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STORY: UN / HAITI
TRT: 04:12
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / French / NATS
DATELINE: 21 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
21 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Wide shot, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti María Isabel Salvador addressing Council
4. SOUNDBITE (French) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“The security situation in Haiti has further deteriorated. This time, I wish to sound the alarm and issue a call to help you to better understand what is liable to become a point of no return from the Haitian crisis.”
5. Wide shot, Salvador addressing Council
6. SOUNDBITE (French) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“The magnitude of the violence has sown panic among the Haitian population. They fear the complete collapse of the state under pressure of criminal groups. Many people have organised themselves to protect their residential areas, their families and their communities. In recent days, frustration has prompted thousands of citizens to take to the streets, calling for more efficient measures, whereas certain politicians have exploited this growing insecurity in order to challenge the authorities in place. National authorities have stepped up their efforts to, within their means, enhance the capabilities of the security forces and to improve coordination between the police, the Haitian Armed Forces and the Multinational Security Support Mission.”
7. Wide shot, Salvador addressing Council
8. SOUNDBITE (English) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“Stepping up international support for Haiti is more critical than ever, particularly through increased funding and operational capacity for the Multinational Security Support Mission. I commend Kenya's steadfast leadership and thank all contributing Member States. But at this critical juncture, all Member States must increase support to Haiti security forces, particularly the Multinational Security Support Mission, not as a matter of choice, but of necessity as no viable alternative remains.”
9. Wide shot, Salvador addressing Council
10. SOUNDBITE (English) María Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH):
“Haiti's humanitarian crisis has reached critical levels. Cholera outbreaks and gender based violence, especially in displacement sites, are widespread. Insecurity has closed 39 health facilities and over 900 schools in Port-au-Prince. I urge member states to support the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan. The UN remains committed to helping deliver lifesaving assistance, especially to women, girls and children, and to promoting social peace through government led efforts.”
11. Wide shot, Council, Kenya’s National Security Advisor to the President, Monica Juma, on screen
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Monica Juma, National Security Advisor to the President, Kenya:
“The MSS has the right mandate. The MSS has the right officers with the right competencies, and there the political leadership is keen to restore security. What the mission needs is to be fully deployed and adequately enabled. An urgent expansion of the MSS personnel is therefore essential in order to deliver the intended impact and meet the legitimate high expectations of the Haitian people.”
13. Med shot, Haiti’s Ambassador Ericq Pierre at the dais
14. SOUNDBITE (French) Ericq Pierre, Permanent Representative to the Unite Nations, Haiti:
“As they say, for great ills, great remedies. The Republic of Haiti is prepared to discuss and support, as appropriate, any initiatives of its traditional partners aimed at helping rid the country of gangs that terrorize the population. The leader of the Haitian gangs and their allies, for the most part, are well known and are in Haiti.”
15. Zoom out, end of briefing
16. Wide shot, ambassadors at the stakeout podium
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Jérôme Bonnafont, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, France:
“We, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and my home country, France, also, signatories of the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security, express our unwavering support for all the women and girls of Haiti. The unprecedented levels of violence across the country, notably gun violence threatens peace and security and the stability of the transitional Presidential Council.”
20. Pan right, ambassadors walk away
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti María Isabel Salvador today (21 Apr) told the Security Council that all Member States “must increase support to Haiti security forces,” including the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), “not as a matter of choice, but of necessity as no viable alternative remains.”
Since her last briefing, Salvador said, “the security situation in Haiti has further deteriorated,” and called on Council Members “to better understand what is liable to become a point of no return from the Haitian crisis.”
She said, “The magnitude of the violence has sown panic among the Haitian population. They fear the complete collapse of the state under pressure of criminal groups. Many people have organised themselves to protect their residential areas, their families and their communities.”
In recent days, Salvador said, “frustration has prompted thousands of citizens to take to the streets, calling for more efficient measures, whereas certain politicians have exploited this growing insecurity in order to challenge the authorities in place.”
She noted that “national authorities have stepped up their efforts to, within their means, enhance the capabilities of the security forces and to improve coordination between the police, the Haitian Armed Forces and the Multinational Security Support Mission.”
Salvador, who is also the Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), said, “Haiti's humanitarian crisis has reached critical levels. Cholera outbreaks and gender based violence, especially in displacement sites, are widespread. Insecurity has closed 39 health facilities and over 900 schools in Port-au-Prince.”
She urged Member States, “to support the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan” and said the UN “remains committed to helping deliver lifesaving assistance, especially to women, girls and children, and to promoting social peace through government led efforts.”
Briefing via video teleconference, Kenya’s National Security Advisor to the President, Monica Juma said, “the MSS has the right mandate. The MSS has the right officers with the right competencies, and there the political leadership is keen to restore security. What the mission needs is to be fully deployed and adequately enabled. An urgent expansion of the MSS personnel is therefore essential in order to deliver the intended impact and meet the legitimate high expectations of the Haitian people.”
For his part, Haiti’s Ambassador Ericq Pierre said, “As they say, for great ills, great remedies. The Republic of Haiti is prepared to discuss and support, as appropriate, any initiatives of its traditional partners aimed at helping rid the country of gangs that terrorize the population.”
Pierre said, “the leader of the Haitian gangs and their allies, for the most part, are well known and are in Haiti.”
Outside the Council, French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont, flanked by representatives from Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom on behalf of the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security group and expressed “unwavering support for all the women and girls of Haiti” as “unprecedented levels of violence across the country, notably gun violence threatens peace and security and the stability of the transitional Presidential Council.”
The Secretary-General’s report on Haiti describes several attacks carried out by gangs in the Port-au-Prince area, increasing pressure on previously safe neighbourhoods and raising fears of an “imminent collapse” of state presence in the capital. It also highlights attempts by gangs to expand control beyond Port-au-Prince.
Regarding the political situation, the Secretary-General’s report notes that elections are key to ending Haiti’s protracted political transition.
