Haiti

We have been working in Haiti since 1978, in some of the most vulnerable urban and rural communities in the South, Grand’Anse, North, North East, Nort-West, Center and West departments, including the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince. 

With the support and collaboration of local partners, we’re providing assistance in child protection, education, health and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, food security and livelihoods, and emergency preparedness and response. We remain fully operational despite the contextual challenges.

The situation in Haiti is becoming increasingly dire. Violence has escalated to extreme and unprecedented levels, fueled by widespread armed groups activity, particularly in the capital Port-au-Prince, centre and in the Artibonite region. 

Across the country, 1.4 million people are now displaced, including nearly 700,000 children. Many of the children currently displaced have been forced from their homes at least once. Many of them are taking shelter in schools, churches or temporary displacement sites, lacking access to the very essentials, like safe shelter, toilets, drinking water and food.

Haiti is in the top 5 hunger hotspots and in the top 5 countries with the highest number of UN verified grave violations against children – international attention to this crisis is imperative and not currently at the level it deserves.

More than half of the population – 5.7 million people- are now facing acute food insecurity. Hunger is becoming a matter of life or death.​ One in two children -about 2 million children- are facing acute hunger. The situation is so severe that hunger is also driving children to join violent armed groups, with reports of some children killing, kidnapping or looting for food. 

Moreover, cases of kidnappings, sexual violence and forced recruitment into armed groups are widespread and rising. Child recruitment into armed groups has increased by 70% over the last year. An estimated 30% to 54% of Haiti’s armed group members are children. Many children are also no longer attending school, with over 1,600 schools closed across the country, impacting the rights of over 240,000 children. 

6.4 million people – more than half of Haiti´s population- will require humanitarian support in 2026. Children are trapped in a deadly cycle of violence, poverty, hunger and climate disasters, leaving 2 in 3 children – over 3 million – in need of humanitarian assistance. This is the highest number on record for Haiti.

Despite the staggering levels of need, this crisis is not getting the attention it deserves. Time is up. We need an immediate end to the cyclical impacts of violence, hunger and climate disasters and a huge scale up of support for children now.