MEXICO CITY

Children in Haiti face worsening conditions as armed violence grips the Caribbean nation, nearly doubling internal displacement figures in the first half of 2025, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday.

The number of internally displaced persons (IDP) sites rose to 246 nationwide during the period, UNICEF said in its report Child Alert: Haiti’s Children Confront a Polycrisis.

More than 3.3 million children in Haiti now need humanitarian assistance, while over 1.3 million people — including 680,000 children — have been forcibly displaced, the report said.

“Haiti is facing a polycrisis, in which the collapse of one sector exacerbates the next: malnutrition worsens as health services falter, cholera spreads in displacement sites without safe water, and the disruption of education leaves children more vulnerable to recruitment and exploitation,” UNICEF said.

The agency traced the worsening crisis to political instability that followed the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Since then, armed groups have expanded their control across much of the country.

An estimated 2.7 million people — around 23% of Haiti’s population of 11.77 million — live in areas under gang control, according to the report.

As gangs target roads, ports and warehouses, many residents have been cut off from food, medicine and other critical aid. Only 41% of health facilities in Port-au-Prince remain fully functional, with insecurity forcing dozens to close and causing shortages of staff, fuel and medical supplies.

Diseases such as cholera, which resurfaced in late 2022, continue to spread amid the collapse of basic services and lack of safe drinking water. Around 3.8 million people now lack access to potable water.

UNICEF documented 2,269 cases of severe human rights violations against children in 2024 — nearly five times higher than the year before.

Killings, maimings, forced recruitment, kidnappings and sexual violence were among the most common crimes. Children as young as 10 have been documented carrying weapons for armed groups, while girls face heightened risks of sexual violence.