- Kenya police and personnel from Jamaica and Belize are in Haiti to help in fighting gangs that have been terrorising locals.
- They have liberated a number of places so far and are making progress amid complaints of lack of resources.
The UN Security Council extended the present mandate of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, as authorised in resolution 2699 (2023), to October 2, 2025.
It also reiterated the call to Haiti and the leadership of the MSS mission to regularly update the Security Council and the Secretary-General on the progress of the deployment.
The Council was acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the UN. The mandate of the mission was to end on October 2, 2024.
The Council also expressed the intention to consider a UN Peace Operation to support the Haitian National Police to maintain security, in order to sustain the gains made by the MSS mission.
Kenya police and personnel from Jamaica and Belize are in Haiti to help in fighting gangs that have been terrorising locals.
They have liberated a number of places so far and are making progress amid complaints of lack of resources.
On Thursday, September 26, 2024, at LSA2, Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of Mexico to Haiti, Jesús Cisneros, accompanied by his deputy Joanna Gomez Rodriguez, paid a courtesy call to MSS Force Commander Godfrey Otunge.
At hand to receive the diplomats were Deputy Force Commander Col. Henry Kevron and the MSS leadership team.
Otunge gave a status update about the Mission where he shared the successes and challenges he encountered since the first Kenyan delegation arrived in Haiti in June 2024.
Otunge emphasised the need for air support for the Mission that will ostensibly be used for the insertion of police officers and casualty evacuations.
He also underscored the need to fund the establishment of Forward Operating Bases (FOB), which he termed a game changer in this theatre.
He called for the international community, especially foreign embassies in Haiti, to support and equip HNP, which plays a pivotal role in this Mission.
Jesús appreciated the efforts and achievements MSS had made for expressing optimism that the mission will succeed with proper and steady funding of the Trust Fund.
He observed that there will likely be a chain reaction after the extension of the Mission’s mandate where more contributing and deploying countries will react positively.
Jesús shared that as part of Mexico's effort to support fighting the gangs, his government will train Haitian military personnel in Mexico in the coming months.
He underscored the need for continuous joint operations between HNP and MSS.
The MSS mission in Haiti is facing setbacks due to a lack of adequate financial support for member states who made a pledge to the United Nations. Kenya leads the UN-authorised mission.
The mission is facing funding challenges amid time constraints.
Member states who committed to contribute Usd84 million (Sh10.8 billion) have so far contributed Usd67 million (Sh8.6 billion) through the UN Trust Fund for the MSS.
The mission is expected to comprise up to 2,500 police personnel, deployed in phases, at an annual cost of approximately Usd600 million.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday addressed a ministerial meeting on Haiti, where he hailed Kenya, Belize and Jamaica for deploying personnel to restore calm in the Caribbean nation.
“Funding for the mission, and for the Haitian National Police, remains totally inadequate. I urge all those who have made financial commitments to deliver on them urgently. We must keep working to mobilise sufficient resources for the mission, and for the humanitarian response in Haiti,” Guterres told the ministerial meeting.
He said there is progress in establishing transitional governance structures that saw the selection of Garry Conille as Prime Minister.
“But the Haitian people are still subjected to egregious human rights abuses by gangs. Young women and girls continue to suffer appalling levels of sexual violence and abuse,” Guterres further noted.
Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille told a ministerial meeting on Wednesday that the nation was a long way from winning its war against armed gangs that control most of the capital - Port-au-Prince.
"We are nowhere near winning this, and the simple reality is that we won't without your help," Conille told the UN ministerial meeting, noting the sense of urgency in restoring peace.
The MSS was on October 2, 2023, approved by the Security Council to be a non-UN mission that would be funded by member states.
This comes two months after the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) until July 15, 2025.
President William Ruto visited Port-au-Prince on September, 21 and announced he supports the idea of having the mission converted to a full UN peacekeeping operation.
"On the suggestion to transit this into a fully U.N. Peacekeeping mission, we have absolutely no problem with it, if that is the direction the U.N. security council wants to take," Ruto said.
In a press briefing on September 23, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General said that the decision to convert the MSS into a UN peacekeeping mission lies in the hands of the Security Council.
“First of all, it needs to have the agreement and support of the government of Haiti. And, of course, should the Security Council decide to move in that direction, the Secretary-General will do as requested,” Dujarric told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York.
The US wants to turn the mission into a United Nations peace operation, hoping a formal arrangement will allow more funds to flow into the mission to restore peace.
This will among others make funding automatic through the UN system.