Underage girls were raped, children were recruited by gangs, houses were set on fire… The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today described the “horror” experienced by the people of Haiti, appealing to the international community not to forget this Caribbean country plagued by organized crime.

The situation in Haiti is “indeed evolving into a forgotten crisis”, said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, a few days after her return from Port-au-Prince, recalling that 5.2 million people (almost half of the country’s population ) need humanitarian assistance, including 3 million children.

“Armed gangs control more than 60 percent of the capital,” as well as many of the country’s rural areas, Russell said. Citing reports from her partners and testimonies from residents, the UNICEF chief underlined that the situation is now “worse than ever” – pointing to economic impoverishment, the rise of cholera cases, insecurity from organized crime, as well as the impact of natural disasters.

Then the executive director of UNICEF recounted shocking testimonies from victims of gangs.

“An 11-year-old girl, with a sweet voice, told me that five men kidnapped her while she was walking down the street. Three of them raped her. She was eight months pregnant when we spoke, she gave birth a few days later,” he said.

“Another woman said armed men broke into her home and raped her. Her 20-year-old sister resisted so strongly that she was burned alive. Then they set fire to their house,” he added.

Catherine Russell praised the work of teachers and health workers who offer their services every day, defying the dangers. “Even in this horror, there is hope,” he noted.

The Haitian government has appealed for an international force to help fight organized crime, but so far there has been no response.