HAITI: 40,000 CHILDREN DISPLACED THIS YEAR AS DEADLY VIOLENCE RESTRICTS AID ACCESS TO 1 MILLION CHILDREN

Toronto, April 8, 2025 – More than 40,000 children in Haiti have been forced from their homes so far this year due to escalating violence with one in four children now living in neighborhoods with limited access to lifesaving aid, Save the Children said.   

In the first two months of 2025, incidents restricting humanitarian access—such as roadblocks and violence towards humanitarian workers—soared 75% compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis of UN data. 

About 2.7 million of a population of 11.5 million people, including about 1 million children, live in the areas where violence is hampering humanitarian efforts. 

This year more than 78,500 people, including over 40,000 children, have been displaced, more than double the number displaced in the first three months of 2024.  

The situation in Haiti is dramatically worsening at the same time when the governments are making drastic cuts to foreign aid, jeopardizing health, nutrition, livelihood, and education programmes for millions of children around the world.  

As armed groups continue to control all major roads encircling the capital and most of neighborhoods in the city, humanitarian workers are struggling to safely transport aid and reach children and their families.  

 The rising cost of fuel has also made it more expensive to deliver aid, while attacks on planes and subsequent flight bans into the country have further restricted the flow of humanitarian aid. 

Chantal Sylvie Imbeault, Save the Children’s country director in Haiti, said:  

 “Children in Haiti are trapped in a nightmare. They are living in deadly areas controlled by armed groups, being robbed of a normal childhood, and at constant risk of recruitment—while humanitarian aid struggles to reach them. 

 “As displacement continues to soar, shelters are becoming completely overcrowded, leaving children vulnerable to disease, exploitation, and sexual violence. As the crisis deepens, governments are cutting critical humanitarian funding, further limiting our ability to fully respond to the crisis.  

“Aid workers are doing everything they can, but it won’t be enough unless humanitarian organisations are granted unfettered access and humanitarian funding is dramatically increased.” 

Despite the violence and insecurity, humanitarian organisations are continuing to respond to displaced children and their families although the violence, insecurity and aid cuts are  barriers to any scale-up in their responses. 

Save the Children has been working in Haiti since 1978 in urban and rural communities. The child rights organisation is calling for full, unfettered access for aid workers and life-saving supplies across Haiti, especially in Port au Prince, to combat hunger and severe acute malnutrition, and for all parties to do their utmost to protect children. The child rights organisation is also calling on the international community to urgently increase humanitarian funding for Haiti.     

ENDS  

Notes to Editors 

·       According to data from the UN, humanitarian access incidents doubled between January and February, highlighting the worsening operational situation. Approximately 2.7 million people in need live in these municipalities that experienced access challenges. Of the 2.7 million people living in areas that experienced access challenges in the first two months of 2025, about 1 million are estimated to be children (about 37). Using the UN Population Prospects, 37% of people in Haiti are children.

·       According to an analysis of data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 78,000 people have been displaced in Haiti between January and 11 March 2025, 53% are estimated to be children, more than 40,000.