Amid continued violence and mass displacement in Haiti, the recruitment and use of children by armed groups surged 200 percent in 2025, according to a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Published on Thursday, the report underscores the deep protection crisis facing children in Haiti.
The country is grappling with a dire humanitarian crisis driven by escalating gang violence and the subsequent collapse of essential services. Children account for over half of the 1.4 million people displaced within the country. Ongoing armed violence has brought Haiti to the brink of collapse. Over half of the population — 6.4 million people — requires humanitarian assistance.
Children particularly impacted
Children in Haiti are particularly vulnerable, facing overlapping crises including armed violence, mainly perpetrated by gangs and law enforcement, as well as natural disasters and extreme poverty. These conditions have further fueled the growth of armed groups, increasingly forcing children to join them.
Children in Haiti are often pressured to join armed groups to support their families or after receiving threats against themselves or their loved ones. Others join after being separated from their families, viewing armed groups as a means of survival and protection.
“Children’s rights are non-negotiable,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“Every child must be protected. And every child recruited or used by armed groups must be released and supported so they can heal, return to learning, and rebuild their future.”
Children recruited or influenced by armed groups are subject to grave violations of their rights, including physical and psychological violence. The recruitment and use of children by armed groups constitutes a grave violation of their human rights. Enlisting children of any age into armed groups breaches international law.
Recruitment into armed groups exposes children to multiple risks, including injury, maiming, or death in combat; sexual, psychological, and physical abuse; and arbitrary detention. This disrupts their access to education and undermines their safety, well-being, and overall development.
UNICEF calls on national authorities and all relevant stakeholders to strengthen child protection systems, ensure safe and sustained access to essential services, and reinforce family tracing and reunification support when it is in the child’s best interest and can be done safely.
The UN agency stresses that communities also play a critical role in prevention through local and community-based child protection networks and safe, confidential reporting pathways that connect children at risk of recruitment with early support.
Furthermore, UNICEF calls on donor governments, the private sector, and others to support critical programs that provide support to children and families affected by violence, which remain significantly underfunded. “Children associated with armed groups must not be treated as perpetrators,” said Russell.
“They must receive appropriate reintegration services and be protected from additional risks, stigma, or retaliation.”
Decline in humanitarian funding, forced returns, and political instability put millions at risk
On Wednesday, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned that the combination of rising political instability and a drastic global decline in humanitarian funding risks pushing millions of Haitians deeper into crisis. The IRC emphasized that Haiti faces catastrophic consequences without immediate international action to protect civilians and ramp up aid.
At the same time, forced returns to Haiti are exacerbating the strain on resources and endangering returnees. In 2025, more than 270,000 people were forcibly returned to Haiti, often arriving without support or shelter. This pushes families back into insecure areas, exacerbating the strain on essential services and resources.
Nearly 20 percent of those returned were already internally displaced before fleeing the country, and others remain cut off from loved ones due to expanding gang control. With minimal funding for reintegration, returnees are prime targets for harm, exploitation, and even murder by gangs.
"In Haiti, we are seeing firsthand the devastating cycle of violence, displacement and hunger. Entire neighborhoods have become battlegrounds. Sexual violence and forced recruitment are striking fear in the heart of communities," said Mwiti Mungania, IRC country director in Haiti.
“People are dying every day from preventable causes. Our teams and partners are doing everything possible, but with humanitarian funding at historic lows and needs at record highs, millions risk being cut off from lifesaving support.”
Since Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council’s mandate expired on February 7, worsening insecurity has compounded unprecedented humanitarian needs as criminal gangs seek to fill the vacuum.
In recent months, armed groups have expanded their control to 90 percent of the capital and spread far beyond it. Nearly 6,000 people were killed and more than 2,700 were injured in 2025, and innocent civilians are running out of safe spaces as the violence continues to escalate.
“Now that the Transitional Presidential Council has expired and the UN-backed gang suppression force is expected to begin operations soon, there is real fear that the security situation will continue to unravel, with women, children, and forcibly returned people most at risk,” Mungania said.
“Haiti is on the verge of a humanitarian collapse. Without immediate international action to protect civilians and rush in aid, the consequences will be catastrophic.”
According to the latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), over 5.7 million people in Haiti are currently facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse). This figure is expected to rise to nearly 6 million between March and June.
Yet, funding for Haiti’s humanitarian response has plummeted. Last year's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HRP) for Haiti requested US$908 million to provide lifesaving assistance to 4 million of the most vulnerable people. However, only 26 percent of the HNRP was funded, with just $236 million received.
And this funding crisis shows no signs of ending. As of today, only 3 percent of the 2026 HNRP has been funded.