It is not surprising that some nations are sceptical that the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of a resolution to transform the current security mission in Haiti into a larger, fully fledged force with military troops will yield any positive results.

After all, despite myriad attempts to restore stability in our sister Caricom nation, bloodthirsty gangsters have continued to unleash terror on the civilian population, so much so that Haiti’s ambassador to the UN, Mr Ericq Pierre, told the UN last week that these heavily armed gangs “are no longer mere groups of petty criminals. They have, for some time now, become powerful criminal organisations that mock and challenge the authority of the State and even threaten regional stability”.

Ambassador Pierre is correct on both points, and certainly we here in the Caribbean have experienced that threat to regional stability, particularly with the illegal trade of guns for drugs and the migration of Haitians fleeing the turmoil in their country.

Just last Thursday the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mr Volker Turk told the organisation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva that more than 16,000 people have been killed and some 7,000 injured in armed violence since January 1, 2022 when the UN began monitoring gang-related violence in Haiti.

Mr Turk also said the gangsters were spreading fear beyond the capital, Port-au-Prince, and the violence threatens to “destabilise the wider subregion”.

Additionally, he said some six million people — half of Haiti’s population — needed humanitarian aid, and expressed deep concern for the fate of Haiti’s children, saying they were subjected to trafficking, exploitation, and forced recruitment by gangs.

The council also heard from Mr William O’Neill, Mr Turk’s designated expert on Haiti, who said that the country “faces the abyss”.

“I have never seen the situation as desperate as it is now. Most indicators are flashing red,” Mr O’Neill warned.

As it now stands, just 1,000 police, mostly from Kenya, are deployed in Haiti under the UN-approved Multinational Security Mission to support the Haitian police who have been overwhelmed in their fight against gang violence.

It is against that background that the UN adopted the resolution for the new force which can now have a maximum of 5,500 uniformed personnel, including police and soldiers, expanding the mission beyond the current deployment of law enforcement personnel.

Some months ago UN Secretary General Mr Antonio Guterres had suggested that this major force boost will be accompanied by the creation of a support office within the UN to provide the required logistical and financial support.

The Kenyan president, Mr William Ruto, has voiced support for that proposal, saying last week that “with the right personnel, adequate resources, appropriate equipment, and necessary logistics Haiti’s security can be restored”.

Also in agreement is Jamaica’s Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness who, in his address to the UN General Assembly last week, urged member states “to operationalise the recommendations made by the secretary general for a transition to a more robust hybrid mechanism to deal with the situation in Haiti”.

We cannot lose hope and we must continue to provide support in concrete terms. For, as Mr Turk said last week, international commitment and backing for the larger, fully fledged force are urgent because, “without them, the worst may be yet to come for Haiti and the broader region”.