The United Nations Security Council on Monday approved a one-year extension for a multinational police force to help Haiti's embattled national police subdue gangs in the violence-plagued Caribbean nation, and will now consider turning the mission into a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation. Meanwhile, the number of people facing acute hunger has risen to 5.4 million, according to the latest IPC analysis released Monday.
“In adopting this resolution today, the Council has helped Haiti continue re-establishing security and creating the conditions necessary to holding free and fair elections,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
“So, let us work together to build on the progress of the Haiti MSS [Multinational Security Support] mission. Let us embrace a new approach that sustains it. Let us protect the fragile but inspiring opportunity to build a better future for the Haitian people.”
The United States and Ecuador drafted the resolution to extend the mission until October 2, 2025. In the interim, Haiti's interim government has asked the 15-nation Security Council to open discussions on transforming the non-U.N. force into a U.N. peacekeeping operation.
“The transformation of the MSS into a peacekeeping operation under the mandate of the United Nations appears not just to be necessary, but a matter of urgency,” Haitian Ambassador Antonio Rodrigue told the Council.
He said such a move would ensure more stable and predictable funding and expand the force's capabilities. Currently, the mission faces a persistent lack of funding, equipment and logistical capacity.
“We firmly believe that this is an approach which is crucial to maintain the gains of the MSS to enhance national security and to establish necessary conditions for the conduct of free and fair elections in the near future,” Rodrigue said.
He said that despite some progress in the three months since the first contingent of more than 400 Kenyan police deployed to Haiti, the country still faces significant and complicated challenges.
“Gang violence continues to rend the social fabric and human rights violations are multiplying, plunging thousands of families into distress,” the Haitian envoy said. “Insecurity is omnipresent, paralyzing the economy, undermining in the institutions and fueling fear among the population.”
Kenya is leading the mission, and its president, William Ruto, visited Haiti about a week and a half ago to meet with officials and Kenyan and Haitian police. According to Ruto, Kenya will send an additional 600 security personnel to Haiti - 300 in October and 300 in November.
So far, only about 500 police have been deployed, most from Kenya and the rest from Jamaica and Belize. Diplomats say they expect other countries to follow suit.
Kenya's UN envoy pointed to some initial progress in the capital, Port-au-Prince, including securing key infrastructure such as the airport and the national hospital, as well as several major road junctions. But he noted that the mission must quickly reach its fully mandated level of 2,500 personnel and that the political transition must move forward.
“I must also emphasize that while the MSS mission is a crucial and innovative intervention, it is only a part of the solution,” Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale said. “Haiti’s stability will only be accomplished through a multi-pronged approach that addresses the root causes of its challenges.”
Haiti has been rocked by instability since 2021, when President Jovenel MoĂŻse was assassinated. Prime Minister Ariel Henry led the country until he announced his resignation in March. A transition government is now in place with the goal of organizing free and fair elections. Haiti has not had an election since 2016.
For the past three years, Haiti has been under attack by armed gangs that control or influence 80 to 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. According to the latest figures documented by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), at least 3,661 people were killed between January and September this year.
The country is facing a massive humanitarian crisis as a result of the violence. On Monday, international food monitors said that more than half of the country's population - 5.4 million people - were struggling to feed themselves (IP3 or worse).
Haiti continues to face a worsening humanitarian crisis, with alarming rates of armed gang violence disrupting daily life, forcing more people to flee their homes and increasing levels of acute food insecurity.
At least 6,000 displaced people in shelters in the capital are facing catastrophic levels of hunger, while 2 million people are in the grips of emergency hunger (IPC Phase 4), facing extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition and high levels of disease.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report covers August 2024 to February 2025 and includes a projection for March to June 2025. With approximately 5.54 million people facing acute hunger, the situation is not expected to improve during the forecast period, as humanitarian food assistance is not expected to meet the needs of the population,
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has so far reached 1.35 million people across the country, including through emergency assistance, school meals, social protection and resilience activities. WFP says it is ready to scale up emergency food assistance with additional funding.
“We must not turn our backs on the worst hunger emergency in the Western hemisphere. WFP is urgently calling for broad-based support to massively increase lifesaving assistance to families struggling every day with extreme food shortages, spiraling malnutrition and deadly diseases,” said Cindy McCain, WFP’s Executive Director, in a statement Monday.
“There can be no security or stability in Haiti when millions are facing starvation.”
Humanitarian food agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Haiti are short of US$230 million to implement programs until the end of the year, while families displaced by this year's upsurge in violence are on the front lines of rising hunger.
Humanitarian agencies also continue to face access challenges to communities living in areas controlled by armed groups.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/2751 (2024), The question concerning Haiti (MSSM mandate), adopted on September 30, 2024
https://www.undocs.org/s/res/2751(2024)
Full text: Haiti: Acute Food Insecurity Situation for August 2024–February 2025 Snapshot, IPC, published September 30, 2024
https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Haiti_Acute_Food_Insecurity_Aug2024_Jun2025_Snapshot_English.pdf