- Title: UN announces downscaled mission to support Haiti
- Date: 17th April 2017
- Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (FILE) (REUTERS) U.N. SOLDIER AT U.N. VEHICLE
- Embargoed: 2nd May 2017 00:59
- Keywords: United Nations Haiti MINUSTAH mission
- Location: PORT AU PRINCE, NORD-EST, HAITI
- City: PORT AU PRINCE, NORD-EST, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0026CSETDV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The United Nations will focus on training Haitian police and supporting the government to uphold the rule of law in a two-year, scaled-down mission to be set in motion whilst the previous 13-year peace-keeping motion is gradually phased out, officials said on Monday (April 17).
The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday (April 13) to end the peacekeeping mission in Haiti, one of the longest-running in the world, known by the French acronym MINUSTAH. It will be replaced by a temporary mission focused on maintaining the rule of law, human rights and stability, head of the current mission, Sandra Honore, said in Port-au-Prince on Monday.
The resolution calls for the more than 2,300 blue-helmeted personnel to gradually depart while 1,275 U.N. police remain for an initial period of six months. The new mission will be established for an initial six months, from October 16, 2017 to April 15, 2018, and is projected to exit two years after its establishment.
The shutdown of the $346-million-U.S.-dollar mission, recommended by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, comes as the United States looks to cut its funding of U.N. peacekeeping. The Security Council also acknowledged the completion of Haiti's presidential election, along with the inauguration of its new president, as a "major milestone towards stabilisation" in the Caribbean country.
The mission has been dogged by controversies, including sexual abuse claims and the introduction of cholera to the island, for which the international body does not recognise legal responsibility. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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