Haiti: Briefing and Consultations
On Monday morning (21 April), the Security Council will hold an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on Haiti. Special Representative and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) María Isabel Salvador will brief on recent developments in Haiti and the Secretary-General’s latest report on BINUH (S/2025/226), which was circulated to Council members on 11 April and covers developments since 13 January. A civil society representative is also expected to brief. The Dominican Republic and Kenya might participate under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.
At the time of writing, the signatories to the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security (WPS)—Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Sierra Leone, Slovenia, the UK, and the US—were negotiating a joint statement on the situation of women and girls in Haiti to be read at a stakeout prior to the meeting.
In her briefing, Salvador is likely to reiterate the Secretary-General’s deep concern about the “foothold gained by gangs in Port-au-Prince” and the significant increase in violence in the country. According to the Secretary-General’s report, between December 2024 and February, BINUH recorded 2,660 victims of intentional homicides, including 323 women, 19 girls, and 55 boys. This represents a 41.3 percent increase in the number of victims compared to the previous reporting period from September to November 2024.
The report describes several attacks carried out by gangs in the Port-au-Prince area, increasing pressure on previously safe neighbourhoods and raising fears of an “imminent collapse” of state presence in the capital. It also highlights attempts by gangs to expand control beyond Port-au-Prince. The report says that the Haitian National Police (HNP) has been unable to contain gang expansion and stresses that “[w]ithout additional security support from the international community, the outlook is bleak”.
Regarding the political situation, the Secretary-General’s report notes that elections are key to ending Haiti’s protracted political transition. It cautions, however, that “without significant improvements in security, no amount of international electoral assistance will be sufficient to allow for the holding of the constitutional referendum and general elections in 2025”.
Monday’s briefing will be the first Security Council meeting on the situation in Haiti since members received the Secretary-General’s 24 February letter containing strategic recommendations on options for UN support for Haiti. In his letter, the Secretary-General said that transforming the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission into a peacekeeping operation was “not a feasible option” at present. During the administration of former President Joe Biden, the US had supported the establishment of such a mission and together with then-member Ecuador—the Council’s co-penholders on Haiti at the time—initiated a draft resolution that would have directed the Secretary-General to start planning to transform the MSS mission into a UN peacekeeping operation. The draft resolution was ultimately abandoned, however, following opposition from China and Russia, which cited the chequered history of past UN peacekeeping operations in Haiti, among other reservations. As a compromise, the Council requested the Secretary-General in November 2024 to provide recommendations on options for UN support for Haiti. Before the Secretary-General sent his 24 February letter containing those recommendations, France and the UK had also expressed support for the transformation of the MSS mission into a peacekeeping operation. (For more information, see the brief on Haiti in our April 2025 Monthly Forecast.)
Instead of a UN peacekeeping operation, the Secretary-General recommended, among other things, the establishment of a UN Support Office to provide comprehensive logistic and operational support to the MSS, such as accommodation, medical capability, and support for mobility and information technology. Assessed contributions from the UN’s peacekeeping budget would cover this support, while scaled-up voluntary contributions from UN member states would cover forms of support for the MSS mission that the UN cannot provide, such as stipends, military-grade capabilities, and lethal equipment. In addition, the letter proposed that the UN Support Office provide “a limited, non-lethal support package” to the HNP that would be funded mostly through voluntary contributions. The Secretary-General further proposed establishing a standing group of member states to provide the MSS mission with “strategic direction, oversight and decision-making”, with key functions including the securing of voluntary funding.
The Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) expressed their support for the Secretary-General’s proposals at their annual meeting held between 19 and 21 February in Barbados. In a 6 March letter, then-President of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council Leslie Voltaire also supported the proposal.
The Security Council has yet to consider the proposal contained in the Secretary-General’s letter. It appears that the position of the administration of US President Donald Trump on security assistance to Haiti remains unclear. Reports of possible US plans to cut funding to the UN, including peacekeeping missions, have heightened the uncertainty. With the US remaining the principal provider of financial support to the MSS mission and—now with Panama—the Council’s co-penholder on Haiti, it seems that other Council members have been waiting for the US to clarify its position before proposing next steps for Haiti. At the same time, it is possible that Council members may initiate deliberations on how to respond to the Seretary-General’s letter during the closed consultations that are scheduled to follow Monday’s briefing.
At Monday’s briefing, Council members are expected to express alarm at the unchecked violence and rapidly deteriorating security situation in Haiti. Many Council members are likely to broadly reiterate the need for the international community and the Security Council to act. Several members may stress the importance of strengthening the UN presence in Haiti and call for additional support for the Haitian authorities to restore stability and for the MSS mission to carry out its mandate. Other members may recall the ineffectiveness of previous UN peace support initiatives in Haiti and urge the Haitian authorities and the international community to focus on addressing the root causes of the crisis in the country. These members may stress the importance of Haitian leadership and ownership of all political and security initiatives. Several Council members are also expected to call for stronger measures to stem the illicit flow of weapons and ammunition that continue to fuel gang activity in the country, despite the arms embargo on Haiti that the Council imposed through resolution 2653 of 21 October 2022.
The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Haiti is likely to be another focus of Monday’s meeting. The most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, dated 14 April, estimates that approximately 5.7 million people—over half of Haiti’s population—are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. In a 16 April press conference, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Amy Pope said that one million people are currently displaced in Haiti. Additionally, the Secretary-General’s report notes that the worsening humanitarian conditions have led to an increase in cholera outbreaks, particularly in some locations in the Artibonite department. According to the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti, which was launched on 25 February, the UN and humanitarian partners will need $908 million in 2025 to provide lifesaving aid and protection to 3.9 million vulnerable people. However, as of 17 April, the appeal was only 6.3 percent funded.
The civil society representative is expected to focus on the situation of women and girls in Haiti. In a 14 April update, the non-governmental organisation Care International highlighted how displacement, hunger, and violence in Haiti disproportionally affect women and girls. According to the Secretary-General’s report, BINUH’s monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements (MARA) on sexual violence recorded 347 incidents affecting 379 survivors (315 women, 63 girls, and one man) between October 2024 and February. The report also stressed that displacement sites present heightened risks of gender-based violence due to “inadequate lighting, distant water points, and the absence of gender-sensitive infrastructure”.
On Monday, Council members are likely to condemn all forms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), as well as recent attacks against humanitarian personnel and media outlets. Members may also express alarm at the deteriorating human rights situation in the country—including the forced recruitment and exploitation of children by gangs—and call for accountability for all violations and the provision of comprehensive support to SGBV survivors.
