Haiti Crisis

Haiti Map
Source: OCHA/ReliefWeb

The country

Haiti is a Caribbean country on the island of Hispaniola and shares land borders with the Dominican Republic. After declaring its independence in 1804, Haiti became the first nation in the world to be ruled by former slaves. The country covers an area of 27,750 square kilometers. Its capital is Port-au-Prince. In 2025, the country has an estimated population of about 11.9 million people. Haiti is the least developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most fragile states in the world.

The humanitarian situation

In Haiti, millions of people are in need of humanitarian assistance to fight hunger amid a deteriorating security situation where armed gangs control or influence up to 90 percent of the capital. The country has a long history of natural disasters and remains highly vulnerable to hurricanes, earthquakes and floods. In 2025, half of Haiti's population, some 6 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 3.3 million children.

January 12, 2025, marked 15 years since a devastating earthquake killed hundreds of thousands of people. In January 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, with an epicenter about 25 km west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. More than 300,000 people are estimated to have died, 3 million were affected and approximately 1.5 million were left homeless. The earthquake was rated as the worst in the region in the last 200 years. 

On 14 August 2021, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti, killing more than 2,200 people, affecting over 800,000 people and causing widespread destruction. The 2021 disaster exacerbated an already difficult humanitarian situation marked by ongoing political instability, socio-economic crisis, gang-related insecurity, internal displacement and increasing food insecurity and malnutrition.

The sociopolitical situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate, while violence and crime are on the rise, especially in the urban areas of the capital. Kidnappings, killings and gang violence have worsened the economic situation and increased insecurity, particularly in Port-au-Prince, but also spreading to rural ares. 

For the past three and a half years, Haiti has been under attack by armed gangs that control or influence 80 to 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The UN estimates that gangs now control 85 percent of the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area (PPMA). According to the latest figures documented by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), more than 5,600 people have been killed and 2,212 injured in relation to gang violence between January and December 2024. 1,494 have been kidnapped.

As of December 2024, more than one million people are internally displaced in Haiti, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The latest data shows that 1,041,000 people are struggling amid a worsening humanitarian crisis - many of them forced to flee multiple times. Children bear the greatest burden of forced displacement, accounting for more than half of all displaced people.

The number of people displaced has increased threefold in one year, from 315,000 in December 2023 to over one million in December 2024. In the capital of Port-au-Prince alone, displacement has nearly doubled, jumping 87 percent, fueled by relentless gang violence, the collapse of essential services - particularly health care - and worsening food insecurity.

Tens of thousands have tried to flee the country. In 2023, third countries forced more than 216,000 people back to Haiti. Despite repeated calls from the United Nations that Haitians should not be forcibly returned to Haiti, other countries deported more than 200,000 Haitians in 2024, further straining the country's already overburdened social services.

Widespread poverty, rising costs of living, low agricultural production, and expensive food imports have exacerbated existing food insecurity in Haiti, leaving many women, men, and children suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Some 5.4 million people are now facing severe acute food insecurity, including more than 2 million people in the grips of emergency hunger (IPC Phase 4), according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released in September 2024. At least 6,000 displaced people in shelters in the capital are facing catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC 5).

The latest IPC report covers August 2024 to February 2025 and includes a projection for March to June 2025. With approximately 5.54 million people facing acute hunger then, the situation is not expected to improve during the forecast period, as humanitarian food assistance is not expected to meet the needs of the population. Children are particularly vulnerable, with at least 125,000 estimated to be acutely malnourished.

The health system, on the verge of collapse, faces serious challenges, crippled by both the violence and years of underinvestment, with only 37 percent of hospitals and health services in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area (PPMA) fully operational - as of January 2025. Amid the ongoing violence and isolation, Haiti's health system has been severely impacted, leaving people without essential medical services. 

In 2025, the United Nations estimate that 6 million are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, a further increase from the previous year. The 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Haiti seeks US$906 million to provide life-saving assistance to 4 million of the most vulnerable people. 

