UN says Haiti’s new anti-gang force has funding pledges ahead of deploy plan

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Haiti’s new UN-backed gang-fighting force has attracted more pledges than expected as it begins deploying troops in Port-au-Prince, the U.N. special envoy told the Security Council, describing a rollout that he said should continue until the force reaches its full planned strength.

Carlos Ruiz Massieu said the international force is seeking 5,500 members, and that Chadian troops were already deployed in the Haitian capital. He added that staggered deployments from Chad and other countries are expected to continue over the coming months, with all 5,500 personnel on the ground “between the fall and the end of the year,” after he briefed the council.

Ruiz Massieu’s remarks came after a UN report on the force’s financing, released through the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH. The report said more than $200 million had been pledged by 13 member states of the Security Council and that $59 million had been disbursed, while U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Qatar had confirmed a pledge of $30 million to the trust fund for the force, including $10 million to be paid over three years.

Jacques Christofides, the force’s special representative, told the Security Council that the framework for how the mission would operate has been finalized. He said the multinational force is working with Haiti’s National Police to set out procedures for operations, detentions and other actions, and he said he believed “Expectations remain high” for the gang-suppression force, which many view as a potential “turning point.”

Christofides and Ruiz Massieu also updated the council on the wider security and governance context facing the force’s deployments. They pointed to escalating violence and record displacement, and said the international effort must coordinate closely with Haiti’s government and regional partners, including the Dominican Republic, while the United Nations provides logistical and operational support.

A BINUH report released alongside the briefing said more than 2,400 people were killed across Haiti between December and February, including many people suspected of being gang members amid intensifying police operations. The report said the total represents a 23% increase in killings compared with the previous period, and that anti-gang operations killed at least 158 civilians and injured more than 100 others. It said overall, more than 1,300 suspected gang members were killed and 140 firearms were seized.

The report also described displacement at a national scale. Ongoing gang violence has displaced a record more than 1.45 million people, more than half of them children, and the report said last year more than 9,000 people were killed across Haiti. It also said Haiti’s homicide rate was 76 per 100,000 inhabitants, describing it as among the world’s highest.

In their remarks, U.N. officials linked the spread of gangs in Haiti to the period since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 at his private residence. The officials said police have told the public they control more than 70% of the capital, and that gangs have expanded activities beyond cities into the countryside, including looting, kidnapping and sexual assaults and rape. They added that Haiti has not had a president since Moïse’s assassination.

The force’s mandate intersects with an election timetable that Haitian and international officials said depends on security conditions on the ground. Ruiz Massieu told reporters that the government’s current plan is to hold the first round of elections at the end of the year and a second round in early next year, but he said that depends on improved security and freeing areas under gang control so candidates can campaign and Haitians can vote freely.

Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said the transition government “remains fully committed to help Haiti emerge from this crisis” and described plans to increase the number of police officers and soldiers. He said, “The state is taking up its rightful place again,” adding, “Haiti shall not perish,” while Ruiz Massieu said the council of ministers has been meeting at Haiti’s National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince, which has been largely controlled by gangs.

A U.S. diplomat also described the security situation as improving but fragile. Jennifer Locetta, the U.S. deputy ambassador, told the council that operations to fight back gangs have shown measurable but fragile progress, adding, “We are not measuring success by what international forces can achieve in Haiti,” and describing success instead in terms of how quickly Haiti would no longer need them.

Meanwhile, Haiti’s National Police posted a video Thursday asserting it was seizing territory once under gang control, including a large school that was severely damaged. In the video, an official narrating the clip said more Haitians were returning after police cleared gangs, while one unidentified man shown speaking said, “It’s been over six months since I last came to this area,” and added, “We’re going to start cleaning to see if I can come back home.”