Haiti Gang Violence and Displacement
Recent Developments
01January 2026: UN reporting said Haiti remained in a breaking-point crisis, with 6.4 million people needing assistance and gangs tightening their grip on key areas.
02March 2026: UN reporting said at least 1.4 million people had been forced from their homes due to gang violence.
03June 2026: UN News reported that a new security force began operations amid continued gang control of up to 90% of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.
04July 2026: UN reporting said internal displacement had reached 1.47 million people and the 2026 humanitarian appeal was still critically underfunded.
Interventions
- UN-backed security operations, including the new Gang Suppression Force, aimed at restoring state control and reducing gang violence.
- UN humanitarian response efforts led by agencies including OCHA, WFP, IOM, and UNICEF to provide food, shelter, health care, protection, and displacement support despite severe access constraints.
What Works
- Restoring safe humanitarian access and protecting aid corridors is critical because violence and road blockages are directly preventing food, health, and protection services from reaching affected communities.
- Targeted assistance for displaced people, including emergency shelter, food aid, and protection services, is supported by UN and humanitarian reporting as the most immediate way to reduce harm while insecurity remains high.
How to Help
- Donate to reputable humanitarian organizations responding in Haiti, such as IRC, UN agencies, and established emergency relief groups working on displacement, food insecurity, and protection.
- Support organizations providing emergency shelter, health care, and food assistance to internally displaced people in Haiti.
- Advocate for sustained international funding and civilian protection by contacting elected representatives and supporting humanitarian appeals.
Make an Impact
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Raise Awareness
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Verified Organizations
Organizations Helping(9)
IOM is directly involved in Haiti’s displacement crisis by tracking population movements, supporting internally displaced people, and coordinating emergency response for people forced from their homes by gang violence. UN reporting notes that displacement has reached about 1.47 million people and that IOM’s Haiti mission has warned the crisis is reaching an increasingly alarming stage, indicating the agency is actively managing displacement data and response operations in Haiti.
WFP’s strategy combines immediate life-saving assistance with measures that reduce future vulnerability. In emergencies, it uses a mix of direct food aid, cash, and vouchers so assistance can be adapted to local market conditions and delivered quickly when conflict, displacement, or disaster disrupts access to food.[3][5][10] A distinctive part of WFP’s approach is that it links humanitarian response with resilience-building. It does this by pairing food assistance with community asset creation, nutrition programming, school meals, and support for social safety nets, so the same intervention can meet urgent hunger needs while strengthening local systems, infrastructure, and livelihoods over time.[3][7][10] WFP also emphasizes scale and partnership with governments. Its programmes are implemented across many countries and are designed to complement public systems, including school feeding and social protection, while using tools such as cash, market access support, and food-security data to make assistance more efficient and context-specific.[5][7]
Project HOPE’s strategy is to strengthen local health systems rather than deliver short-term aid alone. Across its programs, it works through training, mentorship, clinical capacity-building, and direct service delivery so that hospitals, clinics, and community health workers can continue providing care after an external response ends. This is visible in its NCD work in China, where it combines clinical training, case management, screening, counseling, and education to improve how local systems manage chronic disease, and in Ethiopia, where it supports hospital mentorship and comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care centers.[5][8] A second part of its approach is rapid, mobile, and community-based response in crises. In emergencies and conflict settings, Project HOPE uses mobile health and nutrition teams, mobile clinics, and community partnerships to reach displaced or underserved people with primary care, maternal services, nutrition support, and outbreak prevention.[6][8] That model is designed to keep services accessible when fixed facilities are damaged, overloaded, or hard to reach. Project HOPE also appears to integrate disease-specific programs into broader public health delivery rather than treating each condition in isolation. Its publicly described primary areas include disasters and health crises, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, maternal, neonatal, and child health, and health policy, which suggests a systems-oriented portfolio that combines prevention, treatment, and policy support across settings.[2][3]
OHCHR contributes by documenting killings, injuries, displacement drivers, child recruitment, and other abuses linked to Haiti’s gang violence. Security Council reporting cites OHCHR data showing at least 5,519 people killed and 2,608 injured between 1 March 2025 and 15 January 2026, making OHCHR’s role central to evidence-gathering, accountability, and international reporting on civilian harm.
