United Nations — Five countries are committed to providing personnel for an international police force to help Haiti battle gang violence, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.
The world body received Benin's official confirmation on Wednesday of their intent to support the Multinational Security Support mission with 1,500 uniformed personnel, said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
So far the United Nations has received notifications of intent from five countries. The remaining four are The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, and Chad.
Kenya was the first nation to express intent to aid the Haiti police force with 1,000 personnel to restore law and order in the Caribbean nation. But a Kenyan court blocked the action. The government is appealing the decision.
Dujarric said contributions totaling 10.8 million U.S. dollars are already in the Haiti Trust Fund to help finance the Security Council-authorized mission and 78 million dollars more has been pledged for the fund.
"We encourage member states to continue contributing to ensure the successful deployment of the mission," Dujarric said.
The Security Council adopted a resolution in October 2023 to authorize the multinational police force for Haiti. The resolution decides that the cost of implementing this temporary operation will be borne by voluntary contributions and support from individual member states and regional organizations. ∎
