October 17, 2022
Mr. President,
I thank SRSG La Lime for her report and insight on the deteriorating situation in Haiti, including her suggestions and recommendations.
I welcome the participation of Minister Geneus of Haiti and Minister Gil of the Dominican Republic, as well as the OIF and Belize at this meeting.
The situation is desperate and hardly needs any comments. Therefore, I will limit my statements to a few key remarks:
First, the contrast couldn’t he more hurting: Haiti, the first Black Republic is nowadays the poorest nation in the Americas, and is facing an acute political, economic, security and health crisis, which has paralyzed the country and sparked a breakdown of law and order.
As it was amply highlighted, almost everything in the country is on a standstill. Except for one: gang violence and lawlessness. Gangs own the streets; they have broken down the law, making their own prevail; they have paralyzed normal life. They are preventing economic activity, including the distribution of diesel and petrol making transport to halt, with result widespread looting and shootouts becoming increasingly common. Gangs are now getting together and are dictating their terms to political actors. It’s a symptom of their power, but also a symptom of what is coming if the situations in not immediately and properly addressed and reversed.
When nearly half of Haiti’s population is experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with thousands of citizens at the capital are suffering famine conditions, when all safeguards to prevent human rights violations and widespread abuse have been put down, when the state authority is nowhere, the situation has reached to the breaking point.
People are right to ask “where is the state”, “where is the political class”, “who is behind the wheel”.
Second, this dire situation will only get worse if some degree of security and rule of law is not immediately restored. Fight against gangs and their brutal violence, criminal activity, corruption, smuggling and trafficking of weapons should be the top priority. It is a first and a must. Otherwise gangs will only rise and their suffocating power and metastatic grip will only increase. The security material help provided by US and Canada is a most welcome move.
Third, as if this were not enough, this complex situation has enabled an outbreak of cholera, bringing back painful memories. Lack of fuel has forced the hospitals and health centers to cut services; water delivery companies are shut, thus creating conditions for an exponential increase of the disease across the country. It is therefore paramount to create a humanitarian corridor to allow fuel to reach the main hospital, as well as any cholera response centres and limit its spreading.
Forth, among other crimes committed, armed gangs have used rape, including collective rapes, and other forms of sexual violence to instill fear, punish, subjugate, and inflict pain on local populations with the ultimate goal of expanding their areas of influence. You don’t want to be a girl or a woman in Haiti now. This is the direct consequence of widespread impunity and ease of access to high caliber weapons and ammunitions trafficked from abroad. It must be reversed for life to have a meaning and future a prospect. In this respect, support for the UNODC action on the ground is paramount.
Colleagues,
Haiti needs help; it needs it now and it should come in an order of priority.
We support the 2 draft resolutions proposed by the US and Mexico, and are in favor of sanctioning those responsible, those who are strangulating an entire country and its population.
We also fully support a strong and robust security mandate in order to provide authorities and law enforcement bodies with the necessary means to guarantee safe and adequate conditions of life.
But let’s be clear: it would be illusory to believe that solutions can only come from outside assistance. The political class of Haiti should get its acts together, leave aside their vested or any other interests but the one and only, the one the country needs and that its desperate people hope for.
Political actors cannot be bystanders of a house in fire; they should be the first actors to take it out.
Only this may help will bring back normality in order to tackle other major issues and create the basis for elections to happen.
We stand with the Haiti and its people and the best way for all of us to show it, is to act with urgency in considering the Government’s request for support by a united Council.
Thank you.