UNITED NATIONS, CMC – The United States and Brazil have convened a ministerial meeting on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Brazil to discuss the ongoing situation in Haiti, a UN spokesman announced on Wednesday.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, told the press briefing here that the meeting on Thursday is intended to generate momentum for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission for Haiti, which, as you will recall, was approved by the Security Council”.
He said that the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, due in Brazil to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting, will participate in the high-level meeting, which will be held under the theme “Rising to the Challenge on Haiti.”
“She will underscore the urgent need to provide security and other support to Haiti to help it deal with a pressing and worsening crisis of violence and instability. She will also stress the importance of predictable and sufficient financial contributions for the multinational security force,” Dujarric told reporters.
Last month, the Kenya High Court ruled against sending troops to Haiti as part of the MSS to restore peace and security in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, where criminal gangs continue to threaten public order.
Last October, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of the MSS to back Haiti’s beleaguered police force, which Kenya offered to lead. A 2022 sanctions regime targeting gang leaders and their financiers was also renewed.
Earlier this month, the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, urged the international community to do more to help deal with Haiti’s security, political, and economic situation.
“The result is that today, much of Haiti’s territory is controlled by criminal gangs and is on the verge of civil war,” he told reporters, adding, “Today I want to warn the international community that if it does not intervene immediately, the Dominican Republic will fight with all its force to avoid being dragged into the same abyss as Haiti.
“Our slogan, from today, will be either we fight together to save Haiti, or we fight alone to protect the Dominican Republic,’ he added.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola, the second-largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 76,192 square kilometers.
and then 