UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.S. envoy to the United Nations is traveling to Haiti on Monday, said U.S. officials, a month after the first contingent of Kenyan police arrived in the Caribbean country as part of an international security mission aimed at tackling gang violence.
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield will make two “major announcements during the trip in support of efforts to address the security and humanitarian emergency,” said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Gang wars have displaced more than 578,000 Haitians, while nearly 5 million are facing acute hunger – nearly half of Haiti’s population of 11.7 million – with 1.6 million of those people at risk of starvation, says the United Nations.
Armed gangs, which now control most of the capital Port-au-Prince, have formed a broad alliance while carrying out widespread killings, ransom kidnappings and sexual violence. The U.N. has said that between January and August 2023, rape cases increased by 49% compared with the same period in 2022.
Some 200 Kenyan police arrived in Haiti late last month as part of the long-delayed multinational security support mission to help national police fight the armed gangs. The full force is set to number over 2,500, but it remains unclear when these could arrive and funding has lagged far behind requirements.
The U.N. Security Council authorized the force in October 2023, a year after Haiti’s previous government asked for help. The United States has provided some $300 million for the mission, which is not a U.N. peacekeeping operation.
During her visit to Haiti, Thomas-Greenfield will show support for the mission and U.N. operations, urge Haiti’s interim leaders to make progress toward a democratic transition, including through free and fair elections, and promote action to combat the humanitarian crisis, said the administration official.
The U.N. has appealed for $674 million to help Haiti in 2024, but it is less than a quarter funded.
At least 40 Haitian migrants were killed at sea after the boat they were traveling on caught fire, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Haiti said last week.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols at United Nations and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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