Haiti: Violence Impacts on Education

On Wednesday, official sources stated that violence in Haiti is having a devastating impact on education after insecurity led to the closure of some 900 schools from mid-2023 in the provinces of Artibonite and Port-au-Prince.

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UN agencies have recorded more than 30 attacks on schools so far this year alone, as armed groups expand their control in neighborhoods across the capital.

As a result, nearly 200,000 young people lack access to education and four thousand teachers remain unemployed.

The spread of insecurity also reaches other provinces where the agency has not yet counted the impact.

However, humanitarian organizations are supporting the delivery of school meals that have benefited almost 400,000 children since the beginning of the year.

Armed gangs have caused the internal displacement of 362,000 Haitians, half of them children, according to UN figures.

According to the International Organization for Migration, some 95,000 people fled the capital between 8 March and 9 April, 60 per cent of them to the southern departments.

The UN estimates that at least 5.5 million Haitians will need humanitarian assistance by 2024, up from the 5.2 million estimated before the escalation of recent months.

The agency also warns of a disproportionate burden of the current context on women, after rape rates skyrocketed due to unsafe conditions in many displacement sites.

In response, humanitarian organizations organize prevention and awareness-raising activities, while identifying survivors and ensuring that they receive appropriate care.