largely cut off from humanitarian assistance.

“While our teams have worked tirelessly to reach areas controlled by armed groups, with any success our access remains limited, uneven and unpredictable,” Russell said.

Violence by armed groups has increased in recent months and has spread into areas once considered safe, triggering new waves of displacement. “My mother died, my father died,” says Makenley, 13. “I live (in a displaced persons location) in Léogâne with my grandmother.”

Another problem is that children and families who have emigrated outside of Haiti continue to be returned. Many of those returned are highly vulnerable and often lack resources, official documentation and access to essential services, Russell said. “In some cases, children who are returned have little to no family support in Haiti and are left to fend for themselves.”

UNICEF and partners are reaching children and families in Haiti with health, education and protection – but more support is needed

Despite all these challenges, UNICEF and partners have managed to reach half a million people with safe water, sanitation and hygiene services and facilities. Nearly 300,000 children have been screened for severe acute malnutrition, or wasting, and nearly 600,000 people have received health care.

UNICEF also works with partners to provide mental health and psychosocial support to displaced children and families, and to establish and implement non-formal education programs catch-up lessons for out-of-school students.

Violence deprives hundreds of thousands of children in Haiti of their right to education. Nedjie, 15, has not been able to go to school for months due to violence and insecurity in her environment. She is one of thousands of students benefiting from catch-up classes provided by UNICEF and local partners.

Other efforts to support children’s education in Haiti include rehabilitating damaged schools, establishing temporary learning spaces, supporting teacher training and providing learning materials.

UNICEF is founded child-friendly areas at displacement sites so that children have a place to learn, play and stay safe.

However, with conditions worsening by the day, these efforts are “far from enough,” Russell said. Support from the international community is urgently needed to help scale up emergency response and build the capacity and resilience of local and national systems. Investments in essential infrastructure and in Haitian organizations and institutions will be critical to ensuring a sustainable recovery.

“Now is the time for all of us to invest in Haiti, its people and its future,” Russell said. “Haitians, and especially Haiti’s children, are counting on us. We must not and cannot abandon them.”

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