Number of children displaced in Haiti nearly doubles to 680,000: UNICEF

Children sleep on the floor at the School Argentine Bellegarde, converted into a shelter for displaced people, in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 3, 2025. [AFP]

An estimated 680,000 children have been displaced by gang violence in Haiti, nearly double the number from a year ago, UNICEF said Wednesday, calling on the international community to step up help for the crisis-wracked Caribbean nation.

"The number of children displaced by violence has almost doubled over the past year to approximately 680,000," the UN children's agency said in a report, adding that more than 3.3 million children need humanitarian assistance, in what amounts to "a daily struggle for survival."

"One of our messages is that Haiti is at a breaking point, we need to make clear this generation cannot keep waiting for help to come," Roberto Benes, UNICEF regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, told AFP in an interview from Haiti.

In 2024, the UN verified over 2,269 "grave violations" against 1,373 children, including 213 who were killed, 138 injured, 566 victims of sexual violence (including 406 rapes and 160 gang rapes), and 302 who were recruited by gangs.

UNICEF estimates that 2.7 million people, including 1.6 million women and children, now live in gang-controlled areas, nearly a quarter of the population.

"For countless children, trauma is a daily reality, and unless protection services are urgently restored, an entire generation risks growing up not only in fear but also under relentless exposure to violence and exploitation," the report said.