Haití: mientras persisten la violencia y la inseguridad, está en marcha el establecimiento de una misión multinacional de apoyo a la seguridad autorizada por el Consejo de Seguridad. Al mismo tiempo, la ONU continúa brindando apoyo humanitario a quienes lo necesitan.

Media reports suggest that infrastructure for the mission is being put in place as supplies arrive by air into the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Here’s what you need to know about what happens next:

Why is an international security mission necessary?

Haiti is wracked by violence that has escalated to unprecedented levels. In an address to the UN Security Council on 22 April, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador said “it is impossible to overstate the increase in gang activity across Port-au-Prince and beyond, the deterioration of the human rights situation and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis,” adding that she had “consistently called attention to the inexorable requirement to restore security conditions”.

In March 2024, gangs mounted coordinated attacks targeting key state infrastructure, including multiple police stations and two of the main prisons in Port-au-Prince as well as educational and health facilities and religious sites.

“These attacks,” said Ms. Salvador, “have further weakened state institutions and deepened the already critical challenges to the re-establishment of rule of law.”

In the first three months of the year, the UN said 2,500 people, including at least 82 children, were killed or injured as a result of gang violence.

Almost half of the victims were hit by bullets during violent attacks against their neighbourhoods or clashes between gangs and the police.

At least 438 persons were kidnapped for ransom during the same period.

The UN said that some 362,000 people – half of them children – have been forced to flee their homes because it’s just too dangerous to remain.

Sexual violence and abuse against women and girls are on the rise, and tens of thousands of children are unable to attend school due to insecurity.