Haiti is at a “watershed moment” in its struggle against gang violence and needs sustained international support alongside stronger national security institutions, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé told the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Addressing world leaders in New York, Mr. Fils-Aimé said criminal violence was threatening communities across the country, but insisted Haiti was neither defeated nor seeking to have others determine its future.
“Haiti will resist. Haiti is standing tall,” he said, calling on the international community “not to save it, but to stand side by side with it while it takes its own destiny into its own hands.”
‘No time for half measures’
The Prime Minister said the scale of violence, including massacres, displacement and attacks against women and children, demanded decisive action.
He paid tribute to victims as well as Haitian and international security personnel who have died serving the country, stressing that the human toll must not become simply another statistic.
Haiti, he said, is strengthening its own security forces, including through a programme to train 4,000 police officers. More than 2,000 have already been trained, while over 1,500 new soldiers have completed training. The Government also plans to train 15,000 additional soldiers over the next three years.
“Our goal is not only to respond to the crisis of today,” he said, but to build the capacity for Haiti to sustainably ensure its own security.
At the same time, Mr. Fils-Aimé expressed concern that the international force intended to support those efforts was still not fully operational or at its planned strength of 5,500 personnel.
He called for renewal of the mandate of the “gang suppression force” and its full deployment with the personnel, equipment and resources required.
“A mandate is not enough,” he warned. “There’s a need for forces. Equipment is needed, and one needs to resolve to see the effort through.”
Weapons trafficking and impunity
The Prime Minister also urged stronger international action against illicit weapons and ammunition trafficking, noting that the guns fueling violence in Haiti are arriving through transnational criminal networks.
As part of efforts to combat impunity, the Government has established two specialized judicial hubs addressing financial and mass crimes and sexual violence, while reactivating the national commission for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
Elections and economic recovery
Mr. Fils-Aimé said restoring security must go hand in hand with economic recovery and a return to democratic government through “free, credible, inclusive and honest elections”.
Enrollment centres are open, political parties and groups have been accredited, and prospective candidates are completing formalities, he said.
The Prime Minister also called for a fundamental shift in Haiti’s economic relationship with international partners.
“We need to move from aid to investment, from assistance to production, from dependency to partnership,” he said, arguing that investment and job creation, particularly for young people and women, are essential to lasting peace.
Despite the enormity of the challenges, Mr. Fils-Aimé closed on a message of determination.
“The challenges are colossal, but our willpower is even greater,” he said. “Our generation now needs to let [the tree of liberty] bear the fruit of peace.”