Feeding Haiti’s Children Amidst Violent Insecurity

Amongst continued violent unrest in Haiti, Mary’s Meals is providing hope in the form of education and school meals to children on the Caribbean Island.

Haiti – the poorest country in the Americas – has been plagued by extreme violence and insecurity since 2018, which escalated following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. A recent report from the UN stated that 2,500 people were killed or injured in gang violence in the first quarter of 2024. An earlier UN report estimated that 80% of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is controlled by gangs. Many schools in the country have had to close for the safety of their students.

The latest data from Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) shows that 4.97 million people – nearly half of Haiti’s population – are facing acute food insecurity in crisis or emergency levels.

Mary’s Meals has been operating in Haiti since 2006 and currently feeds 175,000 children every school day in over 500 schools. Despite the ongoing turbulence, we have managed to purchase and deliver food for the remainder of the school year thanks to the dedication of our local partners Bureau de Nutrition et Développement (BND), Caritas Hinche and Summits Education. Feeding is taking place at 94% of schools, and more food is available in the event that others are able to safely reopen.

Emmline Toussaint, Administrative and Financial Director at BND, explains the horrors facing the people of Haiti, which is on a scale that isn’t fully realized by the outside world: “If I have to say what we are living through, on a daily basis in Haiti, anybody would think I’m talking about a fictional book. Many employees, including myself, had to flee our homes because the situation was really bad. We have so many people dying and we cannot count how many people are really dying. What you see in the news is not the reality. Unfortunately, I think it's way worse.”

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The continued availability of Mary’s Meals in Haiti is only possible thanks to the selflessness of Emmline and her colleagues at BND and our other partners. In an environment where political and environmental stability is so volatile, this commitment is remarkable.

Emmline says: “As soon as the ports reopened, we had the stocks. But now, we have to deliver them to the schools, which is quite difficult. Our trucks are being stopped every 50 to 100 kilometers by gang members, but they have been able to pass.”

Mary’s Meals is helping to provide stability to the children of Haiti with a nutritious daily meal in school, while also providing much-needed relief to their families who may struggle to feed them. Alongside our local partner, we hope that by keeping youngsters in the classroom, the next generation of Haitians won’t be drawn into the violence engulfing their country.

Emmline explains: “School feeding is the best way to keep children at school. We know that they are attracted by the food but what they are getting is not only the food but also an education. We are sure that children can go to class, we are sure that they are taking their notebooks and not guns.”

Our school feeding program is helping children like siblings Jean Ishel, four, and Felisha Maria, six, who started school in January after their father went missing, presumed dead, in Port-au-Prince. Their mother moved the children to the area of Léogâne, where the school’s principal agreed to admit them for free. Emmline says: “You could see the change in their behavior, because now they can eat something, they can go to school. Of course this will not replace their dad, but at least they can live peacefully.”

Terry Bonet, Executive Director at Mary's Meals USA, says: “Since 2006, Mary’s Meals partners in Haiti have faced constant challenges, particularly in the last two years. Yet they’ve remained steadfast in their commitment to providing meals for children at school, knowing that it may be the only food many of the children will receive and their only opportunity for education. It underscores the critical role that school feeding plays in meeting the basic needs of children suffering through conflict and acute food insecurity. Despite the current turmoil, our feeding programs are being delivered to 175,000 children in 500 schools across Haiti.”