2026-02-26

DISPLACEMENT CRISIS A joint BINUH-OHCHR report released February 20 documented systematic trafficking of children by Haitian gangs. Most of the 26 gangs operating in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas maintain child recruitment schemes ranging from errand running and extortion collection to kidnappings, targeted killings, and sexual violence against girls. Over 500,000 children were estimated to live in gang-controlled areas in 2024. Between January 2022 and December 2025, at least 806 children, including 536 boys and 270 girls, were among the 26,188 people killed or injured. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated that children in Haiti are being robbed of their childhoods and their futures. The displacement situation has reached 1,450,254 internally displaced persons according to the latest IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix, distributed across 272 displacement sites including 149 in provincial departments and 97 in Port-au-Prince. The food security picture is equally severe: 5.7 million people, approximately 50% of Haiti's population, are food insecure according to WFP. FEWS NET projects 3.49 million people will require food assistance between October 2025 and May 2026, with peak needs in the February-May lean season that is now underway. Inflation stands at 31.9% overall with food inflation exceeding 35%, and food commodity prices run 30 to 77% above the Latin February 26, 2026 America and Caribbean regional average. An estimated 277,000 children are in acute malnutrition. The gourde exchange rate has remained broadly stable at approximately 131.1 HTG per USD as of February 26, representing a marginal depreciation of approximately 0.2% from January levels. The rate has not triggered a devaluation alert. This relative stability is significant given the governance transition and security uncertainty, but it coexists with structural inflation driven by supply chain disruption, import dependency, and fuel price pressures that no monetary stability can address alone. Remittances remain a critical economic lifeline, particularly as humanitarian needs peak during the current lean season. The BINUH child trafficking report has immediate operational implications for international organizations. The seven-pillar strategy recommended by OHCHR prioritizes social protection, education as safe spaces, rehabilitation over criminalization of recruited children, and enforcement of the UN arms embargo. For security-focused donors and missions, the report creates advocacy pressure to ensure rights-compliant procedures in all anti-gang operations and to prevent child survivors of gang exploitation from being processed through punitive rather than rehabilitative channels. Sunrise Airways has suspended all flights to and from Port-au-Prince citing security concerns, further isolating the capital from regional aviation networks.