UNITED Nations (AFP) — The number of children in Haiti recruited by armed groups has jumped by 70 per cent in the past year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned Sunday, with children making up almost half of gang membership.

A new report by the United Nations’ leading child welfare agency, UNICEF, says the number of children being recruited by the country’s violent gangs has soared by 70% in the last year. The unprecedented spike, registered between the second quarter of ...

The Associated Press writes that the increase in child members is related to the worsening of poverty in the country, increasing violence, and political instability.

They’re not doing this voluntarily,” said Geeta Narayan, UNICEF’s representative in Haiti. “Even when they are armed with weapons, the child here is the victim.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says the number of children being recruited into armed groups across Haiti has increased by 70 per cent over the past year. It said the unprecedented spike also reveals the alarming deterioration of child protection amid escalating violence in the Caribbean nation.