KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica has welcomed Tuesday’s decision by the United Nations Security Council to extend the mandate of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti and is urging the international community to back the renewal with the personnel, financing and equipment needed to make the force more effective for the next six months.

The council’s decision follows sustained advocacy by world leaders and foreign ministers from across the region and the globe for continued international support to Haiti.

Foreign Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith had reiterated Jamaica’s call for renewal of the GSF mandate during the delivery of the country’s national statement to the 81st Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Saturday, September 26.  Jamaica’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Brian Wallace also delivered the Caribbean Community (Caricom) statement to the UNSC this morning as part of the debate before the vote.

The GSF is mandated to neutralise armed gangs, protect critical infrastructure and support humanitarian access, working alongside the Haitian National Police. Jamaica has contributed personnel to the force and is a member of the Standing Group of Partners, which provides strategic direction and helps mobilise personnel and resources.

“Nowhere in our region is the challenge of criminal gangs more devastating than in our Caricom sister nation of Haiti. Jamaica stands firmly with the Haitian people. We urge sustained international support for the Gang Suppression Force, the Haitian National Police and its armed forces. This support must include the financial, logistical and operational resources necessary to restore security,” the minister told the General Assembly.

“We further call for the security council to renew the mandate of the GSF at this imperfect but particularly critical juncture. We are at a crossroads. We can lose gains, or we can build on progress made,” she continued.

The renewal comes as the force remains well short of its authorised strength. As at July, it comprised just over 1,000 personnel from Chad, Mongolia, Jamaica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Sri Lanka.  In meetings in New York last week, Johnson Smith cautioned that significant needs remain in troop contributions, logistics, airlift, air and sea monitoring and equipment.

With the first phase of Haiti’s elections scheduled for December 2026, a marked improvement in security is needed to enable a credible, inclusive and peaceful process.

“The international community must send an unequivocal message: armed gangs cannot be allowed to determine Haiti’s future nor that of the region. Security must create the space for sustained humanitarian relief, developmental and economic progress. But even more foundationally, security must create the space for political stability, democratic governance and credible elections, led and owned by the Haitian people,” the minister said.

Johnson Smith also advocated for support for Haiti during high-level week in talks with Caricom counterparts at the 26th Special Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR). She raised it as well in exchanges with foreign ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), at the Ministerial Meeting of the ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti, and at a Chatham House/Global Canada Round Table on Haiti’s path from crisis to recovery.

Jamaica has also called for stronger implementation of the UN arms embargo and sanctions regime on Haiti and reaffirmed its commitment to working through Caricom and with Haiti, the United Nations, the Organization of American States and other partners, to support the neighbouring country’s path to stability, recovery and sustainable development.

The GSF’s mandate has been extended to March 31, 2027.