The violence in the Haitian capital has aggravated an already precarious situation for children and their families. Hundreds of thousands of children have no regular access to schools, limited access to water and alarming malnutrition rates. Armed violence has intensified the number of children in Haiti suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), also known as severe wasting. 

Cholera broke out again in Haiti in October 2022.  Between October 2022 and April 2024, Haiti reported a total of 82,000 suspected cases of cholera and 1,270 deaths from cholera. Experts fear that the actual number is significantly higher due to underreporting.

The United Nations estimated that 5.5 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance and protection in 2024, an increase from the previous year. The humanitarian community estimated that $674 million was required in 2024 to provide life-saving assistance to the affected population.  As of January 2025, the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Haiti was only 42 percent funded.

More than 5.2 million people required humanitarian aid in 2023, including nearly 3 million children.  The United Nations 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti required US$720 million to help more than three million people. As of December, the HRP was only 33 percent funded. In July last year, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it has been forced to cut the number of people receiving emergency food assistance in Haiti by 25 percent, due to dwindling funding levels.

Flooding in November and December last year affected more than 315,000 people across the country.

Hait LocationThe security situation

President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated on 7 July 2021, leading Haiti into an extra-constitutional governance structure and contributing to the country’s growing fragility. President Moïse's five-year term would have ended on 7 February 2022; his assassination plunged Haiti deeper into political crisis. As a result, the national parliament and regional elections were postponed indefinitely, and the new presidential election has not yet been scheduled. 

On 20 July 2021, the Government of Haiti installed Ariel Henry as prime minister. As of June 2024, Haiti had no president, the parliament did not have any elected member and the Supreme Court did not function due to a lack of judges. On December 21, 2022, a National Consensus Agreement was signed by a broad spectrum of Haitian political figures, civil society members, clergy, trade unions and the private sector on a way forward on elections.

At the same time, kidnappings, killings and gang violence worsened the economic situation and increased insecurity, particularly in the capital. Approximately 150 criminal groups operate in Port-au-Prince, and its metropolitan region, many under two of the main criminal coalitions, the G-Pèp federation and the G9 alliance. 

Gangs control or influence up to 90 percent of the capital, gain increasing control of Port-au-Prince, and have spread to other parts of the country. An estimated two million people, including 1.6 million women and children, live in areas that are effectively controlled by gangs. 

According to human rights groups and analysts, many of the gangs are linked to political actors. They also control strategic access routes in the country and have expanded their criminal activities throughout Haiti. Armed gangs commit serious abuses against the population, including large-scale sexual violence, forcing entire communities to flee.

Since June 2021 recurrent territorial clashes between rival gangs inside and around Port-au-Prince forced thousands of people to leave their homes. In 2022, a renewed wave of gang violence killed hundreds of people and further deepened the humanitarian and political crisis in Haiti, forcing ten of thousands more to flee their homes. 

In 2023, killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence by criminal groups in and around Port-au-Prince, increased dramatically. According to the UN, at least 4,789 people were killed in Haiti, and 2,490 kidnapped in gang-related violence. The number of reported homicides for 2023 increased by 120 percent compared with 2022, the number of abductions by 83 percent.

Haiti has also seen an alarming increase in mob killings and lynchings of suspected gang members. In 2023, hundreds of alleged gang members across all ten departments of Haiti were lynched by local people and vigilante groups. At least 528 cases of lynching were reported.

According to a report by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), the number of victims of gang violence skyrocketed in the first three months of 2024. Between January and March 2024, at least 2,505 people were killed or injured as a result of gang-related violence, making the first three months of 2024 the most violent period since the beginning of 2022. At least 438 people were kidnapped during the same period. The rise is due to the deterioration of the security situation in the metropolitan area of Port-Au-Prince, the country's capital, particularly between the end of February and April. 

