Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
- In 2025, UNICEF will continue to respond to the humanitarian needs of women and children across Haiti impacted by a multitude of emergencies, including but not limited to addressing malnutrition, armed violence, cholera and flooding. In Haiti, two in three children are estimated to need humanitarian assistance this year.
- In January, UNICEF Haiti continued to use its comparative advantage to foster an impactful emergency response, through multi-sectoral approaches that support the survival of children, their families and communities, with a focus on violence-affected departments of the West and Artibonite. During the reporting period, more than 18,600 children were reached with humanitarian assistance.
- With regard to the 2025 Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal, US$26.3 million is available for humanitarian interventions. However, a funding gap of 90 per cent remains, leaving many vulnerable women and children without critical lifesaving assistance.
SITUATION OVERVIEW AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
Haiti continues to face one of the world's most complex humanitarian crises, characterized by a fragile political transition (with elections slated for mid-November 2025), escalating violence by armed groups, socioeconomic collapse and severe environmental risks. Although the Multinational Security Support mission, authorized by the Security Council to support security restoration within Haiti, has begun operations, it is only operating at below half-capacity as of January. Consequently, more than 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince remains under the control or influence of armed groups, with frequent clashes, forced displacement and significant protection risks for children, women and marginalized communities.
At the end of 2024, over 1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were recorded in Haiti, with more than half a million (53 per cent) of them being children – it is estimated that 393,776 of the children are school-aged. In January, armed violence in Kenscoff further exacerbated the situation, adding over 3,000 new IDPs, according to the latest IOM Emergency Tracking Tool (ETT), while attacks in downtown Port-au-Prince displaced a further 1,200 people. In Artibonite, attacks in Gros-Morne, and a long-standing dispute in the Piatre and Délugé localities in the commune of Montrouis resulted in the displacement of 900 families (3,650 people).
As the situation continues to deteriorate, the education cluster notes that the number of schools closed has increased by 40 since July 2024, bringing the total number of schools closed to 959 (5 per cent of schools in Haiti) as of 31 January 2025. These closures affect 163,000 students (7 per cent of the 2.2 million students) and 4,529 teachers (5 per cent of the 96,172 teachers in the country) – namely in the two departments facing major security challenges (West and Artibonite).
In January, the Provisional Electoral Council opened the call for candidates from the Departmental and Municipal Referendum Bureaux - the constitutional referendum is scheduled for May 2025. On 29 January, the Transitional Presidential Council president – Leslie Voltaire – announced that general elections will take place in mid-November.