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UN warns of worsening child protection crisis in Haiti; gender-based violence services severely underfunded
Summary
UN briefing highlighted rising violence against children in Haiti, including a reported rape and death of a 6-year-old in a displacement site; partners have delivered some services but less than 5% of requested funds for gender-based violence response has been received.
The United Nations briefed reporters that armed violence and insecurity in Haiti are exposing displaced children to “severe protection risks,” including sexual violence and recruitment by armed gangs.
The International Organization for Migration told the UN that more than half of internally displaced people in Haiti are children and that roughly one in eight children in the country is displaced. The UN briefing cited a recent UNICEF finding of a roughly 1,000% rise in sexual violence against children between 2023 and 2024.
The resident humanitarian coordinator in Haiti, Eureka Richardson, issued a statement the UN read at the briefing expressing deep distress at the death of a 6-year-old girl who was raped in a displacement site in Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince. The briefing said the incident underscores “the extreme dangers faced by children living in highly precarious conditions.”
UN partners have provided some services: between January and March of the year, more than 6,200 people — including many women and girls — received psychosocial support; mobile health clinics reached about 670 people; and partners distributed more than 745 dignity kits, the spokesperson said. Partners are also implementing legal, medical and socioeconomic reintegration services for survivors across departments including West, Artibonite and Nord-Est.
But funding shortfalls are large. The briefing said less than $600,000 — about 5% of the roughly $11,000,000 required to support gender-based violence survivors — had been received to date. The UN said the underfunding is limiting partners’ ability to sustain and expand vital services, particularly in high-risk areas.
Priorities listed in the briefing included expanding access to protection and psychosocial support, increasing safety at displacement sites, creating safe spaces for women and girls, and enhancing prevention, case management and reporting mechanisms for gender-based violence.
Why this matters: large numbers of displaced children and limited funding for protection services increase risks of exploitation, abuse and recruitment by armed groups. The UN said donors’ support is essential to maintain and scale services that survivors need.
