Security Council

6399^th Meeting (PM)

Security Council, Renewing Haiti Mission Mandate in Resolution 1944 (2010),

 

Looks to Review of Situation after Pending Elections, New Government

 

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) until 15 October 2011, with the intention of further renewal.

Unanimously adopting resolution 1944 (2010), and acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the Council decided to maintain current Mission force levels — a military component of up to 8,940 troops and a police component of up to 4,391 officers — and called on the Secretary-General to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the security environment following the election and transfer of power to a new Government in 2011.

Recognizing that the successful holding of free, fair, inclusive and transparent presidential and legislative elections in accordance with Haiti’s constitutional timetable was a key condition for the consolidation of a stable political environment in which recovery and reconstruction efforts could progress, the Council encouraged the Mission to continue its support to the Government and the Provisional Electoral Council, and to coordinate international electoral assistance to Haiti.

The Council called on all donors and international and non-governmental organizations to coordinate their efforts and work closely with the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission in order to strengthen Government capacity to fulfil its Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti.

The Council encouraged the Haitian authorities to take full advantage of MINUSTAH’s support, notably in enhancing Haitian National Police (HNP) capacity and in the implementation of the justice reform plan.  It further encouraged MINUSTAH to continue assisting the Government in providing adequate protection to the civilian population, with particular attention to the needs of internally displaced persons and vulnerable groups, such as women and children, including through joint community policing in camps, as well as in strengthening mechanisms to address sexual and gender-based violence, as well as tackling the risk of a resurgence in gang violence, organized crime, drug trafficking and trafficking of children.

The Council requested the Secretary-General to include in his reports on Haiti a comprehensive assessment of threats to security in Haiti and give particular attention to the protective environment for all, in particular women and children, and on progress in the sustainable resettlement of displaced persons.  The Secretary-General should also propose options to reconfigure the composition of MINUSTAH.

After adoption, the representative of Haiti said the resolution clearly marked the Council’s continuing interest in his country.  At the end of November, Haiti would hold presidential and legislative elections.  The renewal of MINUSTAH’s mandate would serve as a strong signal to show the people of Haiti that the Council and the international community stood side by side with Haiti in efforts to achieve free and fair elections.

The meeting started at 3:25 p.m. and adjourned at 3:31 p.m.

Resolution

The full text of resolution 1944 (2010) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Reaffirming its previous resolutions on Haiti, in particular its resolutions 1927 (2010), 1908 (2010), 1892 (2009), 1840 (2008) 1780 (2007), 1743 (2007), 1702 (2006), 1658 (2006), 1608 (2005), 1576 (2004) and 1542 (2004),

“Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of Haiti,

“Recognizing the significant devastation that has been suffered by the Government and people of Haiti, expressing concern regarding the new challenges and threats as a result of the earthquake of 12 January 2010, sharing the Secretary-General’s assessment that the earthquake has not destroyed the gains towards stabilization in the past few years, but has created new obstacles as well as new opportunities, and stressing the need for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to continue to focus its work on ensuring Haiti’s security and stability as currently mandated by the Security Council, including in the context of the upcoming presidential and legislative elections,

“Calling on the Government of Haiti and all the other relevant Haitian actors to ensure the holding of credible and legitimate presidential and legislative elections, due to be held on 28 November 2010, which will further consolidate democracy, allow for the completion of constitutional reform and contribute to the reconstruction process, and emphasizing the need to continue to promote participation of women in the electoral process,

“Emphasizing that progress in the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti is crucial to achieving lasting stability and reiterating the need for security to be accompanied by social and economic development,

“Stressing the leading role of the Government of Haiti in its post-disaster recovery and reconstruction process and underlining the necessity for increased coordination and complementary efforts among all United Nations actors and other relevant stakeholders in assisting the Government in this regard and welcoming the establishment of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission and the Haiti Reconstruction Fund which play a central role in the medium and long-term reconstruction efforts in Haiti,

“Welcoming the creation of the ad hoc Presidential Commission on Resettlement established to coordinate all stakeholders involved in the relocation and resettlement of internally displaced persons,

“Calling on donors to fulfil without delay the pledges made at the International Donors’ Conference “Towards a New Future for Haiti” held on 31 March 2010, with a view to promptly producing tangible and visible reconstruction dividends,

“Emphasizing the role of regional organizations in the ongoing process of stabilization and reconstruction of Haiti and calling on MINUSTAH to continue to work closely with regional and subregional organizations, international financial institutions and other stakeholders, in particular the Organization of the American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM),

