A year after Haiti’s leaders first begged for assistance, the United Nations Security Council on Monday approved a Kenyan-led mission to provide stability to the Caribbean country.
The most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere has been in freefall, with armed gangs taking control of various regions and committing atrocious acts of violence, the economy in ruins, and the public health system in ruins.
Since late 2022, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had been pleading for international assistance to strengthen the country’s fledgling police force. However, a large portion of the international community had become weary after prior interventions in Haiti had failed.
With 13 votes in favor and China and Russia abstaining, Monday’s resolution was approved. A “glimmer of hope for people who have been suffering the consequences of a difficult political, socioeconomic, security, and humanitarian situation for too long” was praised by Haiti’s foreign minister Jean Victor Geneus.
When Kenya offered to head the force and provide 1,000 men, the planning for the force made a breakthrough in July.
The resolution calls for the deployment of a “multinational security support mission” not officially a UN force with a “lead country” coordinating with the Haitian government.
The mission is initially approved for one year, with a review after nine months. The force aims to provide “operational support to the Haitian National Police, including building its capacity through the planning and conduct of joint security support operations,” the resolution says.
The mission’s secondary goal is to establish the necessary framework for Haiti’s first elections since 2016.
In a recent assessment, Guterres claimed that the security situation in Haiti has gotten progressively worse, with gang members being more numerous and well-armed than police.
80 kids were among the over 2,800 homicides that were reported in Haiti between October 2022 and June 2023, according to a UN report.
