December 19, 2024

The escalation of armed violence in Haiti has triggered successive waves of internal displacement, severely impacting access to education for thousands of children. In makeshift camps and temporary shelters, where basic living conditions are already extremely precarious, the right to education has become virtually unattainable.
Children are often found attempting to learn in improvised spaces,under corrugated metal roofs, without blackboards, desks, or even chairs. Many sit on buckets or on bare ground, guided by volunteers with minimal resources. Education, under these conditions, has become an inaccessible privilege.
Since the beginning of the displacement crisis, a large number of children have been out of school, with no clear pathway to reentry into the formal education system. Insecurity and territorial control by armed groups have made it nearly impossible for many families to safely access functioning schools.
The long-term interruption of education poses serious risks to the cognitive, emotional, and social development of this generation, already traumatized by violence. Moreover, it constitutes a violation of a fundamental right enshrined in Haiti’s Constitution: the right to free, compulsory education for all.
In response to this growing crisis, the humanitarian sector must prioritize education as a critical component of emergency interventions. This includes establishing temporary learning spaces, training emergency education personnel, and distributing learning materials and school kits. Without such investment, thousands of children risk permanent exclusion from one of the most essential foundations of recovery and resilience: knowledge.