UN warns Haiti facing one of Western Hemisphere’s worst humanitarian crises

Haiti is facing one of the most severe and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere, a senior United Nations aid official warned Friday, as gang violence, displacement, and hunger continue to worsen across the country.

Edem Wosornu of the UN humanitarian affairs office, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, briefed journalists following a recent mission to the Caribbean nation, where armed gangs now control large portions of the territory.

She said the crisis is marked by escalating insecurity, rising protection concerns, mass displacement, and alarming levels of gender-based violence, all compounded by increasingly difficult conditions for humanitarian operations.

According to OCHA, more than half of Haiti’s population — about 6.4 million people — now require humanitarian assistance. An estimated 5.7 million people are facing hunger, forcing families to skip meals and, in some cases, withdraw children from school to help support household incomes.

Additionally, roughly 1.5 million people — about 12 percent of the population — have been displaced.

“These are not abstract figures,” Wosornu said. “These represent families uprooted, families displaced; separated children — many who’ve lost the homes that they knew.”

Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, visited Haiti from March 16 to 20 and said conditions have worsened significantly since her previous mission two years ago.

She traveled to Port-au-Prince, which she said is now approximately 90 percent under gang control, as well as the Centre Department, where recent violence left about 80 people dead and forced 13,000 to flee.

During her visit, she toured overcrowded displacement sites, including a school designed for 400 students that is now sheltering roughly 2,800 displaced persons.

“They described at night vermin, roaches coming out; rashes on the skin of children,” Wosornu said. “The very ground I was walking on was the very place people were sleeping on at night.”

The crisis is also disrupting education nationwide, with approximately 1,600 schools closed due to insecurity. As a result, about 250,000 children are missing out on schooling.

“School means a lot for the people of Haiti,” she said. “So, 1,600 schools closed, 250,000 children missing education, is a big, huge deal.”

Women and girls are among the most vulnerable, with Wosornu describing the situation as a severe protection crisis. Last year, 8,100 survivors of gender-based violence were recorded — a 25 percent increase from the previous year — with half of reported cases involving rape.

She recounted meeting a displaced 16-year-old mother with a three-month-old baby who had been abused after being offered assistance, noting that one in six survivors of gender-based violence in Haiti is under the age of 18.

Despite the growing needs, only about 30 percent of survivors receive medical or psychological support within the critical 72-hour period after sexual violence, largely due to funding shortages.

Humanitarian agencies continue to operate under extremely difficult conditions, with many local staff members themselves displaced but continuing to deliver assistance, sometimes negotiating access with armed groups.

Aid organizations are seeking $880 million to support 4.2 million people in Haiti this year. However, less than 20 percent of that funding has been secured so far, raising concerns about the sustainability of humanitarian operations.

Wosornu urged the international community to take urgent action, calling for an end to violence, sustained humanitarian funding, and political solutions to address the crisis.

“We must be honest. Humanitarian assistance alone cannot change the fate of the people of Haiti and the trajectory of Haiti,” she said.

“Sustained investment in essential services can create solutions for the people. Haiti’s courage, undeniable. Our support, ever so necessary.”