Crisis in Haiti: What You Need to Know

More than 3,600 people were killed in the first half of 2024, and an estimated 700,000 have been displaced as gang violence surges in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas while Haiti’s health system struggles under the weight of a nationwide humanitarian crisis.  

Project HOPE is on the ground in Haiti responding to the complex emergency and widening humanitarian crisis, addressing health; protection; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs in the Sud, Nippes, and Grand’Anse departments. Read on to learn more.

>>Read our latest Situation Report for our Haiti Response 

Data points: 

• Over 700,000 people have been internally displaced: Gang violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. More than half of them are children.  

• Over one-third of the population lives in extreme poverty: It’s projected that nearly 37% of the population will be living on less than US$2.15 a day by 2026. 

• Nearly 50% of people are experiencing hunger: 5.4 million people are facing acute food shortages as a result of violence and recurring climate shocks. 

What is happening in Haiti? 

Haiti has endured years of political and economic turmoil, and violence has escalated to crisis levels. In the capital city of Port-au-Prince, gangs are committing extreme acts of violence that are directly and indirectly impacting citizens, including targeted attacks on public buildings such as police stations, schools, hospitals, prisons, and religious sites. These gangs control large areas of the city, and kidnappings, extortion, and violent confrontations are rampant.  

Violence reached a record high in the first half of 2024, with at least 3,661 people killed between January and June. Children continue to be impacted by the violence and are increasingly targeted for recruitment by gangs, with an estimated 1 million children currently out of school. 

Instability extends beyond the city. The conflict in Port-au-Prince has far-reaching effects on the rest of the country, which was already grappling with recurring natural disasters, food insecurity, limited access to health care, and a collapsing infrastructure. Gang control over key roads and infrastructure has halted and disrupted the flow of basic necessities to other cities and towns. This has led to shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, driving up prices and exacerbating poverty and food insecurity throughout the country. 

The ongoing and worsening security situation is also hindering humanitarian aid delivery, making it more difficult for international organizations and NGOs to reach the 5.5 million people in urgent need. 

Many citizens have fled areas where gangs have taken over. The International Organization of Migration estimates that, in early 2024 alone, a record number of nearly 580,000 Haitians were internally displaced by the conflict. Many families have sought refuge in rural areas or smaller towns, where resources and services are already limited and overstretched.  

As violence and insecurity intensifies, the risk of gender-based violence (GBV) increases in gang-controlled neighborhoods and sites for IDPs. Women and girls continue to be disproportionately impacted by the crisis, with 2023 reporting by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showing a 49% increase in GBV and pregnant women facing difficulties accessing essential maternal health services.  

What is Project HOPE’s response? 

In 2024, Project HOPE has reached more than 110,000 community members with integrated health, protection, and WASH services through facility-based primary health care, mobile medical units (MMUs), and community-level interventions focused on psychosocial support, GBV awareness, and hygiene promotion. 

Health 

Project HOPE is deploying MMUs in the Nippes, Sud, and Grand’Anse departments to reach remote, rural, and displaced populations with medical care and treatment, including essential medicines. Clinics are held multiple times a week as “pop-ups” at schools and other suitable public facilities and have provided care to over 41,200 patients this year.  

We also support health facilities across the three departments by providing a variety of primary health care services, including infectious disease, noncommunicable disease, sexual and reproductive health, clinical mental health, and GBV care consultations. Our work to strengthen health centers has supported the provision of care to more than 21,300 patients this year. We’re also supplementing salaries for health care workers — many of whom have gone months or even years without pay — enabling them to support themselves, continue serving their communities, and avoid having to leave the country in search of work. 

Protection 

Project HOPE is strengthening mental health and GBV prevention and treatment resources by providing GBV case management and individual and group psychosocial support through Program Management Plus (PM+), as well as referral and follow-up services. 

