UNITED NATIONS, United States, (AFP) – Haiti risks descending into civil war if an international assistance force is not sent to the violence-plagued nation imminently, a minister for the Caribbean country warned Friday.

Ricard Pierre, Haiti’s minister of planning and external cooperation, made the plea during a special meeting on the urgent food needs of Haiti at the UN headquarters in New York.

“The government has called for international assistance with a clear robust mandate to support the Haitian National Police,” he said.

“If this request is not met in a short period of time, the risk of civil war is very real,” Pierre added.

Rival gangs have taken control of most of the capital Port-au-Prince as Haiti has been gripped by a political and economic crisis since the assassination in July 2021 of president Jovenel Moise.

Some residents have even taken matters into their own hands, stoning and burning alive suspected gang members as violence between the gangs ravages Port-au-Prince.

Haiti’s prime minister and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have called for months for a new mission to stabilise the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

No nation has yet to offer to lead the force, but several nations — including Canada, France and the United States — have said they support such a plan.

Canada on Thursday announced the launch of a new centre to coordinate international security assistance to Haiti, but stopped short of agreeing to lead an intervention.

The Canadian-led Joint Security Coordination Cell will look to “enhance the coordination and mobilisation of international efforts in security assistance” to Haiti, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement.

Friday’s UN meeting aimed to rally support and funds for Haiti, where nearly half of the population of 11 million do not have enough to eat.

“We underscore that human security and food security are mutually reinforcing and must be tackled in tandem,” Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of the southern Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said in a video address.

In April, the UN launched a humanitarian response plan that called for $719 million for Haiti, almost double from 2022. The plan is currently only 20 percent funded, according to the UN.

“The situation is dire and it’s getting worse every day,” World Food Program executive director Cindy McCain said in a pre-recorded message.

“We must act now and work together to get food to millions of people who are relying on us,” she pleaded.

The UN says that recent floods and an earthquake have shown that Haiti’s humanitarian needs will grow as the hurricane season starts.

The head of the UN children’s fund said nearly a quarter of children in Haiti are “chronically malnourished,” which is coinciding with a devastating cholera outbreak.

“Haiti is on the precipice of catastrophe,” warned UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell.