Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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September 10, 2025 Humanitarian aid
The situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate: armed groups control much of the country, half of the population suffers from food shortages, and the number of internally displaced people has reached unprecedented levels, tripling in the past year alone to more than one million. Mass displacement continues into 2025.
On Wednesday, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher called on the international community to provide more support to the people of Haiti.
"I feel ashamed for the world, for the fact that we can't show more compassion, more kindness, that we don't want to acknowledge what these people are going through," Fletcher said.
"I have heard stories of people whose lives have been devastated by violence. They desperately need to regain their sense of safety, dignity and hope. I refuse to believe that we cannot do more for them," he added.
"They don't want to be here."
For more than a year, armed gangs have controlled much of the capital Port-au-Prince and its environs. They commit murders, rapes, loot schools and hospitals, and kidnap children to fight.
Today, up to half of the participants in armed groups are children, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Tom Fletcher has personally met with families who have suffered violence and are forced to live in makeshift camps.
"They want to live like everyone else. They don't want to be here. They want to rebuild their lives, they want their children to get an education, health care, clean water."
"I lost everything"
Kashmina Jean-Michel lost her beauty salon after a gang attack.
"The shooting started at five in the morning. I lost everything – my property, my business. But the most important thing for me was to save my children. I had no choice but to run away immediately," she said.
"Today I live in a cramped room in poverty. Only one child can be with me, the rest are forced to live with friends," the woman adds.
© UKGW/M. Minasi
Tom Fletcher said many of the families he spoke to had already been forced to relocate two or three times.
Innocent Fanjo, a manager at one of the camps for internally displaced persons, described the current difficulties: "This space was not designed for so many people. There is a problem with food: there is enough food only until midday, but what do people do then, at three or four o'clock in the afternoon? They also have to eat something."
Education for youth
Despite the difficult situation, there are organizations in Haiti that continue to provide support to the population. The OCCED'H youth center in Port-au-Prince works with teenagers and young adults from affected areas where access to education and vocational training is extremely limited.
Almost 300 students gain practical skills at the center. One of them, Fanny Sagess, is learning to create leather goods. “I like to develop my creative abilities, and if you take it seriously and put your heart into it, it can help you gain economic independence,” she says.
"We have to do more"
After visiting the centre, Fletcher noted: “We can find ways to counteract the crisis, the sense of despair and decline, here… young people learn to cut hair, do manicures and pedicures, weave bracelets, repair motorcycles. But most importantly, they rebuild their lives.”
He stressed that the world must extend a helping hand to Haiti and called for increased financial support for humanitarian operations in the country. Of the $908 million needed to meet the most urgent needs, only $108 million has been raised.
"I can't believe we're having such a hard time raising funds… We have to do more," Fletcher said.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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