This meeting of the Sectoral Table demonstrated that the issue of children recruited into gangs cannot be addressed solely from a security perspective. It requires a comprehensive response combining prevention, justice, reintegration, and the protection of the rights of Haitian children forced to engage in criminal activities. This session, organized with the participation of state institutions, civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and representatives of the judicial sector, addressed a particularly sensitive issue: the growing involvement of children in armed groups in Haiti.

General Jean Robert Gabriel and Colonel Edwin Florexil outlined the systematic strategies used by gangs to recruit and exploit children: as messengers, lookouts, or even fighters. Their remarks helped to better understand the extent of the phenomenon, as well as the psychological and physical exploitation suffered by these youths.