The number of children recruited by gangs in Haiti soars by 70%, UNICEF says

Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A new UNICEF report has found that the number of children recruited by gangs in Haiti has surged by 70% in the past year. The increase comes as poverty deepens and violence increases amid political instability. Gangs that control 85% of Port-au-Prince are attacking once peaceful communities in a push to assume total control of the capital. Recruiting children has become easier in a country where many schools are closed, where more than 60% of the population lives on less than $4 a day and hundreds of thousands are starving or nearing starvation. The report was released Monday.