Haiti entered 2024 with the country’s multidimensional crisis at its most acute yet, with UN officials warning that gang networks controlled an estimated 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, that over 5,000 people had been killed in 2023, and that a major new gang offensive appeared to be in preparation. The political situation — with no elected officials, a prime minister of contested legitimacy under assassination investigation, and elections repeatedly deferred — provided no foundation for any security response.
The Viv Ansanm coalition, which had been forming through late 2023 as previously rival gang networks aligned under a common political objective of overthrowing the Henry government, was consolidating its organizational capacity and expanding its arsenal. Intelligence reports suggested that a coordinated offensive was being planned that would target state institutions and critical infrastructure simultaneously — a departure from the more localized violence of previous years.
Humanitarian organizations monitoring Haiti’s situation issued increasingly alarmed assessments. The World Food Programme confirmed that approximately 4.9 million Haitians faced acute food insecurity as the year began, with the number projected to rise as gang violence disrupted supply chains and displaced farming communities. Child protection organizations documented alarming rates of child recruitment by gang networks and sexual violence against children.
The Kenyan-led security mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October 2023 had still not deployed, delayed by legal obstacles in Kenya and funding shortfalls from international donors. Each month of delay was measured in lives lost and communities destroyed in Haiti. The gap between the authorization of international assistance and its actual delivery was proving lethal.