HAITI’S worsening security crisis is a reminder that international attention cannot be allowed to fade simply because the world has grown tired of hearing about the country’s suffering.

The United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) for another six months, until March 31, 2027. The decision comes as gangs continue to expand their reach and adapt to security operations.

The central question now is whether the international community will provide the force with the personnel, equipment, and financing required to carry out the job it has been mandated to do.

The numbers are stark. Between January 1 and September 11 the UN documented at least 5,700 people killed or injured by gangs or during operations against them. More than 230 people were kidnapped, and more than 1,000 women and girls were raped.

The UN human rights chief has warned that the actual figures are likely higher. Yet the GSF remains dramatically below its intended strength of 5,500 personnel.

That is not merely a logistical inconvenience, it is a fundamental limitation on the mission’s ability to restore security and protect civilians.

A force deployed at less than a third of its intended strength cannot reasonably be expected to reverse a crisis of this magnitude. The response must therefore be strengthened urgently. But greater security capacity must go hand in hand with accountability and respect for human rights.

The UN has raised serious concerns about unnecessary and disproportionate force during security operations, including casualties caused by stray bullets and explosive drones. The objective must be to defeat criminal gangs while protecting the very civilians the mission exists to serve.

There is understandable fatigue in donor capitals after years of international engagement and disappointing results in Haiti. But aid fatigue cannot become Haiti fatigue.

The law-abiding people of that country have endured insecurity, displacement, kidnapping, sexual violence, and the destruction of livelihoods for far too long.

Nor can Haiti’s crisis be regarded as Haiti’s problem alone. Caribbean and Latin American governments should recognise that prolonged insecurity creates powerful incentives for Haitians seeking safety and a better life to leave their homeland.

The longer the crisis persists, the greater the potential pressure on neighbouring countries and the wider region from irregular migration and humanitarian displacement.

Haiti needs more than another international deadline. It needs sustained international commitment, stronger security capacity, effective Haitian institutions, and a credible political path forward.

The extension of the GSF mandate provides another opportunity. What matters now is ensuring that the force has the means to make that opportunity count.