US ambassador visits Haiti to meet new leaders and Kenyan police helping to curb gang violence

UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations traveled to Haiti on Monday to meet with leaders of the new transitional government and Kenyan police, the vanguard of a U.N.-backed force that is helping the country’s national police combat widespread gang violence.

A senior U.S. administration official said Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s one-day visit is also aimed at taking action to address Haiti’s humanitarian crisis and pushing for political reform, with the goal of democratic elections in 2026.

The Ambassador will make two important announcements regarding Haiti’s security and humanitarian crises, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the visit.

Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021, and are estimated to control 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince and have spread to surrounding areas. The increase in killings, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent uprising by vigilantes.

There is broad international support for the new transitional government led by Prime Minister Garry Conillea former UN development specialist who arrived in the country in early June. Earlier this month, he told the UN Security Council that the Kenyan police would be crucial in helping to control the gangs of the country and on the way to democratic elections.

According to UN agencies, the violence has displaced 580,000 people, more than half of whom are children, and 4 million people are food insecure.

In a show of support for the UN mission in Haiti and the Kenyan police, Thomas-Greenfield will visit the police compound and meet with Conille, members of the Transitional Presidential Council and representatives from the UN and civil society.

Haiti asked for an international force to fight gangs in 2022, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spent months appealing for a country to lead the force before the Kenyans stepped up.

A second Kenyan contingent of 200 police officers landed in Haiti last week, following the first contingent of 200 officers last month. The multinational force will eventually include 2,500 troops from Kenya, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica. They will be deployed in phases at a cost of about $600 million a year, the U.N. Security Council said.

The U.S. has provided more than $300 million to the force, which Thomas-Greenfield helped establish through a U.N. resolution, the official said, adding that the ambassador played a “central role” in securing international commitments for funding, equipment and logistical support.

Kenyan police will train Haiti’s national police for joint security operations that have not yet begun, the official said.

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