This year, our team has reached more than 62,400 people in the Sud, Nippes, and Grand’Anse departments with awareness-raising activities on GBV and mental health. Topics discussed included sexual harassment, domestic violence, physical violence, harmful traditional practices, and stress management. We also provide psychosocial support through Program Management Plus (PM+), addressing adversity, stress management, problem management, depression, and anxiety concerns. This support reached more than 13,400 people in 2024. 

More than 420 survivors of GBV have received case management and support through Project HOPE’s team. We also distribute hygiene kits and dignity kits to GBV survivors, women and girls at risk of harm, IDPs, and community members across the three departments.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) 

The urgency and scale of need for clean water sources and hygiene promotion have been exacerbated by the increasing number of IDPs arriving to the communities where we work.  

In 2024, Project HOPE has reached more than 109,000 people with hygiene promotion and awareness-raising activities, covering topics such as hand hygiene, food safety, and waste management.  We also have distributed hygiene kits with buckets for washing, toiletries, and menstrual products in the communities we support. 

At the Hospital Immaculée Conception (HIC) in Les Cayes and Hospital Saint Antoine (HAS) in Jérémie, Project HOPE has improved sanitation and waste management through targeted WASH repairs and rehabilitation work. At HIC, which has relied on its own solar and generator power since the 2021 earthquake, we rehabilitated the surgery, orthopedics, maternity, and pediatric wards. This work included the construction of shower cubicles, the installation of a sump pump and water tank, and the rehabilitation of the latrine block. At HAS, we implemented repairs to the pediatrics and surgery wards, which included the installation of wash basins and the rehabilitation of showers and latrines.  

We have also established a natural water spring in the community of Bury in the Grand’Anse department to ensure residents have access to clean water.

Looking ahead 

Project HOPE’s team recently conducted assessments of conditions at IDP camps, where people have lived for months without running water or electricity in the scorching heat and the risk of infectious disease is high. In the months to come, we will be coordinately closing with local, national, and international actors to address the greatest community health and humanitarian needs.  

In 2025, Project HOPE will launch the USAID-funded DREAMS program in Port-au-Prince. This program is aimed at empowering adolescent girls and young women to lead healthy and independent lives free of HIV, in a country with one of the highest rates of infection in the Caribbean, providing them with education, life skills training, and support to stay in school.  

What are the greatest health needs in Haiti? 

Haiti’s health system is under-resourced and under-funded, with a lack of health workers, medical supplies, and infrastructure. Many Haitians, especially in rural areas, have limited access to basic health services. Hospitals are hard-hit by political turmoil and gang control of roads, and often lack sanitation infrastructure, water, and electricity. 

Many communities also lack access to clean water. Without it, the risk of infectious waterborne diseases like cholera remains dangerously high.  

Mental health needs are rising as violence and displacement persist. Women and girls exposed to GBV need treatment and care; displaced families need protection, WASH, and health care; and the local health system needs support to survive the crisis and withstand the next natural disaster.  

What is Project HOPE’s history in Haiti?  

Project HOPE’s work in Haiti began in 1984, through a USAID project to develop clinical laboratory capacity at the University Hospital in Port-au-Prince.  

In 2010, we responded to the 7.0-magnitude earthquake by deploying medical volunteers and delivering more than $60 million in donated medicines and medical supplies. As Haiti recovered from the earthquake, we remained and helped to ensure long-term access to care.  

Since then, our programs in the country have continued to focus on emergency and disaster response, as well as increasing access to primary health care, addressing sexual and reproductive health needs, building the capacity of frontline health workers, and facilitating the provision of medical commodities to ensure free access to care. 

In 2021, immediately following the 7.2-magnitude earthquake, Project HOPE deployed a team of first responders to provide medical relief to hard-hit areas. We then launched a nine-month program to help Haiti’s health system recover for the long term, working to restore basic primary health services, provide protection support, expand WASH activities, and provide mental health and psychosocial support services.  

In 2022, Project HOPE was at the forefront of cholera response, increasing the capacity of Cholera Treatment Centers with provision of staff, training, and medical commodities to curb the impact and spread of cholera in the Grand Sud region.