2024 was a year of dramatic political upheaval and continued humanitarian catastrophe in Haiti — a year that removed Ariel Henry from power through the force of gang violence, established a new transitional government with broader political legitimacy, and finally deployed the international security mission that had been promised for over a year. Whether these changes represented the beginning of genuine recovery or merely a reshuffling of arrangements that could not address the fundamental crisis remained the central unanswered question as the year ended.
The February gang offensive, Henry’s inability to return to Haiti, and his eventual resignation represented the most dramatic political transformation in Haiti since the 2021 assassination. The Transitional Presidential Council and Prime Minister Garry Conille’s government gave Haiti its most politically diverse governing arrangement in years, with potential for broader legitimacy than Henry’s solo leadership had possessed.
The deployment of the Kenyan security mission, however understrength and underfunded, marked the first meaningful international security presence in Haiti since the end of MINUSTAH. Joint operations with the Haitian police had produced some localized security improvements, and the airport’s reopening after three months of closure provided a logistical victory that mattered for the humanitarian response.
But the scale of suffering remained immense. 5,601 people killed by gangs. Nearly 1,500 kidnapped. 578,000 displaced — the highest due to crime globally. Famine conditions declared. Half the population food insecure. Nearly half a million weapons in circulation. Elections nowhere in sight. As 2025 approached, Haiti faced its crises with a new political structure but the same fundamental security, humanitarian, and governance challenges that had been building for years.