United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has ruled out the possibility of transforming the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti into a UN peacekeeping force for the time being, recommending instead the creation of a UN support mission to assist the MSS, funded through the UN peacekeeping budget.
Meanwhile, gang violence in Haiti continues to have a devastating impact on the country's population. Since late January, a wave of extreme brutality in the capital, Port-au-Prince, has led to widespread casualties and the displacement of thousands of people.
Guterres sent his recommendation to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, following a request from its members for a range of UN options. The MSS is not a United Nations mission, but it is authorized by the Security Council and the UN oversees its financial trust fund.
“Such a transition could be considered, once significant progress has been made in substantially reducing gang territorial control,” Guterres said of UN peacekeepers, in a letter Tuesday to the UN Security Council and obtained by VOA.
“A realistic option is based on a dual-track strategy, with the United Nations assuming new roles to enable the MSS, the national police and Haitian authorities, to substantially reduce gang territorial control through peace enforcement,” the UN chief said.
“This would require a robust mandate for the use of force and the capacities to conduct targeted operations against gangs.”
Gang violence has caused immense suffering in Haiti, particularly among women and children, displaced more than one million people and plunged nearly half the Haitian population into an acute hunger crisis.
Guterres proposed the establishment of a UN support office for the MSS to provide logistical and operational support. It would be paid for from the UN peacekeeping budget - giving it reliable funding.
The Secretary-General said the mission needs stronger intelligence capabilities and more equipment, and should be reinforced with specialized police units to protect critical infrastructure, including seaports, airports, oil terminals and major roads.
The island nation has been plagued by gang violence and instability since 2021, when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. The national police force is understaffed and ill-equipped and has been unable to stop the gangs that terrorize the population, especially in the capital.
On Monday, the union of the Haitian National Police (SPNH-17, Syndicat de la Police Nationale D'Haiti) protested in front of the Prime Minister's office in Port-au-Prince to demand better working conditions. Officers say they lack adequate equipment and supplies to fight armed gangs that control more than 85 percent of Port-au-Prince.
During a sit-in, Garry Jean Baptiste, president of SPNH-17, called on the police to take control of the country. The union also demanded back pay for those who had worked for months without being paid.
A transitional government has been in place since April 2024 with the aim of organizing credible elections, but it faces internal and external challenges.
Late last year, the United States and then Council member Ecuador, who co-led the Security Council on Haiti, called for the MSS to become a UN peacekeeping operation. But not all members agreed. China and Russia have expressed reservations about sending peacekeepers to Haiti when there is a lack of peace to maintain.
Haiti's past experiences with UN peacekeeping missions have ended badly, and it was originally thought that a non-UN mission would be a better idea. But a lack of funding, equipment, and logistics has brought even Haiti's beleaguered government around to the idea of a UN peacekeeping mission that would benefit from sustained funding and access to more resources.
The MSS began its deployment in June and is mandated until October 2, 2025. Guterres said it recently passed the 1,000 personnel mark. The personnel come from the Bahamas, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica and Kenya, which is leading the mission. But 1,000 is less than half of the 2,500 personnel planned for the mission.
A Kenyan police officer serving under the MSS mission died in Haiti on Sunday, the first casualty since the international police force arrived in the Caribbean nation in June 2024. The officer was injured during an anti-gang operation in the Artibonite department and later succumbed to his wounds.
Funding has been a problem from the start. Guterres said the mission's trust fund has $110.8 million in voluntary contributions from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Turkey and the United States, of which $48 million has not been allocated and much more is needed.
The new US administration's slashing of foreign aid is having a ripple effect around the world, hitting the world's most vulnerable populations. It is also affecting Haiti. In early February, the UN received an official communication from the United States requesting an immediate halt to its financial contribution to the MSS force in Haiti.
“The MSS is slowly assuming the shape of a real multinational effort to support Haiti,” Guterres wrote.
“We must all stand behind it as an immediate and credible effort to help the Haiti’s national police beat back armed gangs, prevent their territorial expansion and protect the people of Haiti.”
He added that the MSS, if fully deployed and adequately resourced, "represents the most viable solution to achieve the medium-term goal of reducing gang territorial control".
Also on Tuesday, the Haiti Humanitarian Response Plan for 2025 was officially launched with the country's prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. The ongoing armed violence has created a dire humanitarian crisis, with half of Haiti's population, some 6 million people, in need of humanitarian assistance, including 3.3 million children.
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners will need US$908 million in 2025 to provide assistance and protection to 3.9 million of the most vulnerable men, women and children.
The past year has been marked by a worsening humanitarian situation, with an intensification of violence resulting in fatalities, massive displacement and the collapse of basic social services. In 2024, more than 5,600 people were killed in gang-related violence, while the number of displaced people more than tripled to over one million, more than half of them children.
Basic social services are on the verge of collapse. By the end of the 2024 school year, more than 900 schools were closed, and only 27 percent of the nation's health facilities with beds were fully operational. Food insecurity has reached critical levels.
A record 5.4 million Haitians are facing acute hunger, including 2 million in emergency hunger (IPC Phase 4), suffering from extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition and high levels of disease. Children are particularly vulnerable, with at least 125,000 estimated to be acutely malnourished.
Children and women and bear the brunt of the crisis. Between January and November 2024, 5,857 incidents of gender-based violence were reported, the majority of which involved sexual violence.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the recruitment and use of children by armed groups increased by 70 percent in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with one in two children in armed groups estimated to be underage.
Ulrika Richardson, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, said the country is experiencing an unprecedented multidimensional crisis that has turned an already grave situation into a colossal humanitarian challenge.
“But in this darkness, Haiti still shines with hope and dignity, a people who refuse to give up in the face of adversity. Hand in hand, Haitian and international humanitarians are working tirelessly in an insecure environment to bring vital assistance to the most vulnerable,” she said
“For 2025, we need 908 million dollars. This is not just a figure: these are children who dream of going to school, families who want a roof over their heads, young girls who deserve to live in safety, women who can no longer bear the fear of being raped.“
Some information for this report provided by VOA.