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STORY: UNICEF / HAITI CHAIBAN VISIT
TRT: 03:53
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: FRENCH / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 MARCH 2025, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
1. Med shot, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director visiting IDP site
2. Med shot, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director speaking to UNICEF staff
3. Various shots, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director speaking to families
4. Med shot, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, school turned into IDP site
5. Various shots, staff providing health and nutrition services to families, IDP center
6. Various shots, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director visiting a UNICEF-supported classroom, children, IDP camp
7. Various shots, child and mother, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director speaking with a father, UNICEF-supported classroom, children, IDP camp
8. Various shots, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director speaking with children, UNICEF-supported classroom, children, IDP camp
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director, Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF):
“We are here at Collège Théophile in the Delmas suburb of Port-au-Prince. Originally this private school had 300 students and now has 1200 students. Because it has taken in 900 students from neighboring public schools in neighborhoods that have been overtaken by armed groups. We met with a 14-year-old girl who had been the victim of sexual violence in her neighborhood. She fled with a bullet in her mouth, has undergone surgery to repair that, and is now living with her mother in a safer neighborhood. She's here at school, and she says the one thing that gives her hope, the one thing that gives her a little bit of contentment, is being able to pursue her education. Being able to still have a dream of becoming a doctor one day. Girls like her, boys who have similar dreams, won't be able to feel a sense of hope, won't be able to feel a small sense of security while they're here with their friends and other students. And that's why UNICEF is focused on learning in Haiti. That's why UNICEF works with excellent Haitian partners. Education is an essential humanitarian action.”
10. Med shot, children and families who fled the violence taking shelter, IDP camp
In his statement upon conclusion of his visit in Haiti, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban said that spending four days with communities and partners still grappling with an ongoing crisis often forgotten by the international community, underscored how heavy the toll is for children and young people in the country.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), vulnerable families are being pushed to the edge of catastrophe in the centre of the country as chaos continues to deprive children of lifesaving services and exposes them to severe protection risks.
Armed groups now control an estimated 85 percent of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and large parts of the food growing Artibonite region—forcing hundreds of thousands to flee and putting over a million children at risk.
Access to affected communities is increasingly constrained by insecurity and the presence of armed groups.
Chaiban visited a school-turned-displacement site in Port-au-Prince which is housing more than 7,000 people, half of whom are children.
In his statement, Chaiban said that children are being caught in the crossfire. Some are injured, others are displaced or orphaned.
He also said that the health system is critical. Over half the country’s hospitals are no longer operational, with only one public hospital functioning in the capital.
In Gonaives, in Artibonite, Chaiban visited a busy health centre on the brink of shutting down.
It serves up to 500 people a day, including new mothers and babies, pregnant women, malnourished children, and victims of sexual violence.
The medical director told him—without UNICEF’s continued support, they will no longer be able to operate.
Haiti’s already fragile healthcare system is collapsing under the pressure of ongoing violence and increasingly limited resources, but social service delivery systems are still functioning outside of the areas controlled by armed groups and need to be sustained.
Education is no longer a sanctuary for children — it is under siege, with nearly 1.5 million children out of school or at serious risk of dropping out altogether.
Hundreds of schools have been destroyed, or occupied, or are being used as temporary shelters for displaced persons.
In meetings with the President of the Transitional Council, the Prime Minister, and Ministers, Chaiban said that they agreed on the urgent need to protect children and ensure access to essential services.
Amidst ongoing challenges, both UNICEF and the Government reaffirmed their commitment to children’s rights and well-being, with a focus on health, education, protection, and adolescent/youth development.
UNICEF underscored the value of coordinated action led by the Government of Haiti working with its technical and financial partners such as UNICEF and of government providing adequate and sustained resource allocations including in for the humanitarian response to ensure the provision of basic social services for children and complement investments by its partners.
