Toronto, March 3, 2026 – Spiraling violence in Haiti displaced about 500 children a day on average in 2025 with one in six children now uprooted from their homes and children as young as 10 being recruited by armed groups, Save the Children said.
The total number of people internally displaced by violence reached all all-time high of more than 1.45 million in 2025, a nearly 40% increase since December 2024 and about 12% of the population, which included 750,000 children, according to new data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The displacement crisis and the collapse of essential services have left children vulnerable to recruitment, violence, exploitation and abuse, and ongoing violence has limited access for humanitarian aid and life-saving assistance.
The number of children in Haiti recruited and used by armed groups skyrocketed by about 200% in 2025, according to the UN, with children as young as 10 forced to carry weapons or serve as lookouts. Girls face the risk of sexual violence, coercion, and exploitation.
Chantal Sylvie Imbeault, Save the Children’s Country Director in Haiti, said:
“Haiti is truly one of the most dangerous places to be a child today, with violence upending lives and forcing more children and families from their homes. Every day in 2025, an average of about 500 children were displaced by violence. That’s about 20 classrooms full of children every single day. These children are then extremely vulnerable to be recruited into the very gangs that displaced them.”
Haiti declared a state of emergency in March 2024 due to escalating violence and lawlessness in the country, particularly in Port-au-Prince, where armed groups seized control of all major roads into and leading out of the city.
Armed groups are increasingly targeting roads, ports and warehouses, forcing humanitarian organisations to rely on mobile teams and local networks to deliver life-saving assistance. These access constraints not only block aid but also accelerate the collapse of essential services, with health, nutrition and protection systems all unravelling together.
The only way to truly protect children’s lives is to halt this violence and for all parties to do everything in their power to de-escalate the situation immediately, said Save the Children.
Life-saving humanitarian assistance and aid workers must be allowed to reach those in need without delay, and the international community must urgently increase humanitarian funding for Haiti.
Save the Children has provided cash assistance for displaced families in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince living in schools-turned-shelters to find more dignified housing solutions while helping to free up schools to resume educational activities, and cash assistance to host families in the Grand’Anse, South and North East department.
The child rights organisation is also running recreational activities, case management and counselling for families living in displacement sites and working through local partners in Haiti’s West, Grand’Anse, and South departments to provide access to quality education and psychosocial support.
Save the Children has been working in Haiti since 1978, in both urban and rural communities.
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