During the second quarter of 2024, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) recorded 1,379 murder and injury victims as a result of gang-related violence. Though this figure represents a 45 percent decrease from the previous quarter, the situation remains alarming. At least 428 people were kidnapped for ransom between April and June 2024. The highest number of killings and injuries were recorded in the capital and in Artibonite, where gangs continued their attacks on rural populations.

In the first six months of 202, OHCHR documented that at least 2,652 people had been killed and 1,280 others injured as a result of gang violence in the country. In addition, at least 893 people were kidnapped by gangs and held for ransom. The number of victims of sexual violence, including rape, also increased in the first half of the year. According to the UN Human Rights Office, "gangs continued to use sexual violence to punish, spread fear, and subjugate the population."

Between January and December 2024, the UN recorded more than 5,600 people killed and more than 2,200 injured as a direct result of acts of gang violence. This brings the total number of deaths and injuries since 2022 to more than 17,000. In 2024, OHCHR has also documented 315 lynchings of gang members and people allegedly associated with gangs

Force displacement surged last year. As of December 2024, more than 1 million people were internally displaced in Haiti. As of October, more than 700,000 people were internally displaced. As of March, more than 362,000 people were internally displaced in Haiti, most of them due to gang-related violence.

Haiti is now the country with the highest number of displacements due to crime-related violence in the world. According to the IOM, the increase in displacement is mainly due to the deterioration of the security situation in the Port-Au-Prince Metropolitan Area between February and April, and since June last year. 

Ongoing armed attacks and clashes between armed groups and police in some communities in Port-au-Prince are causing new displacements and forcing previously displaced people to flee again. In addition to displacement in and around Port-au-Prince, the upsurge in violence and the effective siege imposed by armed groups have forced increasing numbers of people to flee to neighboring provinces.

The majority of the displaced come from the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area. Many seek refuge in Haiti's provinces, overwhelming host communities and straining limited resources. In the Artibonite department, displacement tripled to more than 84,000 people in 2024, highlighting the spread of violence beyond Haiti's capital. The number of displacement sites, particularly those concentrated in the capital, has grown significantly, from 73 to 108 in one year. 

IDP sites are severely overcrowded and lack adequate access to basic services such as food, clean water, sanitation and education. Reports from these IDP sites reveal deteriorating conditions, with families struggling to survive in makeshift shelters while facing mounting health and protection risks.     

The United Nations warn that humanitarian access is seriously compromised by insecurity. The increase in gang violence has prompted the Haitian government to appeal to the international community for help. The government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry had asked for a rapid reaction force to be sent to Haiti to stop the gang violence. The call was supported by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk also called on the international community to urgently consider the deployment of a time-bound specialized support force.

On October 2, 2023, the United Nations Security Council authorized an international force to support Haiti’s police. Acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, 13 of the 15 council members voted for the non-UN Multinational Security Support Mission, while China and Russia abstained. The Mission's objective is to assist the Haitian police in curbing rising gang violence and restoring security in the Caribbean country.

Resolution 2699 (2023) authorizes the Security Support Mission for an initial period of one year, with a review after nine months. Kenya has volunteered to lead the Multinational Security Support Mission and has pledged approximately one thousand police officers. The Caribbean countries of the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda have also agreed to contribute personnel. In addition, other African countries such as Chad, Senegal, and Burundi have announced that they will strengthen the multinational force.

After months of delays, four hundred Kenyan security officers arrived in Haiti in June 2024 as part of an international police contingent sent to quell rampant gang violence in the Caribbean nation. While it is unclear when the full force, which is expected to include up to 2,500 police officers, will be deployed, the arrival of the initial international police contingent is seen as the first of several milestones in the process of restoring security and prosperity to Haiti.

