UNITED NATIONS (CMC) — United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has welcomed the adoption of a resolution by the Security Council authorising a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti.

The resolution, adopted under UN Charter’s Chapter VII on Monday, which sets out the Security Council’s responsibilities to maintain international peace and security, was penned by the United States and Ecuador.

The UN chief’s spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists that Guterres applauded this development.

Dujarric said the UN engagement with Haiti will continue ahead of the deployment of the international support mission backing beleaguered police who are fighting rampant gang violence.

He said armed groups have taken control of large areas of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and terrorised civilians for more than a year.

“Violence by armed groups is just one element of the multifaced crisis in Haiti, which remains gripped by political, humanitarian, and socioeconomic challenges,” Dujarric said.

The UN said the international mission has been approved for an initial period of a year with a review after nine months. It will be led by Kenya, and several of Haiti’s Caribbean neighbours, including Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Belize, have also pledged their support.

Dujarric said the resolution was not about the approval of a UN mission, but the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) will fully support the Multinational Security Support mission, within the limits of its mandate, the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy and in full respect of the decisions taken by the Haitian State.

“While awaiting the deployment of this mission, the UN will continue to engage closely with Haitian authorities — in particular in support to the police, the corrections and justice system, and the electoral process,” he added.

Maria Isabel Salvador, the head of BINUH, the UN’s political mission in Haiti, called the council’s decision “a positive and decisive step to bring peace and stability to the country.

“This decision follows a long plea by the Haitian Government, relayed by the secretary general of the United Nations, based on the observation that the country will not emerge from the current security situation without strong international support for the Haitian National Police,” she said in a statement issued after the vote.

With Haiti confronting many crises, she urged political leaders to “rise to the occasion to address the challenges facing the country and its population”.