New UN Report Highlights Dire Humanitarian Crisis in Haiti

Author: Vera Rousseff

August 5, 2025

HRRC strongly condemns the ongoing violence committed by gangs and other groups in Haiti. We call on the international community to empower Haitian society to develop solutions to address the country’s humanitarian crisis.

A Haitian man stands amidst burning rubble. [Image credit: Richard Pierrin/AFP/Getty]

According to a United Nations report released on Friday, at least 1,520 people were killed and 609 injured in Haiti between April 1st and June 30th, 2025, as a result of armed violence. 

Three factors are contributing to the rampant violence across the country, which has persisted for years. The first is security forces’ operations against gangs, which account for 64% of the deaths and injuries. The second is direct gang attacks, responsible for 24%. The remaining 12%  was caused by self-defense groups and unorganized members of the population. The vast majority of the violence was documented in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, the capital city, 85% of which is estimated to be controlled by gangs.

The findings in the report closely resemble those from the first quarter of 2025 (from January through March), which recorded 1,617 deaths and 580 injuries. While there has been a slight decline in the number of deaths in the second quarter compared to the first quarter—in part because gangs have slowed their territorial expansion within the capital—the report notes that gang control is now extending beyond the city, particularly in the Artibonite and Centre departments.

Though gang violence has long been a problem in Haiti, the situation escalated dramatically in 2021, following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The country had already been struggling with economic and political instability for decades, much of which can be traced back to the colonization, slavery, exploitation, and foreign intervention inflicted on Haiti by the West. Natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other challenges further exacerbated inequality and violence in the country, making Haiti the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Moïse’s assassination resulted in severe destabilization; Ariel Henry, who stepped in as acting prime minister, was unable to stop the gangs from consolidating power. A transitional government was established in 2024, but it has largely failed to alleviate Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.

In addition to thousands of deaths and injuries, the violence in Haiti has resulted in acute food insecurity, sexual violence, displacement, and a host of other humanitarian concerns. According to the UN report, gang rape has become the predominant form of sexual violence in the country. Children have also been severely impacted, with hundreds being forcibly recruited by gangs.

Finding a solution to the multidimensional crisis in Haiti will be complicated. Given the history of foreign intervention in the country—which has been ineffective at best and outright harmful at worst—the U.S. and the wider international community must be extremely careful in how they provide assistance. One step could be to increase support and resources for Haitian civil society; another could be to empower the Haitian diaspora, which could provide a wealth of expertise. In any case, the international community should support Haitians in addressing their country’s challenges from within, rather than imposing solutions from the outside. As Kiki Hunegs and Aaron C. Davenport write in an article for RAND, “The United States should trust Haitians to manage their own internal affairs, and support initiatives that have genuine backing from within Haitian society.”

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Glossary

• Acute food insecurity: a severe lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life, often due to conflict, disasters, or economic collapse.

• Alleviate: to make a problem or hardship less severe.

• Armed violence: violence involving the use of weapons, often carried out by armed groups or security forces.

• Civil society: organizations and groups outside of government (e.g., NGOs, community groups, advocacy organizations) that represent citizens’ interests and work to influence policy or provide services.

• Colonization: the process by which one country establishes control over another territory, often exploiting its people and resources.

• Consolidating power: strengthening and centralizing control or authority, often by eliminating rivals or increasing influence.

• Diaspora: a group of people who live outside their country of origin but maintain connections to it, often playing a role in cultural, economic, or political affairs back home.

• Displacement: the forced movement of people from their homes, often due to conflict, violence, or disasters.

• Empower: to give someone or a group the authority, confidence, or resources to take control of their own situation.

• Escalated: increased in intensity or severity.

• Exacerbated: made a problem worse.

• Exploitation: taking unfair advantage of people or resources for one’s own benefit.

• Foreign intervention: actions taken by one or more countries to influence the situation in another country, which can include political, economic, or military involvement.

• Humanitarian crisis: a situation in which large numbers of people face extreme threats to their lives, health, or well-being, often due to conflict or natural disasters.

• Metropolitan area: a large urban region that includes a central city and surrounding communities linked by economic and social activities.

• Multidimensional crisis: a complex crisis involving multiple, overlapping challenges (e.g., political, economic, social).

• Rampant: spreading or growing uncontrollably, often in a way that is harmful or undesirable.

• Security forces: government-affiliated military or police groups responsible for maintaining order and enforcing laws.

• Self-defense groups: armed civilian groups formed to protect communities, often in areas where state security is weak.

• Territorial expansion: the process of armed groups extending control over new areas.

• Transitional government: a temporary government established to manage a country during a period of political change or instability.

• Western Hemisphere: the half of the Earth that includes the Americas and surrounding waters, as distinguished from the Eastern Hemisphere.