UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 20, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The United Nations said Thursday it has added a coalition of powerful gangs in Haiti to its list of gross violators of the rights of children in conflict zones.

A UN report singled out an alliance called "Viv Ansanm," which means living together, for addition to what the United Nations calls its "list of shame" for abuses of kids.

Gangs run wild in Haiti, controlling most of the capital city Port-au-Prince in the absence of a strong government and engaging in kidnapping, murder, rape, extortion and other crimes, officials and rights groups say.

"The Viv Ansanm coalition of armed gangs has been listed for the recruitment and use and the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, and attacks on schools and hospitals," the report states.

The United Nations identified 2,269 cases of grave violations against 1,373 children in 2024, the report said.

The cases included 213 kids killed, 566 instances of sexual violence, and 302 youngsters recruited by gangs, the report said.

This marks a 490 percent increase compared to 2023 and places Haiti among the top five countries where violations like these are committed against minors.

"I am deeply alarmed by the surge in grave violations, in particular the number of incidents of recruitment and use, sexual violence, abduction and the denial of humanitarian access by armed gangs," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in the report.

The report details human rights violations against people under the age of 18 in about 20 conflict zones around the world and the groups responsible for these violations.

This is the first time that gangs in Haiti have been added to the UN "list of shame."

"We simply cannot get the full impact of what is happening in Haiti. But we know it's horrific enough that it's already providing horrendous figures with the little information that we're able to get," a UN official said on condition of anonymity.

Among Haiti's many armed and powerful gangs, Viv Ansanm stems from the fusion of two rival groups that forced the resignation of the prime minister in the spring of 2024.

It is "perhaps the most brutal, the most prevalent" of the gangs and the one against which the UN could verify the most rights violations, the official said.

The coalition is growing as it absorbs smaller gangs, the official added.

The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti has suffered from political instability, poverty, corruption, natural disasters and other woes for many years.

Gang violence has been on the rise since 2024 when then-prime minister Ariel Henry resigned amid an assault by gangsters opposed to him.

Haiti has no sitting parliament and has not held a presidential election since 2016. It is run by a weak transitional council that is supposed to prepare for elections.

An international force led by Kenya has deployed to Haiti with the mission of helping the police rein in the gangs but it has failed to make much progress.