IOM has been present in Haiti since 1994. The organization has four sub-offices across the country and presence in two other areas, with the central office located in Port-au-Prince. 

Due to its geographic position, Haiti is exposed to natural events, including earthquakes and hurricanes, causing flooding and landslides and damaging infrastructure and crops. The country has also been facing a serious political crisis since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Continuous fragility has allowed coalitions of violent gangs to take control over a big part of the capital, paralyzing the national economy and violence has led to massive displacement within the MAPP. 

Haiti is a country of departure for migrants. Today, about 1.6 million Haitians live outside the country 2. Large diaspora groups exist in Canada and the United States. The socio-economic issues, the worsening security situation, and the lack of economic opportunities led to an increase in irregular migration flows from Haiti. Since 2021, the country has also seen an increase in repatriations from certain countries in the region, such as the United States, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. 

Together with its governmental and non-governmental partners, IOM is responding to these challenges by providing humanitarian assistance to migrants, including Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and repatriated migrants and by strengthening state capacities. IOM also aims to address the root causes of irregular migration and internal displacement, reduce forced movements and the vulnerability of affected populations, strengthen the population’s resilience to the various risks encountered, and anchor migration as a cross-cutting theme in development programs in line with the objectives of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) and the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. 

IOM Haiti maintains close partnerships with United Nations (UN) agencies as a member of the UN Humanitarian Country Team (UNHCT) and the UN Country Team (UNCT). IOM co-leads the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Sector (CCCM), the Shelter NFI Sector and the Migrant Protection Working Group.