Protecting children from danger: UN experts highlight humanitarian crisis in Haiti

There has been a 1,000% increase in sexual violence against children in Haiti in 2024. UN experts have raised serious concerns about the impact of children of the extreme levels of brutality seen in different parts of the country.

Virginia Gamba, UN special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict, highlighted that children are being used by armed gangs in Haiti and that there have been reports of some recent troubling trends such as rape and collective rape.

“I call on all actors to ensure that children are protected from violence, including sexual violence, and clashes and that they are not involved in hostilities,” Gamba noted. In recent years, Haiti has been seeing armed gangs continuing to terrorise communities.

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Political instability continues to plague Haiti. UN secretary general Guterres has urged all stakeholders in the Caribbean island nation to put substantial efforts together in order to see progress in the political transition, his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.

The brutal humanitarian crisis in Haiti has seen rampant internal displacements across the country. There have also been disruptions to essential services, such as education and healthcare, leaving more than 300,000 children out of schools.

Schools in Haiti have turned into temporary shelters for the tens of thousands of people displaced by violence. Gangs have been targetting public infrastructure in the capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.