Haiti: Vote to Renew the Authorisation of the Multinational Security Support Mission*
Tomorrow morning (30 September), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing for one year the authorisation for member states to deploy a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti to help re-establish security in the country and build conditions conducive to holding free and fair elections.
Ecuador and the US—the co-penholders on Haiti—authored the draft text.
Background
Against the backdrop of rampant gang violence in the country, in October 2022 the Haitian government appealed for the immediate deployment of an “international specialised force” to temporarily reinforce the efforts of the Haitian National Police (HNP) to combat gangs. Secretary-General António Guterres endorsed the request, recommending that “[o]ne or several Member States, acting bilaterally at the invitation of and in cooperation with the Government of Haiti, could deploy, as a matter of urgency, a rapid action force” to support the HNP. In July 2023, ten months after Haiti’s initial request, Kenya agreed to lead a multinational force to the country, pledging to deploy 1,000 police officers. At least nine other countries—primarily from Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean—subsequently stated their intention to participate in the force.
Although the UN would not be administering the proposed mission, Kenya, Haiti, and other stakeholders sought Security Council authorisation for the deployment. On 2 October 2023, the Council adopted resolution 2699, authorising member states to form and deploy the MSS mission to Haiti. The resolution mandated the mission to provide operational support to the HNP to counter gangs—including by building its capacity through the planning and conduct of joint security support operations—and to support the HNP in the protection of critical infrastructure sites.
The resolution authorised the mission for an initial period of 12 months, to be reviewed after nine months. It specified that the cost of the operation would be borne by voluntary contributions and support from individual countries and regional organisations. During the negotiations on resolution 2699, Ecuador and the US had initially sought to include language about the possible transformation of the mission into a UN peace operation—to be funded through member states’ assessed contributions—but this was not included in the final text because of opposition from China and Russia, which referred to the chequered history of past UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti and argued that the country’s political and security conditions were not conducive to a new operation. Subsequent assessments and media reporting indicated that the MSS mission would comprise up to 2,500 officers, deployed in phases, at an annual cost of approximately $600 million.
The mission was initially scheduled to deploy in February, but that timeline was postponed repeatedly for several reasons, including a lack of funding, a judicial challenge in Kenya, and, most recently, a surge in gang violence in Haiti, which prompted the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to facilitate an agreement among Haitian stakeholders on a political transition to stabilise the country’s security situation and restore democratic governance. Subsequently, in June and July, Kenya deployed the mission’s first two contingents, totalling approximately 400 police officers, with the remaining 600 officers that it pledged expected to deploy within the next two months. On 12 September, the first Caribbean contingent arrived, comprising 24 military and police officers from Jamaica and two military officers from Belize.
According to media reports, the MSS mission has helped the HNP achieve some success in retaking neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince that were previously under gang control. It remains under-resourced, however, facing funding and equipment shortfalls that limit its ability to scale up its physical presence and take and hold territory beyond the capital. In line with resolution 2699, which requested the Secretary-General to provide recommendations on possible adaptations to the MSS mission’s mandate within nine months, the Secretary-General’s most recent report on the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), dated 27 June, said that the mission’s mandate “remains valid and will remain necessary” beyond its current expiration date (2 October) as Haiti continues to prepare to hold elections. The report cautioned, however, that the financial contributions and pledges that the mission had received to date remained insufficient for the mission to fulfil its budgetary and operational needs and ensure its presence for the duration of Haiti’s political transition.
On 5 September, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Haiti, where he met with Haitian interim Prime Minister Garry Conille and the country’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC). At a press conference, Blinken confirmed that the US would seek to renew the MSS mission’s Security Council authorisation but also acknowledged the need for more sustainable funding and additional personnel, noting that a UN peace operation would be one “option” for achieving those goals. Similarly, in his 26 September statement at the general debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, TPC President Edgard Leblanc Fils called on the international community to convert the MSS mission into a UN peace operation, “which would make it possible to secure more stable funding and expand the mission’s capabilities”.
Negotiations on the Draft Resolution
The negotiations to renew the MSS mission’s authorisation were long and apparently difficult. The co-penholders circulated an initial draft of the resolution on 6 September and held informal consultations that same day to present the text. Ecuador and the US then convened the first round of negotiations on 9 September and circulated a revised draft on 11 September. On 12 September, the co-penholders convened the second round of negotiations, after which they circulated a second revised draft and put it under silence procedure, which China and Russia broke. Ecuador and the US subsequently circulated three further revised drafts under silence procedures, all of which were again broken by China and Russia. Yesterday (28 September), the co-penholders placed a sixth revised draft directly in blue.
The draft resolution in blue decides to extend the mandate of the MSS mission, as currently authorised in resolution 2699, until 2 October 2025. It encourages the mission to accelerate its deployment and the international community to provide additional voluntary contributions. It also reaffirms that the Secretary-General may provide logistical support packages to the mission, upon request, subject to the UN’s full financial reimbursement through voluntary contributions and in accordance with the UN Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP). During negotiations, it appears that provisions relating to the renewal of the MSS mission itself were not particularly contentious and did not face significant opposition from any Council members.
Language concerning the possible transformation of the mission into a UN peace operation was more controversial, however, complicating the negotiations. It seems that the initial draft circulated by the co-penholders included an operative paragraph that requested the UN to “begin planning to transition” the MSS mission to a UN peacekeeping operation “in order to sustain the gains made by the MSS mission”. China and Russia apparently opposed this provision, reiterating their position that conditions on the ground in Haiti were not conducive to UN peacekeeping and arguing that the MSS mission should reach its full operational capacity before discussing such a transformation.
The co-penholders retained the substance of this paragraph through the first and second revised drafts, however, prompting China and Russia to break silence. In the third revised draft, the co-penholders apparently modified the paragraph to express the Council’s “intention to consider” a UN peacekeeping operation, but China and Russia broke silence again on the same grounds as before. It appears that this was the case also for the fourth revised draft, which amended “UN peacekeeping operation” to “UN peace operation”—a term encompassing both peacekeeping operations and special political missions—but otherwise remained the same. In the fifth revised draft, it seems that the co-penholders replaced the disputed operative paragraph with a new preambular paragraph acknowledging Haiti’s call at the UN General Assembly to transform the MSS into a UN peace operation. China and Russia broke silence on this phrasing too, however. Consequently, the draft resolution in blue does not contain any reference to a UN peace operation.
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**Post-script: On 30 September, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2751, renewing for one year the authorisation for member states to deploy a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti to help re-establish security in the country and build conditions conducive to holding free and fair elections.
