According to the UN children’s agency, over 300,000 children have already been affected by the violence that is raging in volatile Haiti, forcing one youngster to escape their house every minute on average.
According to UNICEF, children make up more than half of the 600,000 people who have been forced to from their homes as a result of violence. This is particularly true in the mostly gang-controlled capital city of Port-au-Prince.
“The number of internally displaced children in Haiti has increased by an estimated 60 percent since March the equivalent of one child every minute a result of ongoing violence caused by armed groups,” it said in a report.
Haiti has long been rocked by gang violence, but conditions sharply worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince, saying they wanted to overthrow then-prime minister Ariel Henry.
“Children in Haiti continue to endure an onslaught of multiple dangers, including horrific violence and critical levels of displacement,” said UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell.
“The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes is taking a devastating toll on children. Displaced children are in desperate need of a safe and protective environment, and increased support and funding from the international community.”
Youngsters who experience numerous moves away from home and family are more likely to drop out of school and become victims of abuse, exploitation, and sexual assault.
Furthermore, UNICEF issued a warning, stating that ninety percent of the country’s population lives in poverty and that three million children need humanitarian aid. Young people are also increasingly joining armed organizations that instill terror in the country.
Kenyan police finally made their way to Haiti this month, much to everyone’s relief, as part of a global initiative to help stabilize the Caribbean nation.
Food security and access to humanitarian supplies have been impacted by the violence in Port-au-Prince, where gangs controlling a large portion of the city are suspected of committing crimes like murder, rape, looting, and kidnapping.
The multinational Kenyan force, greenlit last year by the UN Security Council, had been held up for months amid challenges to its deployment in Kenyan courts.
