“I am ashamed in the name of the world that we cannot find in ourselves be more compassionate, to be more friendly, recognize what people are happening here,” said Tom Fletcher, who directs the UN emergency help agency, Ocha, OCHA, during a visit to the Caribbean nation.
“I heard people whose lives have been destroyed by brutal violence,” he said. “They are desperate for security, dignity, hope. I refuse to believe that we cannot do better for them. “
A country of 11 million, Haiti continues to face a severe humanitarian and protection crisis in the midst of an cholera outbreak and increasing malnutrition rates.
Half of all Haitians face food insecurity and unprecedented levels of forced displacement that tripled more than one million people last year, according to an Ocha update, which said that large -scale displacements have continued in 2025.
A baby is treated in a health center in Port-Au Prince, Haiti.
‘They don’t want to be here’
For more than a year, gangs have taken over large stripes inside and outside the capital, the portable prince, rape, kill, loot the civil infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, as well as kidnappings of children’s recruits to fight.
“Right now, Up to half of all members of the armed group are children“Ocha declared.”Fear permeates daily life“As families are forced to leave their homes and seek refuge, food and security.
“They have been displaced several times by violence,” said Fletcher, who met with affected authorities, partners and families living in makeshift shelters. “They want to live their lives like any other person.
“They don’t want to be here. They want to rebuild their lives. They want education for their children. They want the medical attention they need. They need clean water.”
Living ‘in misery’
Some displaced families shared their difficult situation, including Roude Jean, who said: “We need to be able to live normally, as in the rest of the world.”
Cashmina Jean-Michel, a woman displaced by the violence of the gangs, said that once she owned a beauty salon and used the staff, but lost everything.
“At 5 in the morning, there were many shots,” he recalled. “I lost everything, my belongings, my business, but the safety of my children was my absolute priority. I had no choice but to get them and run immediately. Today, I live in a very narrow space in misery, where I can only keep one of my children, while others must stay with friends.”
Many families have been displaced two or three times, said the UN Help Chief.
The UN relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, meets a family in Port -au -Prince, Haiti.
Food and shelter scarcity
Innocent Fagneau, vice president of a site for internally displaced persons such as Mr. Jean and Mrs. Jean-Michel, described the current challenges.
“Now, with the number of people we currently have, this space was not designed for this use,” he said.
“There is also an food problem on this site. The amount of food we receive to distribute, for example, we finish the amount at noon, but what about 3 or 4 pm? People should still be able to eat something.”
Rebuild lives, overcome despair
The Ocched’h Youth Center provides rays of hope, specifically aimed at adolescents and young people from communities affected by armed violence and those living in sites for internally displaced persons in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Prince Puerto, where access to education and training opportunities is extremely limited.
The center offers practical and vocational training to almost 300 students, including Phanie Sagesse, who is learning leather crafts.
“I love developing my creative skills, and if you take Leather’s crafts seriously and put your entire heart in what you are doing,” he said, “can help you achieve economic independence.”
‘We have to be here’
In a visit to the youth center, Mr. Fletcher said: “We can find ways to go back against this crisis, against a feeling of despair and deterioration because here … these young people are cutting their hair, they are making manicures, they are learning to pedicular, they are making bracelets, they are learning to fix motorcycles, but, finally, they are recovering their lives.”
He said the world must give a hand in that regard.
“We can see that people can also build their communities again, not only as individuals, but as a society, as Haiti, and ultimately, so we have to be here,” he said. “That is why the world must be here, helping them reconstruct all this despair of the ruins of their lives.”
‘This is not enough’
While UN agencies fight to provide support and essential goods and services, Fletcher said it should be done more.
To date, the humanitarian appeal for Haiti remains severely sub -financed. Of the $ 908 million to address urgent needs, only 11 percent are financed, leaving a financing gap of $ 800 million.
“This is not enough,” said the UN Help Chief. “I can’t believe that we are fighting so much to raise the necessary funds to support these families while trying to rebuild their lives, but we have to be there for them. We have to do better.”