Convoy of Hope Provides Relief Amid Civil Unrest in Haiti

Photo above: Residents flee their homes during clashes between police and gang members at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Unrelenting gang attacks in Haiti have paralyzed the country and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Worsening the situation is this week’s closure of Port-au-Prince’s main seaport. The move left stranded scores of containers filled with critical items like food and medical supplies in a country where U.N. officials say half the population does not have enough to eat and 1.4 million are starving. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

April 15, 2024 | 1:20 p.m.

At the end of February, civil unrest in Haiti began to increase significantly due to widespread dissatisfaction with corruption, economic instability, and social inequality. During the second week of March, gangs attacked prisons — freeing thousands of inmates — and the airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince, forcing businesses and schools to close and driving thousands of people from their homes.

Hundreds of thousands of children and their families live in some of the most vulnerable communities currently besieged by criminal gangs. A staggering 362,000 Haitians, half of them children, are displaced. Hunger and malnutrition are at a critical state for these children.

Convoy of Hope has been active in Haiti since 2006, primarily working through an in-country partnership, and currently feeds more than 126,000 children in schools there through its Children’s Feeding initiative. Additionally, more than 8,000 women and girls are enrolled in Women’s Empowerment programs, and nearly 2,000 farmers participate in Agriculture training.

Convoy’s long-term presence on the island helped facilitate smooth food distributions, ensuring continued programming while also providing emergency food supplies for immediate relief. 

The situation in Haiti is dire, but Convoy of Hope is committed to doing as much as possible to alleviate the suffering of as many Haitians as possible.