Students in the capital, Port-au-Prince, have missed hundreds of hours of class over the past year, and more than one million Haitians now face emergency levels of acute food insecurity, according to a recent UN-backed report.
As deadly threats to school safety continue in Port-au-Prince and northern parts of the Artibonite department, UN News examined the situation on the ground and how the UN is responding to the worsening education crisis.
Mass school closures
By the end of January, a total of 900 schools had temporarily closed, mostly in Port-au-Prince, depriving some 200,000 children of their right to education, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Many other schools closed abruptly in Port-au-Prince in late February, when armed gangs coordinated prison breaks, freeing some 4,500 prisoners.
Gangs now reportedly control between 80% and 90% of the capital and, in the ensuing chaos, UN agencies on the ground reported cases of recruitment of children by armed groups, spiraling violence , looting and destruction.
“The Haitian population is caught between two fires“, declared Catherine Russell, director of UNICEF. “Children's spaces have been transformed into battlefields. Each passing day brings new deprivations and horrors to the people of Haiti.”
Basic security urgently needed for life-saving services and for humanitarian workers to reach those who desperately need them, he said, calling for the protection of schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure that children depend on and the safeguarding of humanitarian spaces.
Classrooms become homes
At the end of March, The violence had displaced at least 362,000 peoplemany of whom were trapped in the besieged capital and thousands found temporary shelter in public buildings, including schools.
Each classroom became a temporary home for several families. Playgrounds became tent shelters. Gyms were transformed into open dormitories for those seeking security.
“Many schools are inaccessible as violence is increasing around them“said Bruno Maes, UNICEF representative in Haiti. “Some are occupied by gangs, others by displaced people and still others have been looted or destroyed.”
On the afternoon of March 25, heavily armed groups entered a school in the center of Port-au-Prince and set fire to 23 classrooms. Humanitarian organizations they condemned the incident.
In another incident in the La Saline neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, 3,500 children were trapped in two schools while gangs fought around them. UNICEF battled armed groups for four days before being able to secure the safe release of the children.
UNICEF has urged all parties to safeguard students, educators, parents and educational infrastructurein line with the Safe Schools Statementa global political commitment supported by 119 countries, including Haiti, to improve protection measures and support for lifelong education during armed conflict.
A children's playground structure becomes a shelter for the population of the Tabarre area, in Port-au-Prince (Haiti).
Terrified and traumatized
“The situation is desperate for children,” said UNICEF's Maes. “Children are killed, injured, raped, displaced and denied access to basic servicesincluding the school,” adding that they are “terrified and traumatized,” some after witnessing bodies burned in the streets.
Amid such obvious dangers, parents “still want to send their children to school,” he said. “Education is at the heart of every Haitian family; people place a lot of value on it.”
As gangs continue to expand their control of vital roads and ports, their dominance extends outside the capital and the threat to school safety increases.
Despite this, most schools outside the troubled gang-controlled areas of Port-au-Prince and Artibonite continue to operate. Many have admitted children who have fled due to violence and insecurity, although some parents cannot pay school fees due to growing poverty.
Multiple response
United Nations agencies have collaborated to provide essential itemssuch as food, water and shelter, to thousands of Haitians in need, and to help children return to school using new approaches.
Efforts include an initiative by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that currently provides psychosocial support to students forced to leave school due to violence, and the World Food Program (WFP) supports hot meals for 250,000 children across the country.
Part of UNICEF's work is to help families affected by violence and displacement reintegrate children into formal education. When this is not feasible, the agency works with partners to establish alternative, safe and temporary learning environments.
Redefine schools
The goal is to get children back to learning and participating in school meal programsaccording to a UNICEF report, published in French at the end of March.
If schools remain closed, distance learning can be used through radio, television and e-learning platforms. UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Education to find a way to deliver it through Radio Télé Éducative (RTE) broadcasts on Haiti's national station.
Other opportunities to engage students during the crisis include increasing the capacity of schools currently hosting displaced students.
