Updated as of Thursday 1 October 2026
Haiti is facing one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises for children. 2.8 million children need humanitarian assistance. Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1978, in both urban and rural communities, and we're still here, helping children get the food, healthcare, learning and protection they need.
What the data says
Armed groups control much of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, and violence keeps forcing families to flee. About 1.47 million people were displaced as of mid-May 2026, according to UNICEF, FAO and WFP (17 September 2026). At least 755,000 of them are children.
Hunger is at record levels too. The IPC analysis for September 2025 to February 2026 found that 5.7 million people, more than half the population, face high levels of acute food insecurity. In plain terms, that means "Crisis" levels of hunger or worse.
Impacts on children
Malnutrition is rising. The same UNICEF, FAO and WFP analysis estimates that 253,725 children aged 6 to 59 months will face acute malnutrition between June 2026 and May 2027. That includes 93,873 with severe acute malnutrition, which can be life-threatening without treatment.
Children are also at risk of violence. The UN verified 2,088 grave violations against 1,661 children in Haiti in 2025, including 892 children recruited and used by armed groups. "Grave violations" are six types of serious harm to children in conflict defined by the UN Security Council, including killing and maiming, abduction and attacks on schools and hospitals. The UN also recorded 620 children killed or maimed. As our Country Director in Haiti, Chantal Sylvie Imbeault, said in June 2025, "Haiti is currently one of the world's most dangerous places for children."
Daily life is disrupted as well. Then came Hurricane Melissa. On Wednesday 29 October 2025, flooding in Haiti killed at least 20 people, including 10 children, in Petit-Goâve. It also flooded camps sheltering families already displaced by violence.
How we're helping
We work with local partners to give families cash so they can buy food and other essentials. We deliver health and nutrition support, including treating children for malnutrition and giving caregivers nutrition advice. We also support children to access clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and to stay protected from harm, exploitation and abuse.
Education is a lifeline too. Our education in emergencies work keeps children learning when crisis disrupts school. In the Port-au-Prince area, we're setting up community learning spaces within a 10-minute walk of children's homes. In Haiti's Grand South, we're helping displaced children return to learning. Trained teachers lead small-group sessions in reading, writing and basic numeracy, and give children emotional support too.
Wood*, 14, experienced displacement when conflict broke out in her home town Port-au-Prince. She fled with her father and now lives with her aunt, where she attends a community learning space supported by Save the Children.
The school provides children with small group classes where they can improve their literacy, maths and have a safe space to learn. Teachers have also received training in psychosocial support for children like Wood* who have been forcibly displaced.
"When I don't understand something in my homework, I come here and they help me," she says. Wood dreams of becoming a nurse "so that I can be useful to my country."
Wood*, 14, smiling with her peers at school Carl Cange / Save the Children
Our response to the 2010 earthquake
When the devastating earthquake struck on 12 January 2010, it created one of the most all-encompassing emergencies we've ever responded to. It killed 230,000 people and left more than 1 million homeless. We were one of the first agencies to respond, reaching 100,000 people within two weeks. By the end of 2010, we had helped a total of 870,000 people.
What you can do
Children in Haiti can recover when the right help reaches them early, and that help depends on people like you. Find out more about our emergency work, or give monthly so we can be there for children in Haiti and in emergencies around the world.
*Names marked with an asterisk have been changed to protect identities.
