Haiti

Save the Children International (SCI) is operating in Haiti since 1978. The interventions are focused on child protection, education, health and nutrition, water and sanitation, food security and livelihoods, humanitarian relief, disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness for children and their families.

The situation in Haiti is becoming increasingly dire. Violence has escalated to extreme and unprecedented levels, fueled by widespread armed groups activity, particularly in the capital Port-au-Prince, centre and in the Artibonite region. Thousands of people, including children, have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety and shelter. The surge in violence has severely hindered people’s access to basic social services, exacerbating the already precarious daily life for many families in Haiti, who are trapped in a cycle of poverty, and hunger.   

Children are facing a multitude of risks in this crisis and grave violations of their rights daily.  Cases of kidnappings, sexual violence and forced recruitment into armed groups are widespread and rising. 

Many children are no longer attending school, with over 1,600 schools closed across the country, impacting over 240,000 children. 

Across the country, 1.4 million people are now displaced, including nearly 700,000 children. Many of the children currently displaced have been forced from their homes at least once.

More than half of the population – 5.7 million people- are now facing acute food insecurity. Hunger is becoming a matter of life or death.​ The situation is so severe that hunger is also driving children to join violent armed groups, with reports of some children killing, kidnapping or looting for food. 

Approximately one hundred staff are currently contributing to both urban and rural communities within the country (West, South, Grand’Anse, Northeast and Northwest departments) for the implementation of humanitarian response and development projects.

In the framework of its interventions and using its common approaches per sector, SCI works with in collaboration with its strategic and implementing partner; and local actors towards its 2030 breakthroughs that aim that all children survive, learn, and are protected. Save the Children Haiti is co-lead of the Education cluster/sector and engages with several ministries including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Institute of Social Welfare (IBESR) and the Civil Protection Department of the Ministry of Interior, amongst others.

Despite the complex socio-economic and political situation, Save the Children remains concerned about the critical humanitarian crisis in Haiti as it continues its efforts on building and responding with a strategic and flexible programming that manage risk (Strengthened safety, security and business continuity plans and ensure a quality delivery (localization scale-up- delivering through partners who have local knowledge and access to some of the hardest-to-reach communities) of the Haiti’ Strategic Plan.