October 14, 2025 – The escalating wave of gang violence in Haiti has reached alarming new depths, with children increasingly drawn into the conflict — both as victims and as participants. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), minors now make up nearly half of all gang members across the country, as armed groups intensify their recruitment of vulnerable youth.
“There has been a dramatic rise in gang recruitment of children this year, with some as young as 10 years old being coerced into joining,” said Roberto Benes, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, during a press briefing on Tuesday. “It is inevitable that children will be caught in the crossfire of this escalating conflict.”
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The worsening situation comes amid the long-running battle between heavily armed gangs—many now united under a single powerful alliance—and Haiti’s overwhelmed security forces. The ongoing violence has destabilized large parts of the country, including the capital Port-au-Prince, leaving civilians trapped, displaced, or forced to flee their homes.
In 2023, the U.N. Security Council authorized a Kenyan-led multinational force to assist Haitian police in restoring order. However, that mission has been hampered by severe shortages in personnel, equipment, and funding. Last month, the Council approved a plan to restructure the mission into a new Gang Suppression Force, which will depend heavily on voluntary international contributions that have yet to be fully secured.
Benes emphasized that the U.N. is taking steps to ensure that any personnel deployed to confront the gangs will receive specialized training to operate responsibly and to protect civilian populations—especially children. “We have all mechanisms in place to make sure those mandated on the ground are properly trained and prepared,” he stated.
UNICEF has verified hundreds of cases of children being forcibly recruited by gangs. Many are forced to carry weapons, act as lookouts, or perform other dangerous tasks. Girls face particularly severe risks, including sexual violence and exploitation by gang members.
The humanitarian toll on Haiti’s youth is devastating. Benes reported that one in four Haitian children is currently out of school, largely because schools have been destroyed, occupied by armed groups, or made inaccessible due to violence. Families have been displaced en masse, with more than 680,000 people forced from their homes—nearly double last year’s figure.
“The scale of child suffering in Haiti today is unimaginable,” Benes warned. “Without urgent international support and protection for children, the cycle of violence will only deepen, robbing an entire generation of its future.”
