The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has estimated at 680,000 the number of children forced to flee so far this year due to the “out-of-control violence” prevailing in Haiti, which is mired in “an even deeper crisis” with the collapse of basic services and lack of access to humanitarian aid.
“Children in Haiti are experiencing violence and displacement at a terrifying level,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, who explained that this situation deprives them “of simply being children.”
The number of displaced children in Haiti has almost doubled in the last year. These 680,000 are part of the more than 1.3 million people forced to flee due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis, according to a latest UNICEF report that speaks of unprecedented displacement.
In “The Polycrisis for Children in Haiti,” UNICEF details that in the first half of 2025, makeshift shelters have increased to 246, of which more than 33 percent lack basic infrastructure to protect against abuse and violence, to which children and women are especially vulnerable.
Schools have become temporary shelters and refuges for many of these people, disrupting the education of nearly half a million children and young people.
OVERLAPPING CRISIS
Haiti is experiencing a flurry of crises stemming from its serious security problems, primarily in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with more than 85 percent of the city controlled by criminal gangs. In addition to preventing the delivery of aid, they threaten the lives of humanitarian workers.
More than 3.3 million children are in need of assistance, while more than one million face critical levels of food insecurity. It is estimated that around 288,500 children under the age of five will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, UNICEF details.
So far this year, UNICEF and its partners have treated more than 86,000 children with malnutrition and provided medical care to 117,000 people and clean water to 140,000. Since 2024, UNICEF and its partners have successfully demobilized and reintegrated more than 178 children who had been exploited by these criminal gangs.
Despite this serious situation, the UNICEF Office once again lamented that international support campaigns continue to receive far less funding than required to address this crisis, with ramifications at all levels.
“Without an immediate injection of resources, vital programs will be severely limited, depriving thousands of children of the protection and care they urgently need,” UNICEF warned.
Russell warned that Haitian children cannot wait and asserted their right to “live safely, healthily, and in peace,” leaving their future in the hands of the international community. “It is up to us to act now for Haiti’s children,” he said.
