Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state. On Wednesday, the IOM said this represents a 24 per cent increase from December 2024 – the largest number of people displaced by violence on record there. “Behind these numbers are so many individual people whose suffering is immeasurable; children, mothers, the elderly, many of them forced to flee their homes multiple times, often with nothing, and now living in conditions that are neither safe nor sustainable,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. The UN said these figures were released just ahead of a meeting on Wednesday at UN Headquarters in New York, organised by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) in examining how peace and stability can return to the Caribbean nation, following years of chaos and crisis.

The meeting discussed ways of consolidating peace at the local level and reducing the violence, particularly through the involvement of women and youth in local initiatives. At a press conference prior to the meeting, ECOSOC President Bob Rae said the current situation in Haiti was “truly existential.” “It’s important that we have a meaningful discussion about what we can do together to address these problems,” he said, emphasising that it’s “not just about increasing firepower.” (Jamaica Gleaner)