UN / HAITI

Presenting the Secretary-General’s report on Haiti, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bintou Keita, told the Security Council that “time is of the essence to make concrete progress” on the implementation of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) "through the eleven benchmarks acknowledged by the Council.” UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:13
• Production Date: 6 September 2018
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS MISSION FOR JUSTICE SUPPORT IN HAITI - MINUJUSTH
• Subject Topical: PEACEBUILDING
• Geographic Subject: HAITI
• MAMS Id: 2229027
• Parent Id: 2229027
• Alternate Title: unifeed180906a

Description

STORY: UN / HAITI
TRT: 02:13
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 06 SEPTEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

06 SEPTEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, Haiti Ambassador
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Bintou Keita, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
“Time is of the essence to make concrete progress on MINUJUSTH’s mandate implementation through the eleven benchmarks acknowledged by the Council. Together, MINUJUSTH, the Country Team, the Government of Haiti, and other partners, will need to redouble efforts to make up for the time lost because of the challenges that emerged from the 6 to 8 July events, given the time-bound nature of the mandate and the transition process. These are all challenges that must be addressed by a fully functioning government.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Leona Romeo-Marlin, Prime Minister of Saint Maarten:
“The outbreak of violence in July serves as a reminder that the security situation in Haiti is still fragile and it could be challenged again in the coming months. It is of paramount importance that the Haitian National Police improves its ability to manage these threats and shore up the trust of the Haitian people in its performance.”
7. Med shot, Keita
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Denis Régis, Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations:
“Developments in the political situation in Haiti over the past three months, and more specifically fears of destabilization arising from the protests that took place from the 6th to the 8th of July 2018 in the wake of an announced increase in gasoline prices quite rightly captured the international community’s attention. These events, the expression of public frustrations - which were perfectly understandable given the real socio-economic difficulties being faced by people – were a major test for the country. However, the hard-won political stability of the country was not jeopardized, nor were our democratic gains or the many other gains made over the past few years.”
9. Wide shot, Council

Storyline

Presenting the Secretary-General’s report on Haiti, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bintou Keita, told the Security Council today (6 Sep) that “time is of the essence to make concrete progress” on the implementation of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) "through the eleven benchmarks acknowledged by the Council."

Keita said, “together, MINUJUSTH, the Country Team, the Government of Haiti, and other partners, will need to redouble efforts to make up for the time lost because of the challenges that emerged from the 6 to 8 July events, given the time-bound nature of the mandate and the transition process” and added that “these are all challenges that must be addressed by a fully functioning government.”

Protests over a sharp rise in fuel prices ordered by the government turned violence in early July.

The Prime Minister of Saint Maarten, Leona Romeo-Marlin, speaking on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said “the outbreak of violence in July serves as a reminder that the security situation in Haiti is still fragile and it could be challenged again in the coming months.”

She said it was “of paramount importance that the Haitian National Police improves its ability to manage these threats and shore up the trust of the Haitian people in its performance.”

For his part, Haiti’s Ambassador, Denis Régis, said “developments in the political situation in Haiti over the past three months, and more specifically fears of destabilization arising from the protests that took place from the 6th to the 8th of July 2018 in the wake of an announced increase in gasoline prices quite rightly captured the international community’s attention. These events, the expression of public frustrations - which were perfectly understandable given the real socio-economic difficulties being faced by people – were a major test for the country.”

However, he added, “the hard-won political stability of the country was not jeopardized, nor were our democratic gains or the many other gains made over the past few years.”