Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2751 (2024), Security Council Extends Authorization for Kenya-Led Security Support Mission in Haiti for One Year

The Security Council today renewed its authorization for the deployment of a Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission to Haiti for another 12 months, as several speakers called for the Mission’s transformation into a United Nations peacekeeping operation to boost its capabilities and secure more stable funding. 

Unanimously adopting resolution 2751 (2024) (to be issued as document S/RES/2751 (2024), the Council also encouraged the Mission to accelerate its deployment, while also encouraging additional voluntary contributions and support.

Further by the text, the Council reiterated the call to Haiti and the Mission’s leadership to regularly update the 15-member organ and the Secretary-General of the progress of deployment. 

Following the adoption, the representative the United States — co-lead on the text with Ecuador — said that today’s unanimous adoption sent a strong message to the Haitian people:  “That the world is standing with you.”  The adoption built on the announcement of new United Nations sanctions listings, she noted, voicing hope that further steps would be taken to hold accountable those responsible for fuelling gang violence.  She underscored the urgent need for additional financial contributions to ensure the Mission’s long-term sustainability.  As well, she voiced support for the recent remarks of Haiti’s President, Edgard Leblanc, on the Mission’s transformation to a UN peacekeeping mission to ensure more stable funding and expand its capabilities.  

Ecuador’s representative, welcoming the unanimous adoption of the text, voiced hope that the mission would help establish conditions to hold free and fair elections in Haiti.  He welcomed the text’s robust emphasis on human rights, accountability, and the protection of girls and boys, and encouraged greater contributions and voluntary support for the Mission.  He also called for an exit strategy — including a peace operation —  to be considered, given the prolonged violence marked by indiscriminate violent attacks in the country.  “Not to do so would be irresponsible,” he added.

Several speakers commended the tangible progress made by the Mission since its deployment in June and voiced hope for the Mission’s accelerated deployment.  Delegates, including the representatives of the Republic of Korea and Slovenia, Council President for September, speaking in his national capacity, also called for additional voluntary contributions to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Mission.

Members were, however, divided on the request to consider the Mission’s eventual transformation into a peacekeeping operation. The representative of the United Kingdom noted that this unanimous adoption is the sign of the Council’s unity behind the need for continued security support and echoed the call to consider the Mission’s transformation.  Japan’s delegate said the Council “should start considering possible options”, underscoring the need to assess the current Mission’s effectiveness and sustainability.

However, China’s delegate voiced concern over calls to transform the Mission into a peacekeeping operation, as well as the flow of illegal arms into Haiti. Warning that discussing other options now will only interfere with implementation of the Mission’s mandate, he stressed:  “Haiti does not have the conditions for the deployment of a peacekeeping operation right now.”

In a similar vein, the representative of the Russian Federation said that until the Mission expands its presence and achieves its goals to counter organized crime in the country, “it is premature to plan any transformations in the international presence or any changes thereof”.  “There is a need for a resolute and immediate action to counter smuggling of weapons — American weapons — that have flooded into Haiti,” he added.

France’s delegate recalled that, in 2023, his country was the first to contribute to the UN Trust Fund for the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.  Having provided €2 million in contributions, his country has also allocated nearly €2  million in assistance to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) for a training in French and Creole for non-French speaking personnel deployed to the country.  Further, it supported Haitian national police with €2 million in assistance since 2023 and is working towards initiating the European Union’s financial support.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s representative, also speaking on behalf of Algeria, Mozambique and Sierra Leone, commended the role the Mission has played helping the Haitian National Police to restore stability and prepare the conditions for elections. While she had expected its quicker deployment, the Mission has “created a sense of expectation among the Haitian people that the situation would improve sooner rather than later”.  She therefore called for scaled-up funding and humanitarian support.

The representative of Switzerland emphasized the need for human rights and international law to be part of the Mission, enabling it to better carry out its mandate. “Complex challenges” called for an agile response, he said, underscoring the need for the Mission to ensure coordination and rapid information-sharing with other efforts on the ground, notably that of United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).

Malta’s delegate called the Mission “a lifeline” to the Haitian people and the Haitian Police and voiced hope that it would help re-establish conditions that would enable the holding of free and fair elections, thereby restoring democracy in Haiti.  He also voiced alarm that children in the country continued to face violence and were being recruited by armed gangs.  While welcoming progress on the political front over the past year, he emphasized the need for parallel advances on the security front.

Haiti’s representative characterized the adopted resolution “a striking testament” to international solidarity with Haiti.  Nonetheless, “the challenges remain significant and complicated,” he said.  “Insecurity is omnipresent, paralysing the economy, undermining the institutions and fueling fear among the population.”  Financial and material support, which the Mission desperately needs, “continues to fall short”.  Becoming a peacekeeping operation is therefore a “matter of urgency” to achieve more stable financing and to expand the Mission’s capacities to reflect the challenges.  It is crucial to establish conditions for free and fair elections, he added.

Rounding out the meeting, the representative of Kenya said that, with the renewal, “the Mission is poised to create the conditions for the Haitian authorities to secure the country and undertake social and economic reconstruction”.  However, this requires its full deployment of 2,500 from its current strength of 410 officers.  He appealed for States’ further voluntary contributions, adding that the Mission is “only a part of the solution”, which called for a multi-pronged approach addressing the challenges’ root causes.