Haitian children bear brunt of illicit firearm crisis, UN report says

A growing number of children in Haiti — a demographic already bearing the weight of the country’s gang crisis — are being disproportionately killed by firearms, a direct result of the widespread availability of illicit weapons, according to a new report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Between July 2024 and February 2025, at least 94 boys and 53 girls were killed, and 34 boys and 16 girls were injured in violence linked to armed groups, the report found. Firearms were responsible for 92% of the casualties.

The findings follow a January report by the UN Children’s Fund that found 1 in 8 children displaced within Haiti. The vulnerability of children in Haiti caused recruitment by gangs to skyrocket by 70 percent in 2024 alone, with nearly half of Haiti’s gang members estimated to be under 18.

Not only do children fall victim to gang violence, but they are also directly targeted for kidnappings and sexual violence. 

“Most of the perpetrators used the threat of firearms to prevent victims from resisting. The ubiquitous presence of guns is central in the gangs’ use of violence,” the new UN report found.

The widespread presence of weapons played a role in preventing victims from resisting or escaping. 

Among the 705 people abducted during the reporting period, 12 boys and three girls were minors, while 87 girls between the ages of 8 and 17 were victims of sexual violence. 

“The relentless gang violence in Port-au-Prince and its environs has amounted to an assault on childhood itself. The UN report reflects this bleak reality, ” Rawya Rageh, a senior crisis advisor at Amnesty Internaticonal, a nonprofit that focuses on global human rights abuses, told The Haitian Times. 

He also referenced a report, he authored titled: “I’m a child, why did this happen to me?” where Rageh calls out the “litany of human rights abuses every day including recruitment into gangs, rape and other sexual violence and killings and injuries.” 

Rageh warned that many children are unable to step out of their homes, or go to school, or even play. 

Firearms are also used as a tool to recruit children into gangs as a form of intimidation and as a symbol of the gangs’ perceived power within the community. 

The presence of guns contributes to a “false sense of security among children and youth, suffering marginalization and social exclusion, that join them despite the inherent risks. Children, usually boys, are provided with weapons and coerced into using them, turning them into active participants in criminal acts,” the report states.

“Despite many of the recruited children and youth wanting to leave gang life once they realize its implications, armed gang members maintain control through force or the threat of it, preventing children from leaving.”

Children are also disproportionately impacted by displacement, making up 53% of the displaced population in Port-au-Prince. As of December 2024, more than a million people have been displaced in Haiti in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.

Are solutions in place? 

Rageh noted that, despite some progress by Haitian authorities in addressing the difficulties children face, especially gang-related issues, more needs to be done. 

“We are calling on the Haitian government to create a comprehensive child protection plan in collaboration with civil society and international donors,” Rageh said.

“Expressions of concern are not enough. Tangible steps to protect children and prevent the recruitment of more gang members are needed to avert future cycles of violence.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights pointed to the creation of a “Youth Corp,” as a way to help Haiti’s children.

The program would serve as a civil or community service or rehabilitation center and offer job training and contribute to public infrastructure projects like tree planting or draining canals and literacy classes, all while offering compensation for participation. 

“This program would enable Haitian youth, especially those in gang-controlled territory and former gang members, to receive education and employment opportunities so that they would not need to join a gang to survive.”

The report urges Haitian authorities and international partners to take immediate, coordinated steps to protect children, warning that without long-term solutions, the violence is likely to persist.

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