A new crisis unfolds in Haiti’s Centre department

Hinche, 16 May 2025 – The people of Mirebalais, a small commune in Haiti’s Centre department, can vividly recount the day their lives changed forever. On 31 March 2025, armed groups launched a coordinated attack on the town.  No place was safe from the bullets. The Mirebalais hospital, police station and prison were attacked and have not been accessed to date; homes and vehicles set ablaze.  

Trapped in the crossfire, people left with little more than what they could carry. According to the International Organization on Migration’s (IOM) displacement tracking matrix, more than 50,000 individuals, including 27,000 children, are now displaced across the Centre Department, with over 12,500 stranded in almost one hundred spontaneous displacement sites. Many are sleeping in the open or sheltering in whichever building they could find – including schools, with limited access to clean water, food and critical services. 

Despite immense challenges, UNICEF was on the ground since early April and is working closely with local authorities and partners to provide urgent support to displaced families and host communities; and restore some sense of normalcy to thousands of children whose lives have once again been upended by violence.

UNICEF’s response 

To address the growing needs, UNICEF deployed a multi-sectoral emergency team to Hinche, with missions to Boucan-Carré, one of the hardest-hit areas, to coordinate, assess and initiate a response. As of the end of April, UNICEF had reached more than 8,500 people with life-saving interventions across health, nutrition, water and sanitation, child protection, education, and behaviour change communication. 

Health and nutrition services on the frontlines 

In collaboration with Caritas and local health authorities, UNICEF has deployed mobile health clinics to displacement sites in Hinche and Boucan-Carré. More than 400 individuals have already received consultations across the displacement sites, including pediatric care, malnutrition screening, prenatal counselling and vaccinations.  Health teams are also conducting awareness sessions on cholera and malaria prevention. 

In Boucan-Carré, where 12,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) were registered, UNICEF plans to scale up mobile health coverage. Emergency medical kits delivered from Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien will help treat up to 30,000 patients in overstretched hospitals in Hinche, Cange and Boucan-Carré over the next three months.

Protecting children’s mental wellbeing 

Displaced children are carrying the psychological scars of violence, displacement and fear. Some have seen their friends recruited by armed groups; many fear the same fate. UNICEF, in partnership with the Institute of Social Welfare and Research and the Haitian Red Cross, is offering psychosocial support and recreational activities to help children cope and feel safe again. 

Since 25 April, more than 1,200 children in nine sites across Hinche have participated in group activities, games and one-on-one counselling sessions aimed at supporting their psychosocial wellbeing. 

Restoring education amid the crisis 

With over 40 schools currently serving as displacement shelters, children’s access to education has been severely disrupted. In response, UNICEF and local education authorities developed a plan to reintegrate displaced children into existing schools and provide non-formal education where necessary. 

Following outreach to school directors, hundreds of displaced children have already resumed classes in Hinche. In Boucan-Carré, the progressive reopening of schools is being coordinated with the relocation of displaced families. 

Clean water and hygiene 

Access to safe water remains critical. UNICEF, through its partner Caritas, has delivered over 13,000 litres of drinking water and distributed hygiene kits in displacement sites.  Community health workers are also leading hygiene promotion sessions to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera. 

Behaviour change and community engagement 

Over 1,400 people have been reached with life-saving messages on handwashing, water treatment and disease prevention. UNICEF is also training local staff from Civil Protection and the Red Cross to support psychosocial interventions and ensure accountability to affected populations. 

Challenges and access constraints 

Security conditions remain volatile. Armed groups continue to control parts of the Centre Department, limiting access to vulnerable communities and narrowing humanitarian space. Key roads connecting Hinche to Mirebalais, Lascahobas and the border town of Belladère are impassable due to the presence of armed groups, restricting movement and delaying humanitarian aid. Humanitarian teams are relying on alternate routes and local negotiation to reach people in need.

A call for support 

Over one million people in Haiti – half of them children – have been displaced by violence. The scale of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the country is unfathomable. And now, as armed violence spreads beyond Port-au-Prince and Artibonite, the future of Haiti’s children seems more uncertain than ever. 

Urgent action is needed – not only to deliver life-saving assistance, but also to find medium-term solutions to the growing displacement crisis. Authorities and humanitarian actors will work together to support both displaced families and the host communities that have opened their doors to them. 

UNICEF’s emergency response in the Centre department requires US$1.2 million over the next six months to support every vulnerable child. To date, only US$295,000 has been secured; less than 25 per cent of what’s needed. 

Without urgent and flexible funding, thousands of children will remain without basic healthcare, safe water, education and protection. UNICEF is calling on donors and partners to step up their support to ensure a rapid and sustained response for Haiti’s children.