UN confirms “staggering” 490% spike in child rights violations in Haiti

– Guyana joins call for urgent global response
The humanitarian crisis in Haiti has reached a devastating new peak, with the United Nations (UN) reporting a 490 per cent increase in grave violations against children in 2024 alone, placing the Caribbean nation among the five worst-affected countries worldwide. Delivering a statement on behalf of the A3+ (Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Guyana) during a Security Council briefing on Friday, Guyana’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Trishala Persaud, underscored the catastrophic scale of the crisis.
According to the Secretary-General’s António Guterres’ latest Children and Armed Conflict report, more than 2,000 violations against children were verified last year—figures that UN officials stressed still under-represent the true extent of the violence. “With over two thousand violations verified, placing Haiti among the five countries most affected worldwide, and bearing in mind that these figures do not reflect the full scale of violations against children. Women and girls face heightened risks with pervasive incidents of gang rape, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment,” Persaud lamented.
“Meanwhile, the humanitarian response is faltering. The Humanitarian Response Plan is only 10 per cent funded. Gangs continue to impose access impediments by expanding their territorial control, while insecurity further constrains humanitarian operations. The situation is also compounded by the rising deportations of Haitian nationals, which place additional strain on already scarce resources. The A3+ acknowledges the ongoing efforts of the Haitian authorities, supported by bilateral, regional, and international partners, to strengthen institutions and improve the national response capacity,” the Guyanese envoy went on to state.
Persaud, speaking for the A3+ outlined three immediate priorities for action, which include restoring justice institutions, ensuring the safety of humanitarian staff and guaranteeing aid delivery and coordinated international action across all sectors.
“First, the crisis in Haiti is multidimensional, and so too must be our collective response. The A3+ underscore the urgency of coordinated international action across the political, humanitarian, security and economic tracks, each of which is inextricably linked and must be addressed in tandem. For any solution to endure, it must be comprehensive, tackling both security and socio-economic challenges, while remaining firmly Haitian-led, Haitian-owned, and Haitian-focused. This must also inform a comprehensive disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process for children, who should be treated primarily as victims. This is necessary to prevent an entire generation of boys and girls from being lost, and to break recurring cycles of violence against children”.

“Second, the security situation is urgent. Addressing it is fundamental to unlocking progress in all other areas. Without stabilisation, humanitarian goods and personnel cannot reach those most in need. In this regard, discussions on safety and security must also address challenges to the safety of humanitarian personnel and the continuity of aid operations… Third, we wish to underscore the need to restore the rule of law and judicial institutions, which are indispensable for long-term peace. In this regard, we support ongoing efforts to combat corruption, impunity, and the collapse of justice systems. We reaffirm the need to build resilience and safeguard the future of Haiti’s children. To achieve this, it is essential to address the root causes of the crisis, strengthen good governance, the rule of law and accountability; ensure access to public services, especially education and healthcare, including physical and psychological care; foster economic development and ensure social inclusion for sustainable peace, she explained.
The group also called for sustained assistance to Haiti’s security forces, with emphasis on child protection, capacity-building, and institutional strengthening.
“The acute security and humanitarian crises must be addressed in a coherent and balanced manner, including through a carefully calibrated international response… As the Security Council deliberates on the way forward in implementing the recommendations of the Secretary-General issued in February this year, and as we collectively consider avenues to further broaden support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, we wish to underscore the continued importance of sustained assistance to the Haitian security forces. In this regard, we stress the need to prioritise capacity-building efforts, including specific provisions for dedicated child protection resources, and to reinforce the institutional effectiveness of national agencies entrusted with the implementation of Security Council resolutions and the administration of related sanctions measures,” Persaud added.