Haiti Faces Humanitarian Crisis Amid Gang Violence, UN Chief Warns

A mother and her child, displaced by gang violence, sleep on the bare floor of a school in Haiti.

State authority is crumbling across Haiti while gang violence engulfs the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond, “paralysing daily life and forcing families to flee,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday.

Six million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while 1.3 million people — half of them children — have been forced to flee their homes, he added.

Haiti now ranks among the five hunger hotspots worldwide that are of “highest concern,” said the UN chief. Yet it remains the world’s least-funded humanitarian appeal, with less than 10 per cent of the $908 million needed received.

The UN chief lamented the level of international neglect, describing Haiti as “shamefully overlooked and woefully underfunded,” as armed groups continue to block humanitarian access and attack aid workers.

Due to the lack of resources, around 1.7 million people risk receiving no humanitarian assistance at all. “This is not a funding gap. It is a life-and-death emergency,” he said, urging donors to act before lifesaving operations grind to a halt.

Across the country, basic services have collapsed, and mass displacement has left children without education, healthcare, or any sense of safety. As of April, gang violence had interrupted the schooling of some 243,000 children, as attacks on schools continued.

The head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, told ambassadors Haiti’s youth are enduring “unimaginable suffering amidst the brutal armed violence.”

She noted that last year the UN in Haiti had verified more than 2,000 grave violations against children — a nearly 500 per cent increase on the previous year.

The Caribbean nation last year was among the five worst offenders worldwide, Ms Russell added, including cases of summary execution.

Even more concerning, she said, was the 700 per cent increase in cases of recruitment and use of children by armed groups, alongside a 54 per cent increase in killing and maiming, according to Ms Russell.

Children now account for a staggering 50 per cent of all active gang members in Haiti.

“I ask Members of this Council to use all available leverage to protect children,” she said, and to support “concrete actions” which will prevent violations from spiralling still further.

Despite the bleak outlook across Haiti and soaring levels of violence and lawlessness, “there are emerging signals of hope,” said the Secretary-General.

Closer coordination between the Prime Minister’s Task Force, the Haitian National Police, and the Security Council-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) is improving operations on the ground, he said.

But more decisive international support is required to protect and expand these fragile gains.

The Kenyan-led mission was authorised by the Security Council in October 2023 and aims to help overstretched Haitian authorities stem gang violence and restore national security, especially in the capital.

Mr Guterres welcomed efforts by the Security Council to advance his proposal to strengthen the MSS through UN logistical and operational support, and urged ambassadors “to act without delay and authorise an international force, supported by the UN through logistical and operational backing, and predictable financing.”