Port-au-Prince, October 2, 2023

The Security Council just voted to approve the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti. This is a positive and decisive step to bring peace and stability to the country.

This decision comes after a requestby the Haitian government and echoed by the Secretary-General, realizing that the country will not emerge from the current security situation without strong international support for the Haitian National Police.

It is important to emphasize that, unlike recent international missions deployed in Haiti, the MSS mission is not a UN mission.

Nevertheless, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) will fully support it, within the limits of its mandate, the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy and in full respect of the decisions of the Haitian State.

While awaiting the deployment of this Mission, for which dates remain to be set by the authorities of Haiti and the lead-country, BINUH will continue to engage decisively with Haitian authorities – in particular in support to the police, the corrections and justice system, and the electoral process.

I continue to strongly encourage all political actors to demonstrate responsibility and a good faith in a spirit of compromise to find a way out of the current stalemate. Haiti is facing an emergency on multiple fronts: security humanitarian and socio-economic. Haitian political actors must rise to the occasion to address thechallenges facing the country and its population.