Haitian leaders urged to end political impasse
By Nelson A. King
A senior United Nations official
on Thursday urged leaders
in Haiti to step up and end
the political impasse between
President Jovenel Moïse and a
surging opposition movement
that has paralyzed the Frenchspeaking
Caribbean country
since July 2018.
In in a briefing to the UN
Security Council, UN Special
Representative, Helen La Lime
updated ambassadors on latest
developments in the prolonged
divide, which has left Haiti
without a functioning government,
deflated the economy and
fueled insecurity.
“Haiti is about to enter in
its second year with a caretaker
government, its economy
is forecast to sink deeper into
recession, and 4.6 million of
its citizens are now estimated
to require humanitarian assistance,”
said La Lime, speaking
via videoconference from the
Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
“To avoid a greater deterioration,
Haitian leaders need to
rise to the occasion and commit
to a way out of this impasse
that will best serve the interests
of their people,” she urged
in introducing the first report
on the UN Integrated Office in
Haiti, which she heads.
Known by the French acronym
Caribbean L 26 ife, Feb. 28-Mar. 5, 2020
BINUH, the Integrated
Office was stablished last October,
following the end of 15
years of UN peacekeeping operations
in Haiti.
The UN said its mandate
includes strengthening political
stability and good governance.
During the past months, the
UN said La Lime and international
partners – the Organization
of American States and
the Holy See – have been supporting
negotiations to forge
consensus on a political agreement.
However, the UN said talks
failed to yield progress on the
formation of a new government
and the designation of a “consensual”
prime minister by the
president.
“The lack of agreement on
this matter, as well as on the
remaining length of President
Moïse’s term, threatens to needlessly
prolong a situation that
has already lasted too long,” La
Lime told the Council.
In the interim, Haitians
are being subjected to widespread
human rights violations,
as armed gangs now control
around a third of the country,
generating “a rising tide of cruelty,”
according to Marie Yolène
Gilles, executive director of the
non-profit Fondasyon Je Klere,
who also spoke from the capital
city.
“We have witnessed odious
killings, decapitations, rapes,
robberies, embezzlement, and
the diversion of supplies, abductions
and kidnappings,” said
Gilles, later adding: “We have
death squadrons, and that’s a
form of state terrorism.”
La Lime said the ongoing
impasse and economic troubles
“risk further affecting the
integrity of the national police
and other key institutions.”
The UN said Haiti’s modern
history has been characterized
by recurring cycles of political
and socio-economic crisis.
La Lime said they have been
rooted in factors such as poverty,
gender inequalities, limited
access to basic services, natural
resource depletion, gang activity,
corruption and impunity.
But she said while the road
to improved governance will be
difficult, the deployment of the
new UN office “should see deeper
and more targeted collaboration
with the country.
The UN Special Representative
said success in Haiti will
be measured by progress in six
areas.
The Delmas 32 neighbourhood in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is one of the poorest in
the French-speaking Caribbean country. United Nations
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