GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) says it “notes with great interest and anticipation” the recent tabling of a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on further security assistance as requested by Haiti and recommended by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
“This initiative comes at a critical moment in the continuing degeneration of the insecurity and humanitarian situation in Haiti with its increasing cortège of killings, kidnappings, gender-based violence, loss of territory and the displacement of huge numbers of people at the hands of the armed gangs,” the 15-member grouping of which Haiti is a member, said in a statement.
It said that the draft resolution, moved by the United States and Panama, welcomes the contribution made by the Kenya-led Multilateral Security Support Mission (MSS) to peace and stability in Haiti and expresses appreciation for its Kenyan leadership and the support of other member states that have provided personnel to the MSS, and of its donors.
According to the CARICOM statement, the draft resolution endorses the recommendations made by Guterres and approved by the Haitian government for the deployment of an increased security force in the French-speaking CARICOM country and for the UN to provide logistical and operational support through a UN Support Office in Haiti.
The draft also authorises the transition of the MSS to what will be described as a “Gang Suppression Force (GSF)” with a ceiling of 5 500 personnel with a robust mandate, and the establishment of a UN Support Office in Haiti to provide support to the GSF.
The funding of the GSF personnel will be from voluntary sources while that of the Support Office will be from UN member state assessments. The draft also takes note of the recent Organization of American States (OAS) Roadmap for Stability and Peace in Haiti in support of Haitian-led efforts, and the possibility of the organisation providing a logistical support package for the GSF.
”Further to its continued international advocacy in support of Haiti, a CARICOM member state, the Caribbean Community calls on the member states of the UN Security Council, in particular the permanent members, to take into account “the dire and precarious straits in which the people and country of Haiti have found themselves.
“The people of Haiti have had to suffer for far too long. Adoption of this draft resolution will bring a glimmer of hope and the promise of relief to a people who, as the UN Secretary-General observed at the recent Council consultations on Haiti, “are in a perfect storm of suffering,” the CARICOM statement added.
Last month, the United States Deputy Chief of Mission, Kimberly J. Penland, told the OAS that Washington is drafting a resolution to present to the United Nations Security Council to “properly resource” Haiti’s fight to reduce gang territorial control.
The proposal endorse what Guterres has been calling for to provide logistical and operation support using peacekeeping money, would also come with other changes if adopted.
“Should the UN Security Council pursue this model, then we will also seek robust regional participation to provide strategic leadership of the force,” Penland said, thanking Kenya also Kenya “for its dedication, leadership and support for the last year” and answering the call to come to Haiti’s rescue “at a critical moment, demonstrating enormous compassion and courage, putting its people in harm’s way while thousands of miles away from home and preventing a complete collapse of the Haitian state”.
Last month, the UN said less than ten per cent of the US$908 million needed for Haiti has been received, describing it as “shamefully overlooked and woefully underfunded,” as armed groups continue to block humanitarian access and attack aid workers. (CMC)
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