UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Haiti to address a severe humanitarian crisis driven by gang violence, which has displaced 1.5 million people and killed 2,300 in 2026. Gangs like Viv Ansanm control up to 70% of Port-au-Prince. Guterres's visit comes as a new, multinational UN-backed gang-suppression force prepares to deploy to support Haiti's police and help the transitional government move toward elections.
Guterres Haiti visit
- ▪U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres visited Haiti on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, amid a crisis of surging gang violence
- ▪During his one-day visit to Port-au-Prince, Guterres met with Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé and visited a shelter for displaced people
Gang violence displacement crisis
- ▪A record of more than 300,000 people have been displaced by gang violence across the capital, Port-au-Prince
- ▪The powerful gang federation Viv Ansanm is estimated to control 70% of Port-au-Prince
- ▪Surging gang violence in Haiti has displaced 1.5 million people, leaving more than 1 in 10 people homeless
- ▪Gang violence in Haiti has killed 2,300 people and led to 100 kidnappings in 2026, according to UN statistics
- ▪The U.S. government has designated the Haitian gang federation Viv Ansanm as a foreign terrorist organization
UN gang-suppression force
- ▪Jamaica, Chad, El Salvador, and Guatemala have deployed fewer than 1,000 troops for the new gang-suppression force
- ▪A new UN-backed gang-suppression force, approved by the UN Security Council in September, is being deployed in Haiti
- ▪The new force replaces a previous UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police that was considered underfunded and understaffed
Humanitarian conditions in shelters
- ▪Some residents have lived in makeshift shelters for up to four years after gangs attacked their communities and forced them to flee
- ▪A makeshift shelter in a former Port-au-Prince school houses more than 1,200 people, where only one meal a day is guaranteed
Haiti political transition
- ▪A day before the UN chief's visit, Human Rights Watch urged him to protect the population and address the root causes of violence
- ▪Haiti has not had a president since Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his private residence in July 2021
Election pressure on government
- ▪Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé is under pressure to hold elections in the country of nearly 12 million people
- ▪Prime Minister Alix Didier-Fils-Aimé stated that security is a priority for the transitional government to be able to hold elections
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