The latest food security report on Haiti - out this week - shows that a record 5.7 million people - more than half of all Haitians - are expected to experience acute hunger between now and June 2025, driven by relentless gang violence and ongoing economic collapse. Rising armed violence has also fueled massive displacement as armed gangs seek to expand their control, forcing more than one million people from their homes.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), of the 5.7 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC3 or worse), more than 2 million are estimated to face emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4), while approximately 8,400 people are expected to face catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5). IPC5 is the most critical level of acute food insecurity, where people experience extreme food shortages, severe acute malnutrition, and are at risk of starvation.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Friday that more than 51,000 people have been displaced as a result of recent armed attacks in Centre Department, particularly in the communes of Saut d'Eau and Mirebalais. The report comes after more than 60,000 Haitians were displaced by escalating gang violence in March alone.
Gang violence in Haiti continues to have a devastating impact on the country's population. Since early 2025, waves of extreme brutality in the country have resulted in widespread casualties and the displacement of thousands of people. In the first quarter of the year, more than 1,500 people were killed and more than 570 others injured in gang-related violence, according to the United Nations.
The past year has already been marked by a worsening humanitarian situation, with an intensification of violence resulting in deaths, injuries, kidnappings, massive displacement and the collapse of basic social services. In 2024, more than 5,600 people were killed in gang-related violence, while the number of displaced people more than tripled to over one million, more than half of them children.
An upsurge in violence this year in many parts of the country is further exacerbating displacement. DONARE estimates that more than 1.1 million people are currently displaced in Haiti, also a record number. This makes Haiti the country with the highest number of people displaced by crime-related violence in the world.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that more than one million children in Haiti face emergency levels of food insecurity. Overall, UNICEF has calculated that 2.85 million children are facing consistently high levels of food insecurity across the country, based on the latest IPC data.
In a statement on Thursday, the UN agency said ongoing armed violence, repeated displacement and lack of sufficient humanitarian access continue to threaten vulnerable families - while the risk of famine looms and families continue to struggle with significant food shortages and high levels of acute malnutrition.
“We are looking at a scenario where parents can no longer provide care and nutrition to their children as a result of ongoing violence, extreme poverty, and a persistent economic crisis,” said Geeta Narayan, UNICEF Representative in Haiti.
“Life-saving actions, such as screening children at risk for wasting and stunting, and ensuring malnourished children have access to therapeutic treatment, are needed now to save children’s lives.”
At the same time, health services across the country are under immense pressure, with less than 50 percent of health facilities in the capital, Port-au-Prince, fully operational and two out of three major public hospitals out of service.
UNICEF warned that the impact on children has been severe, with health care and life-saving treatment becoming increasingly inaccessible, putting children at greater risk of various forms of malnutrition and preventable diseases.
In many parts of the country, armed violence has restricted children's access to food. As food insecurity and insecurity worsen, the crisis has resulted in a nutritional crisis for families. But as the needs grow, the response is increasingly constrained by funding shortfalls.
Also on Thursday, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it has significantly scaled up its operations in Haiti, reaching more than 1.3 million people so far in 2025. That includes one million people in March, a record number of people assisted in one month, though more is urgently needed.
“Right now, we’re fighting to just hold the line on hunger,” Wanja Kaaria, WFP's country director in Haiti, said in a statement.
“Without the immense efforts already underway, the situation would be far worse. To keep pace with the growing crisis, we call on the international community to provide urgent support – and above all, the country needs peace.”
WFP provides emergency relief as well as long-term support to internally displaced people. So far in 2025, WFP has provided 740,000 hot meals to more than 112,000 recently displaced people, as well as cash for food and support to prevent child malnutrition.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), managed by WFP, continues to serve as a vital lifeline for the humanitarian response, ensuring that aid workers and supplies reach communities in need.
WFP urgently needs US$53.7 million to continue its life-saving operations in Haiti for the next six months. UNICEF's nutrition program is currently facing a critical 70 percent funding gap, limiting its ability to reach the most vulnerable.
According to the IPC, numerous emergency food aid and community resilience projects were suspended in the first quarter of 2025 due to lack of funding. The presence and growing number of people in famine-like conditions - particularly in accessible areas - were a clear indication of the urgent need for an immediate, life-saving response in Haiti.
IPC said humanitarian assistance remains essential, and recovery efforts are urgently needed to stem the decline in food and nutrition security, particularly in displacement camps and the Artibonite region.
The Caribbean island nation has been plagued by gang violence and instability since the assassination of President Jovenel MoĂŻse in 2021. The national police force is understaffed and ill-equipped, and has been unable to stop the gangs that terrorize the population, especially in the capital. Gangs now control about 90 percent of Port-au-Prince.
The ongoing armed violence has created a dire humanitarian crisis, with at least half of Haiti's population, some 6 million people, in need of humanitarian assistance, including 3.3 million children.
The international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday that increasing violence in Haiti by criminal groups and clashes with "self-defense" groups are contributing to the dangerous insecurity facing the country's population, as criminal groups tighten their grip on Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and expand into other regions.
HRW said the UN Security Council should urgently ensure that the UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) receives the personnel and resources it needs to fulfill its mandate, and agree on steps to transform the mission into a full-fledged UN operation with a mandate to protect human rights and prevent further escalation of violence.
In June 2024, the MSS mission began its first deployment of police officers. The mission has been plagued by delays, funding and equipment shortages, and despite its presence, violence has recently escalated dramatically. The MSS is not a United Nations mission, but it is authorized by the Security Council and the UN oversees its financial trust fund.
“Haiti’s security situation is in a free fall and Haitians are suffering horrific abuses,” said Nathalye Cotrino, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“UN member states should immediately bolster the MSS’s capacity and take urgent steps to transform it into a full-fledged UN mission.”
In February, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres ruled out the possibility of transforming the MSS mission in Haiti into a UN peacekeeping force until significant progress has been made in reducing the gangs' territorial control, recommending instead the creation of a UN support mission to the MSS, funded through the UN peacekeeping budget.