As of September, an advance contingent of about 430 MSS personnel had been deployed to Haiti, including 410 specially trained police officers, of whom 383 were from Kenya, 25 from Jamaica and two from Belize. Kenya had announced in November that it would send an additional 600 security personnel to Haiti, but only about 200 reinforcements arrived in January 2025. A contingent of police officers from Guatemala and El Salvador also deployed to Haiti in January 2025, reportedly including 150 Guatemalans and 150 Salvadorans. The total number of deployed police now exceeds 900.

In 2024, Kenya's High Court ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. Among the issues cited by the court was the lack of a "reciprocal agreement" between the countries.  The Kenyan government eventually secured that agreement, but there is another lawsuit seeking to block the deployment. The High Court has yet to issue its decision. According to Kenyan President William Ruto, the East African country has fulfilled all legal, constitutional and international obligations to facilitate the deployment of the MSS mission. 

On October 1, 2024, the UN Security Council approved a one-year extension for the Multinational Security Support mission to help Haiti's embattled national police quell gangs in the violence-plagued Caribbean nation, and the 15-member council will now consider transforming the mission into a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation. Resolution 2751 (2024) extends the mission until October 2, 2025.

Since late February 2024, violence has escalated in many neighborhoods of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as gangs launched coordinated attacks against key public institutions, aimed at overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. On March 1, heavy gunfire led to two prison breaks, plunging Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas into further chaos. More than 4,600 inmates escaped from the capital's two main prisons, and at least 22 police stations, sub-police stations, and other police buildings were looted or set on fire. Armed gangs also stepped up attacks on other critical infrastructure, including the international airport and the seaport.

Waves of displaced families seeking safety are putting additional pressure on local health services, which were barely able to cope with demand before the latest escalation of the crisis. The closure of the airport and ports between February and May has left medical facilities critically undersupplied.

Fighting between gangs around the capital's international airport had forced all commercial airlines to suspend operations. On May 20, the airport reopened and some commercial flights resumed. In November, Port-au-Prince’s international airport shut down again, the second closing in 2024. The UN says it is crucial that the airport is fully operational and the seaport reopened to ensure the entry of medicines and medical supplies into the country.

With regard to the crisis affecting the country's political institutions, there have been some encouraging developments in recent months.

On March 11, unelected Prime Minister Henry announced his resignation. Following his resignation, a transitional council was to take power. The proposal for a transitional council to govern violence-plagued Haiti emerged during a meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).  The council was tasked with selecting an interim prime minister and preparing for the next presidential election, as well as appointing an inclusive council of ministers. The interim government will serve until new elections are held.

On April 12, a formal decree was published establishing the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC).  On April 25, the Transitional Presidential Council was inaugurated and former Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert was announced as interim prime minister. Ariel Henry resigned as Prime Minister. On May 28, Garry Conille was named as the Caribbean nation’s new Prime Minister. On June 11, Haiti's Transitional Council appointed a new cabinet.

On November 12, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé was sworn in as the new prime minister, replacing outgoing Prime Minister Conille, who became embroiled in a power struggle with the country's Transitional Presidential Council.  The Council fired Conille amid political infighting and allegations of corruption against several TPC members.

In September, seven of the nine members of the Provisional Electoral Council, representing different sectors of Haitian society, were appointed. Members representing human rights organizations and women's rights groups have yet to be appointed. 

The United Nations says Haiti needs a combination of a strengthened national police force, the rapid deployment of the multinational support force and credible elections to put the country back on the path to security and stability. The upsurge in violence in the country has exacerbated already dire living conditions for millions of people, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Donations

Your donation for the Haiti emergency can help United Nations agencies, international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their local partners to rapidly provide water, food, medicine, shelter and other aid to the people who need it most.

Currently, there are only a few active appeals for the Haiti Crisis. You may also consider making an unearmarked donation.

To find other organizations to which you can donate, visit: Humanitarian Crisis Relief, Refugees and IDPs, Children in Need, Hunger and Food Insecurity, Medical Humanitarian Aid, Vulnerable Groups, Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations, and Human Rights Organizations.

Further information

Last updated: 23/01/2025

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