U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced $60 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Haiti, as well as armored vehicles for the national police, during a visit Monday to the Caribbean nation, which is struggling to restore security and constitutional order amid gang violence.
“This funding will help USAID partners fill critical gaps in nutrition, food security and shelter,” Thomas-Greenfield said at a press conference in Haiti of the new U.S. assistance. She is the U.S. envoy to the United Nations and a member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet.
She said the aid would also help improve water and sanitation services and help affected communities buy essential commodities.
At least 80% of Port-au-Prince is no longer under the control of Haitian authorities, and violence is spreading to other parts of the country. The United Nations says at least 578,000 people have been displaced by the violence, which includes murders, kidnappings and rape. Hunger is also at catastrophic levels in parts of the island nation, with nearly half the population acutely food insecure.
Last year, Haiti requested international support to defeat the gangs, and in October the U.N. Security Council authorized a non-U.N. multinational security support force, or MSS. After months of delays, the first group of Kenyan police officers deployed in Haiti on June 25, and last week 200 more arrived. In all, about 2,500 police from a handful of nations are expected to make up the mission.
Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged that the MSS would inevitably face hurdles.
“And yet this mission has opened a door to progress, where there wasn’t one before,” she said.
Kenya is leading the force, which will assist the Haitian National Police in subduing the gangs. The United States is the mission’s largest donor, committing more than $300 million toward logistics, equipment and training support.
In Port-au-Prince, Thomas-Greenfield announced that the Pentagon would provide “a significant number” of mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles to the MSS, strengthening its capacity. She said the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs also planned to send additional armored vehicles for the mission.
“This enhanced vehicle package will further assist the MSS in combating gang violence in Port-au-Prince,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “I hope that this funding and support serves as a call to action for members of the international community to join suit.”
The United States has already sent 16 armored personnel carriers to Haiti this year, as part of the $200 million Washington has provided for improving the Haitian National Police’s capacity to deal with criminal gangs and protect civilians.
During her visit, Thomas-Greenfield met Haitian officials, including Prime Minister Garry Conille and members of the Transitional Presidential Council.
“We had a very productive discussion about the situation here in Haiti, how we can continue to work together to improve both security, but more importantly, to work on development so that the Haitian people can see the benefits and receive the dividends from this effort to provide security here to them,” she told reporters earlier Monday.
She also called on Haiti’s transitional government to swiftly appoint a credible and inclusive Provisional Electoral Council to lay the groundwork for free and fair elections.
In attempting to restore security, the MSS will also help to create conditions necessary for credible elections, which Haiti hopes to hold no later than February 2026.
“As we discussed today, Haitians deserve free and fair elections, and a government that is truly accountable to the people,” she said at the news conference.
The ambassador met with U.N. officials and civil society representatives, and she visited the MSS's life support area, a complex that includes living quarters, a hospital training center and a water treatment plant.
The U.N. Security Council has sanctioned five gang leaders for their roles in the violence in Haiti, including Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer turned influential gang leader known as “Barbecue.”
A senior U.S. official said the U.S. and other nations would continue their efforts to “put names forward” and sanction individuals responsible for enabling gang violence in Haiti.
Washington has expressed its disappointment over an "unexplained hold" placed by the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee on a proposal to list Youri Latortue, a former Haitian Senate president, for allegedly arming the gangs, to whom he’s financially linked.
"It is important for the council to send a very strong message that those individuals who are not contributing to the betterment of Haiti” must face the consequences for their "nefarious activities," the official said.
Haiti has been in turmoil since the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moise at his home in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petion-Ville. The installation of the transitional council in April and its selection of Conille as prime minister in late May are seen as critical steps toward getting Haiti back on the path to stability.
VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
