Amid escalating violence in Haiti, United Nations relief chief Tom Fletcher made an impassioned plea for international support to ease immense suffering. Fletcher spent three days in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, meeting with people in urgent need, government officials, humanitarian partners, and diplomats. Meanwhile, the UN is fast-tracking support for displaced and host communities in Haiti, in light of the dire situation and massive funding shortfalls.
Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, voiced his concern for families, especially women and children, who are in desperate need of basic necessities like healthcare, clean water, education, and a glimmer of hope for a better future.
Many of these families have been displaced multiple times due to escalating violence and long for the opportunity to rebuild their lives. At least 1.3 million Haitians have been forced to flee their homes due to violence, half of whom are children.
Since last December, the number of displaced people has increased by 25 percent. Currently, Haiti has the highest percentage of its population displaced by violence — 11 percent.
Haiti is facing a severe humanitarian crisis driven by escalating gang violence and the subsequent collapse of essential services. Armed groups have tightened their control over the capital and spread far beyond it, leaving the population devastated by gang violence.
Ongoing armed violence has brought the country to the brink of collapse. At least half of the population—6 million people, including 3.3 million children—are in need of humanitarian assistance. The latest food security report shows that a record 5.7 million people are experiencing acute hunger due to the violence and an ongoing economic collapse.
Upon concluding his visit to Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, the Emergency Relief Coordinator stressed on Wednesday that he was ashamed "on behalf of the world" for not recognizing what people in Haiti are going through.
On Tuesday, he visited HĂ´pital Universitaire La Paix, the only public hospital in Port-au-Prince that can handle advanced cases and remains open to those in need amid the current security crisis.
The facility has been pushed to the brink and has been forced to reduce maternal care services. Fletcher said that women and girls are bearing the heaviest toll, as families who have lost everything are crammed into makeshift shelters.
At a displacement site in the capital, where many have sought refuge from rising insecurity, Fletcher spoke with those whose lives have been devastated by brutal violence. Living conditions are extremely difficult, with many families displaced multiple times.
“So, what I’m hearing is from people who are just desperate for dignity. They’re desperate to live their lives like anyone else. And they’ve been displaced multiple times. I mean, many of the families say displace at least two or three times by violence,” Fletcher said.
The Under-Secretary-General stressed that people there want healthcare, clean water, education for their children, and to rebuild their lives – and the world must do better for them.
“It's just not enough. This is not enough. I'm furious. And I'm ashamed, actually, on behalf of the world, that we cannot find it in ourselves to be more compassionate, to be more kind, to recognize what people here are going through,” he said.
“I can't believe that we're struggling so much to raise the funds necessary to support these families as they try to rebuild their lives. We cannot imagine what they've been through, but we have to be here for them. We have to do better.”
Haiti remains one of the least funded of the UN’s country appeals globally. To date, less than 12 percent of the necessary resources has been received — only $105 million of the required $908 million to support 3.9 million people.
At a youth center, the UN relief chief met with young people who are determined to learn new skills despite being trapped by violence. The center serves adolescents and young adults from communities affected by armed violence, as well as those living in sites for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area, where access to educational and training opportunities is limited.
During his meeting with Haitian officials, including Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of the Transitional Presidential Council, Fletcher discussed ways to improve coordination between the UN and the government, protect those facing violence, and address Haiti's challenging political and security landscape.
Fletcher also met with partners from humanitarian aid agencies and members of the diplomatic community.
Before departing, he visited a center that supports women and girls who have survived gender-based violence, speaking with women who have endured brutal sexual attacks and lost their families and homes in the violence.
Gender-based violence has reached unprecedented levels in Haiti. Between January and July, service providers reported more than 6,200 incidents. Nearly half of those cases were rapes.
While Fletcher's visit to Haiti spotlighted the urgent humanitarian situation, the Emergency Relief Coordinator allocated $9 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) due to the worsening violence and displacement in the country.
This new funding will enable the UN and its partners to scale up life-saving support for the most vulnerable people, including those who have fled their homes and host communities in the departments of Centre and Artibonite and are facing acute shortages of food, water, shelter, healthcare, sanitation, and protection.
Due to the vast needs, the new CERF funding is being supplemented by a $4 million allocation from the regional humanitarian fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, which is also intended to support displaced individuals and host communities in the departments of Centre and Artibonite. Additionally, the regional pooled fund has allocated $500,000 for hurricane preparedness efforts.
This additional $13.5 million in funding is provided at a critical time, as the humanitarian response continues to face drastic shortfalls. Fletcher's visit followed UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres's stark warning about the dire state of Haiti's humanitarian crisis, which he described as "shamefully overlooked and woefully underfunded."
Haiti ranks among the world’s top five hunger hotspots, where people face extreme hunger, starvation, and death. The situation will only worsen unless urgent action is swiftly taken to de-escalate conflict, stop the displacement of people, and provide large-scale aid.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), among the 5.7 million people facing hunger are over 2 million Haitians experiencing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4). UNICEF estimates that more than 1 million Haitian children are affected by IPC Phase 4.
Armed violence against children has also reached unprecedented levels. UNICEF has reported over 2,269 violations against 1,373 children in 2024 alone.