Haiti

In Haiti, amid intensifying violence, Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for urgent action to be taken on the UN Secretary-General’s appeal for a non-United Nations multinational force to support the Haitian police in addressing the grave security situation and restoring the rule of law.

The United Nations Children’s Fund says that three in four children in South Asia — 460 million boys and girls — are exposed to extreme high temperature, compared to only one in three children globally, with toddlers, malnourished children and pregnant women most vulnerable to heat stroke and other serious effects.

On 30 June 2023, members of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2653 (2022) concerning Haiti held informal consultations, during which the Chair of the Committee briefed its members on his most recent visit to Haiti and the Dominican Republic held from 12 to 16 June 2023.

The Economic and Social Council concluded its management segment today, adopting five resolutions and six decisions from its subsidiary bodies that addressed strengthening development planning for Haiti, support for Non-Self-Governing Territories and the rights of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory, as well as the protection of Palestinian women.

In Haiti, the World Food Programme (WFP) today said it has been forced to cut the number of people receiving emergency food assistance by 25 per cent this month due to dwindling funding levels, ending support for 100,000 of the most vulnerable Haitians. WFP urgently needs $121 million to continue vital aid through 2023.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) until 15 July 2024, deciding that its police and corrections unit will include up to 70 civilian and seconded personnel serving as police and corrections advisers to scale up its strategic and advisory support to the training and investigation capacities of the Haitian National Police, and that its human rights unit will include dedicated capacity to address sexual and gender-based violence including the identification of women’s protection advisers.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres flew from New York to Port-au-Prince early on Saturday, 1 July.

The United Nations’ humanitarian partners have concluded an initial damage assessment following the recent operation by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp. They report that 460 housing units were damaged, at least 40 families remain displaced and the camp remains largely without running water.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $8 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund to help refugees and returnees from Sudan who are seeking shelter in South Sudan. The funds will help provide food, water, shelter and medical care to those affected by the ongoing violence.

Amid a protracted political impasse and deteriorating security and humanitarian situations in Haiti, briefers and senior officials urged the Security Council today to examined ways to address the multifaceted crisis, including the possible deployment of an international security force to curb armed gangs’ brutal violence in the beleaguered and embattled Caribbean country.