Haiti in 2024: An Unfinished Recovery Meets a New Crisis

Years after the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2021, Haiti entered 2024 with much of its recovery still unfinished. Damaged housing, roads, schools, hospitals, water systems, and government institutions had never been fully restored. International organizations later described the country as still struggling with the structural consequences of both earthquakes when a worsening security and political crisis placed even greater pressure on the population.

During March 2024, armed groups launched coordinated attacks against police stations, prisons, the international airport, hospitals, schools, and government facilities in Port-au-Prince. Thousands of prisoners escaped, commercial flights stopped, and large parts of the capital became increasingly isolated. The United Nations reported that gangs controlled as much as 90 percent of Port-au-Prince and many of the principal roads connecting the capital with farming regions and other parts of the country.

The political system was also shaken. Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced that he would resign once a transitional government was established. A Transitional Presidential Council was installed in April, followed by a new prime minister and government later in the year. These steps were intended to restore security and eventually prepare the country for elections, but the government continued to struggle to exercise authority in gang-controlled areas.

Food shortages became one of the clearest consequences of the violence. Armed groups controlled major transportation routes, interfered with markets, and made it dangerous and expensive to move food, fuel, and supplies. Farmers had difficulty transporting crops to cities, while families faced declining incomes and sharply rising prices.

By September 2024, approximately 5.4 million Haitians—about half the population—were experiencing acute hunger. Two million were facing emergency levels of food insecurity, and thousands of displaced people were experiencing catastrophic shortages of food. Displacement also reached a record level. By the end of 2024, approximately 1.04 million people had been forced from their homes, an increase of 48 percent from the previous displacement assessment. Many moved in with relatives or host families in areas outside the capital, placing added pressure on communities that were already struggling with poverty and limited services.

The human cost was severe. United Nations reporting documented 5,626 people killed, 2,213 injured, and 1,494 kidnapped during 2024 amid gang violence, self-defense-group activity, and security operations.

Haiti’s crisis in 2024 was therefore not the result of one event. It was the combination of unfinished earthquake recovery, weak public institutions, political uncertainty, armed-group control, displacement, and growing hunger. For families across Haiti, the effects were closely connected. A damaged road made food more expensive. A closed school left children without education or meals. Violence forced families into already crowded homes. Weak government institutions made rebuilding and restoring public services even more difficult.

The earthquakes had physically damaged Haiti. By 2024, violence and political instability were preventing much of the country from completing the long process of recovery.