“Acknowledging the continued support of the Organization of American States to modernize the Haitian voter registry and stressing the importance of updating the voter list following the devastation caused by the earthquake of 12 January 2010,

“Recognizing the interconnected nature of the challenges in Haiti, reaffirming that sustainable progress on security, the rule of law and institutional reform, national reconciliation and development are mutually reinforcing, and welcoming the continuing efforts of the Government of Haiti and the international community to address these challenges,

“Expressing its concern with the rise in the number of weapons in circulation, the increase in drug trafficking, and the security situation in camps for internally displaced persons and further expressing its concern over sexual and gender based crimes in Haiti,

“Recognizing that strengthening national human rights institutions and respect for human rights, due process, combating criminality and sexual and gender based violence, and putting an end to impunity are essential to ensuring the rule of law and security in Haiti,

“Commending the extraordinary efforts undertaken by the United Nations to respond to the earthquake, recognizing the critical role of MINUSTAH in ensuring stability and security in Haiti and also recognizing the complementary roles MINUSTAH and the United Nations Country Team have fulfilled to date in assisting Haiti in its recovery efforts, and reaffirming the authority of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the coordination and conduct of all activities of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes in Haiti,

“Commending MINUSTAH for continuing to assist the Government of Haiti to ensure a secure and stable environment and expressing gratitude to the personnel of MINUSTAH and to their countries and paying tribute to those injured or killed in the line of duty,

“Calling on the Government of Haiti, in coordination with the international community, to continue to advance security sector reform, in particular as called for in the Haitian National Police (HNP) Reform Plan adopted by the Government of Haiti,

“Underlining the need to further strengthen Haitian judicial and correctional systems, in accordance with the national justice reform plan, including judicial institution modernization and improvement in the access to justice, including through the establishment of new legal aid offices,

“Welcoming the efforts of the former President of the United States of America, William J. Clinton, as United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti, to enhance the United Nations response to the earthquake, in both humanitarian and development operations as well as tracking aid pledges and disbursement of funds, liaising with the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission and the international financial institutions, working to ensure coherence across United Nations operations in Haiti, and contributing to better coordination among non-governmental organizations, in line with Haitian priorities,

“Stressing the importance of a strong coordination among the office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti and other United Nations entities and Member States, and stressing the need for coordination among all international actors on the ground,

“Underlining the need for the implementation of highly effective and visible labour intensive projects that help create jobs and deliver basic social services,

“Welcoming the Secretary-General’s report S/2010/446 of 1 September 2010,

“Determining that the situation in Haiti continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region, despite the progress achieved thus far,

“Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, as described in section 1 of operative paragraph 7 of resolution 1542 (2004),

“1.   Decides to extend the mandate of MINUSTAH as contained in its resolutions 1542 (2004), 1608 (2005), 1702 (2006), 1743 (2007), 1780 (2007), 1840 (2008), 1892 (2009), 1908 (2010) and 1927 (2010) until 15 October 2011, with the intention of further renewal;

“2.   Decides to maintain the current Mission overall force levels, which consists of a military component of up to 8,940 troops of all ranks and of a police component of up to 4,391 police and calls on the Secretary-General to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the security environment following the election and transfer of power to a new government in 2011, as contained in paragraph 56 of the Secretary-General’s report;

“3.   Recognizes the ownership and primary responsibility of the Government and the people of Haiti over all aspects of the country’s stabilization, welcomes the steps taken by MINUSTAH to provide logistical and technical expertise, within available means, to assist the Government of Haiti, as requested, to continue operations to build the capacity of its rule of law institutions at the national and local level, and to speed up the implementation of the government’s resettlement strategy for displaced persons, in the knowledge that such measures are temporary and will be phased out as Haitian capacity grows, and calls on the Mission to proceed swiftly with activities in this regard as recommended by the Secretary-General;

“4.   Recognizes that the successful holding of free, fair, inclusive and transparent presidential and legislative elections in accordance with the constitutional timetable is a key condition for the consolidation of a stable political environment in which recovery and reconstruction efforts can progress, reaffirms its call upon MINUSTAH to support the political process under way in Haiti, including through the good offices of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and encourages MINUSTAH to continue its support to the Haitian Government and to the Provisional Electoral Council, in the preparation and conduct of Haiti’s presidential and legislative elections and to coordinate international electoral assistance to Haiti in cooperation with other international stakeholders including OAS and CARICOM;

