UN / HAITI

UN Special Representative for Haiti María Isabel Salvador said that the challenges faced by the Haitian National Police remain “immense.” UNIFEED

• Video Length: 00:04:37
• Production Date: 22 January 2025
• Asset Language: English; French; Spanish
• Personal Subject: MARÍA ISABEL SALVADOR; ROBERTO ÁLVAREZ GIL; GHADA FATHI WALY
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS INTEGRATED OFFICE IN HAITI - BINUH; UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME - UNODC
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; DRUG TRAFFICKING; HUMAN TRAFFICKING; ARMED GROUPS; ARMS; HAITI SITUATION
• Geographic Subject: HAITI; DOMINICAN REPUBLIC; KENYA
• MAMS Id: 3332044
• Parent Id: 3332044
• Alternate Title: unifeed250122b

Description

STORY: UN / HAITI
TRT: 04:37
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: 22 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE - NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, UN Headquarters

22 JANUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, delegates, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“On 18 January, an additional 217 Kenyan police officers (including an advance team of 5 women) were deployed to Haiti. In addition, 150 Guatemalans and an advance team of eight Salvadorean troops have also arrived.”
4. Wide shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“Challenges faced by the HNP remain immense, with high attrition rates, insufficient specialized training, and a lack of equipment. Enhanced international assistance is critical.”
6. Wide shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“The worsening security crisis has significantly impacted United Nations operations. In response to the suspension of flights to Port-au-Prince and widespread violence, the UN decided to temporarily reduce its footprint in the capital, while continuing to provide lifesaving assistance.”
8. Wide shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“While there is progress on the political front and reason to be timidly hopeful, the transition framework remains fragile. The increasing fragmentation of the political sectors represented on the Transitional Presidential Council, combined with persistent criticism of this Council, complicates the process.”
10. Wide shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative and Head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“Over 6 million people - nearly half the population - require humanitarian assistance, with 3.9 million targeted for aid. The number of internally displaced persons has tripled to over 1 million, with more than half being children. Displacement sites are overcrowded and lack essential services such as clean water, sanitation, and education. Food insecurity affects 48 per cent of the population.”
12. Wide shot, delegates
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“The ongoing violence and instability is compounded by illicit arms flows, drug trafficking, and other illicit markets, and underpinned by corruption and money laundering.”
14. Wide shot, delegates
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“Haiti needs stronger capacities to register, control, and trace firearms and ammunition, including seized weapons and private stockpiles, as well as to collect, request, and analyse firearms seizure data. And maritime and land border control on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border need to be enhanced with equipment, human resources, and improved information sharing. In addition, stronger controls are needed for ships departing Florida for Haiti, but also for the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, which traffickers are now using as transit destinations.”
16. Wide shot, delegates
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“Airspace closures and hardline anti-migration policies in the region, as well as stricter controls in the Darien Gap and the shut-down of the international airport in Port-au-Prince are leading Haitians to take more risk to escape, using the services of migrant smugglers who are ready to put them at risk.”
18. Med shot, delegates
19. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Victor Harvel Jean Baptiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Worship, Haiti:
“My country has requested the transformation of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) into a United Nations peacekeeping mission, equipped with a clear mandate, adequate resources, and enhanced expertise. This transition is not merely a logistical necessity but a strategic imperative to address the multiple threats facing our country.”
20. Med shot, Dominican Minister for Foreign Affairs, delegates
21. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Roberto Álvarez Gil, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dominican Republic:
“The time has come for this organization to take on a more effective and direct role in the pacification of Haiti, supporting the authorities of that country.”
22. Med shot, Dominican Minister for Foreign Affairs, delegates
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Kenya:
“Kenya welcomes and strongly supports Haiti's request to transition the MSS into a UN Peacekeeping Operation. Such a transition would guarantee the necessary resources and support, including enhanced logistics and manpower, and foster greater collaboration by engaging more partners in the stabilization efforts.”
24. Wide shot, delegates

Storyline

UN Special Representative for Haiti María Isabel Salvador said that the challenges faced by the Haitian National Police (HNP) remain “immense.”
Addressing the Security Council today (22 Jan), Salvador said that on 18 January, an additional 217 Kenyan police officers (including an advance team of 5 women) were deployed to Haiti.

In addition, 150 Guatemalans and an advance team of eight Salvadorean troops have also arrived.

However, she continued, “Challenges faced by the HNP remain immense, with high attrition rates, insufficient specialized training, and a lack of equipment. Enhanced international assistance is critical.”

She said, “The worsening security crisis has significantly impacted United Nations operations. In response to the suspension of flights to Port-au-Prince and widespread violence, the UN decided to temporarily reduce its footprint in the capital, while continuing to provide lifesaving assistance.”

She also said, “While there is progress on the political front and reason to be timidly hopeful, the transition framework remains fragile. The increasing fragmentation of the political sectors represented on the Transitional Presidential Council, combined with persistent criticism of this Council, complicates the process.”

She stressed, “Over 6 million people - nearly half the population - require humanitarian assistance, with 3.9 million targeted for aid. The number of internally displaced persons has tripled to over 1 million, with more than half being children. Displacement sites are overcrowded and lack essential services such as clean water, sanitation, and education. Food insecurity affects 48 per cent of the population.”

Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said, “The ongoing violence and instability is compounded by illicit arms flows, drug trafficking, and other illicit markets, and underpinned by corruption and money laundering.”

She also said, “Haiti needs stronger capacities to register, control, and trace firearms and ammunition, including seized weapons and private stockpiles, as well as to collect, request, and analyse firearms seizure data. And maritime and land border control on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border need to be enhanced with equipment, human resources, and improved information sharing. In addition, stronger controls are needed for ships departing Florida for Haiti, but also for the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, which traffickers are now using as transit destinations.”

She added, “Airspace closures and hardline anti-migration policies in the region, as well as stricter controls in the Darien Gap and the shut-down of the international airport in Port-au-Prince are leading Haitians to take more risk to escape, using the services of migrant smugglers who are ready to put them at risk.”

Also addressing the Council, Jean-Victor Harvel Jean Baptiste, Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Worship, said, “My country has requested the transformation of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) into a United Nations peacekeeping mission, equipped with a clear mandate, adequate resources, and enhanced expertise. This transition is not merely a logistical necessity but a strategic imperative to address the multiple threats facing our country.”

Roberto Álvarez Gil, Dominican Minister for Foreign Affairs, stated, “The time has come for this organization to take on a more effective and direct role in the pacification of Haiti, supporting the authorities of that country.”

Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, Kenyan Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said, “Kenya welcomes and strongly supports Haiti's request to transition the MSS into a UN Peacekeeping Operation. Such a transition would guarantee the necessary resources and support, including enhanced logistics and manpower, and foster greater collaboration by engaging more partners in the stabilization efforts.”