Haiti’s children face a surge in violence and fear, World Vision warns in new report

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Aug 12, 2025) — A new report from Christian humanitarian organization World Vision reveals the devastating toll that gang violence is taking on children in Haiti. Grave violations against children have surged by 490% between 2023 and 2024, alongside a breakdown of essential systems such as education.

Based on interviews with more than 840 children, parents, and community leaders across six of the country’s most affected departments — West, Central Plateau, Nippes, Grand’Anse, South-East, and South — the report warns that children in Haiti are growing up in fear, deprived of their basic rights, and facing threats to their safety, education, and future.

The report comes amid an escalating crisis in Haiti. Gang violence has worsened since political upheavals in 2021. The United Nations reports that as much as 85% of Port-au-Prince is now under gang control, and the violence is spreading. More than 1.3 million people are internally displaced, and over half of the population is food insecure.

World Vision’s report found many children across Haiti are living in a state of constant fear. Children reported not being able to leave home due to a fear of gang violence, of suffering heart palpitations, and feeling persistently sad or in a constant state of fear. Some said they felt so hopeless they did not want to go on living.

“Haiti is extremely unsafe for children,” said Dr. Lesly Margel Michaud, World Vision’s Haiti national director. “There are killings, abductions, sexual violence, and forced recruitment by armed groups. Children are being hunted, harmed, and traumatized in what has become a war on childhood itself.”

Education — a lifeline for children in crisis — is also at risk, with many children forced to drop out of class. Schools have been burned, occupied by gangs, or shut down due to insecurity, and in some areas, children have missed more than a year of schooling. According to the report, 15% of children said they are not able to attend school.

“We cannot stand by while a generation of children is lost to fear, hunger, and violence,” Dr. Michaud said. “We call on the global community to act—now.”

In partnership with local communities, World Vision is reopening and securing schools in safer areas, providing school kits, and offering psychosocial support to help children return to learning. Teachers are being trained to identify and support students experiencing trauma. The organization is also delivering food, water, shelter, and medical care; creating child-friendly spaces where children can play, learn, and recover; and expanding mental health and psychosocial services for children and caregivers.

World Vision is also advocating for the government of Haiti to restore the rule of law and prioritize the protection of civilians—especially children and girls. It also urges international donors and UN agencies to rapidly scale up humanitarian assistance to meet the urgent needs of affected communities.

Find the full report here.

About World Vision:
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for all people. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information, visit worldvision.org or follow on X @WorldVisionUSA.