“5.   Calls on all donors and international and Non-Governmental Organizations to coordinate their efforts and work closely with the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission in order to strengthen the capacity of the Government to fulfil the Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti;

“6.   Welcomes ongoing efforts by MINUSTAH to increase coordination with the Haitian National Police and to expand its assistance to border management efforts in order to deter illicit activities and calls on Haiti’s international and regional partners to intensify their assistance to the Government of Haiti in this regard, as requested;

“7.   Requests the United Nations country team, and calls upon all actors, to complement security and development operations undertaken by the Government of Haiti with the support of MINUSTAH with activities aimed at effectively improving the living conditions of the concerned populations, in particular women and children;

“8.   Requests MINUSTAH to continue to implement quick-impact projects that further enhance the trust of the Haitian population towards MINUSTAH;

“9.   Encourages the Haitian authorities to take full advantage of that support, notably in enhancing Haitian National Police (HNP) capacity, modernizing key legislation and in the implementation of the justice reform plan, to take the necessary steps, including nominations, that will allow superior judicial institutions to function adequately, and to address the issue of prolonged pretrial detentions and prison overcrowding, with special regard to children;

“10.  Calls on the Government of Haiti, with the support of MINUSTAH, to develop the next iteration of the HNP reform plan to ensure continuity upon the expiration of the current plan and the strategic plan of the National Prison Administration and encourages their implementation and requests MINUSTAH to continue to support vetting, mentoring, training of the police and corrections personnel and strengthening the institutional and operational capacities of the correctional services;

“11.  Welcomes the resumption of training of recruits for the Haitian National Police and stresses the importance of maintaining and increasing the international community’s support for capacity-building of HNP;

“12.  Encourages MINUSTAH to continue assisting the Government of Haiti in providing adequate protection to the civilian population, with particular attention to the needs of internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups, especially women and children, including through joint community policing in the camps, along with strengthened mechanisms to address sexual and gender-based violence;

“13.  Encourages also MINUSTAH to assist the Government in tackling the risk of a resurgence in gang violence, organized crime, drug trafficking and trafficking of children;

“14.  Strongly condemns the grave violations against children affected by armed violence, as well as widespread rape and other sexual abuse of women and girls, and calls upon the Government of Haiti, with the support of MINUSTAH and the United Nations country team, to continue to promote and protect the rights of women and children as set out in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005), 1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009), and 1889 (2009);

“15.  Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance of all MINUSTAH personnel with the United Nations zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, and to keep the Council informed, and urges troop- and police-contributing countries to ensure that acts involving their personnel are properly investigated and punished;

“16.  Reaffirms MINUSTAH’s human rights mandate and calls on the Haitian authorities to continue their efforts to promote and protect human rights, and calls on MINUSTAH to continue to provide human rights training to the Haitian National Police and other relevant institutions, including the correctional services;

“17.  Welcomes the important work done by MINUSTAH in support of urgent needs in Haiti and encourages the Mission within its mandate to continue to make full use of existing means and capabilities, including its engineers, with a view to further enhancing stability in the country and requests MINUSTAH to develop its longer term planning with a view to encouraging a Haitian-led effort to further enhance stability in the country;

“18.  Requests MINUSTAH to continue to pursue its expanded community violence reduction approach, adapting the programme to the changing requirements of the post-earthquake Haitian context with a particular focus on the displaced and those living in violence-affected neighbourhoods;

“19.  Requests MINUSTAH to continue to support the Haitian authorities in their efforts to control the flow of small arms including labour-intensive projects, the development of a weapons registry, the revision of current laws on importation and possession of arms, reform of the weapons permit system and the development and implementation of a national community policing doctrine;

“20.  Underscores the importance that planning documents for the military and police components, such as the concept of operations and rules of engagement, be regularly updated, as appropriate, and be in line with the provisions of all its relevant resolutions, and requests the Secretary-General to report on them to the Security Council and troop- and police-contributing countries;

“21.  Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council on the implementation of MINUSTAH’s mandate, semi-annually and not later than 45 days prior to its expiration;

“22.  Requests the Secretary-General to include in his reports a comprehensive assessment of threats to security in Haiti and give particular attention to the protective environment for all, in particular women and children, and on progress in the sustainable resettlement of displace persons, and to propose, as appropriate, options to reconfigure the composition of MINUSTAH;

“23.  Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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For information media • not an official record