Saturday 01/March/2025 – 05:02 AM
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned of the deep and immediate impact of reducing American aid to thousands of children in Haiti, at a time when violence is escalating and increasing recruitment of armed gangs for children in the country.
According to Reuters, Gitanjali Narayan, UNICEF in Haiti, said that the United States was major support for the organization’s work in Haiti, and indicated that the effect of reducing aid would be severe on children in a country suffering from conflict, violence and poverty.
More than a million people from Haiti, equivalent to about 10% of the population, were displaced due to years of conflict, which contributed to strengthening the control of armed gangs on large parts of the capital and the surrounding areas.
Reducing aid will affect many basic services
UNICEF explained that reducing aid would affect many basic services that were benefiting from American financing, such as examining malnutrition for children.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump issued an order for a temporary suspension of foreign aid under his policy “America first”, and later announced his administration to reduce more than 90% of the US Agency for International Development Agency.
UNICEF also indicated that half of the armed groups in Haiti consists of children, some of whom are being recruited at an age not exceeding eight, and in this context, the organization called for saving $ 38 million to finance education programs in the country, warning that one in seven children in Haiti is still outside the school.
