The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations announced an additional $60 million in humanitarian aid to Haiti during a visit to the conflict-hit Caribbean nation on Monday.
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield also said the Pentagon would provide a “significant increase” in mine-resistant vehicles to the Kenya-led, U.N.-backed multinational security mission to help Haiti’s national police combat widespread gang violence.
The announcement came about a week after a second batch of 200 Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti, following a first batch of 200 officers last month.
UN says gang violence in Haiti has displaced more than 300,000 children
“We know progress isn’t a straight line; there will be setbacks and obstacles, but this mission has opened the door to progress,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
He said USAID assistance, totaling more than $165 million this fiscal year, will fill gaps in nutrition, food security and housing, improve water and sanitation services, and provide Haitians with cash to purchase basic necessities.
Thomas-Greenfield met with Kenyan police and leaders of Haiti’s new transitional government early Monday as part of a day-long visit aimed at addressing Haiti’s humanitarian crisis and urging political reforms that could lead to democratic elections, which have yet to be scheduled.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks with members of Haitian civil society at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, Monday, July 22, 2024. (Robert Schmidt/via The Associated Press)
“It’s not naive but I feel hopeful. It’s been a great day out there,” she said.
The new transitional government, led by Prime Minister Gary Conile, a former UN development expert who took office in early June, has broad international support. He told the UN Security Council earlier this month that Kenyan police will be crucial in cracking down on gangs and moving the country towards democratic elections.
Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021, and are now estimated to control up to 80 percent of the capital and surrounding areas. A sharp increase in murders, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent insurgency led by private vigilante groups.
According to UN agencies, the violence has displaced 580,000 people, more than half of them children, and left 4 million food insecure.
Haiti has called for the immediate deployment of foreign troops to fight gangs in late 2022, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had been calling for a country to lead the forces for months before Kenya came forward.
The multinational force will eventually consist of 2,500 troops from Kenya, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica, deployed in stages and at a cost of about $600 million a year, according to the UN Security Council.
The United States has contributed more than $300 million to the force, whose creation was backed by a UN resolution.
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Kenyan police will train Haitian national police for a joint security operation that has yet to begin, officials said.
