At the outset. I would like to congratulate my Caribbean brother. His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, on his election as the President of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly. I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the gratitude of the people of Haiti, who appreciated his recent visit to the country and his unwavering support for Haiti’s efforts to obtain strong support for the Haitian National Police from the Security Council.
I welcome the theme the President has chosen to guide our statements during this session. “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and the sustainability for all.”
We must therefore consider and propose solutions to the main global challenges to advance peace, security and sustainable development. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine sustainable development without peace and security. We need solidarity and determination to meet those challenges.
On the eve of the 2030 deadline, the world is in a bad way. The outbreak of numerous conflicts with disastrous consequences for civilian populations, the multiplication of security, health and food crises, are all reminders that we are moving away from the great ideals of the Charter of the United Nations.
One example is the food insecurity caused by conflict and violence. The Global Report on Food Crises 2023 indicates that 258 million people were acutely food insecure and in need of emergency food aid in 2022. To that end. my country took part in the high-level public debate on famine and conflict- induced global food insecurity, organized in August by the Security Council (see S/PV.9392). with a view to sounding the alarm.
Since the crisis of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the global economy has stagnated. Inflation is ravaging many economies, and growth prospects are grim. This situation affects the least developed countries, particularly Haiti, which is constantly having to cope with price volatility and a crisis marked by the deterioration of the country’s security situation.
Against this alarming backdrop, we should also mention the issue of climate change, which poses a constant threat to small island States, like Haiti, putting them to the test. With each hurricane, the economies of the Caribbean region suffer enormous losses, calling into question the significant progress made
on the socioeconomic and political fronts, through the destruction of economic, educational, health and energy infrastructure.
As Head of Government of Haiti, this debate is an opportunity for me to share the situation of my country, plunged into a deep crisis for years now. We need to find concrete and sustainable responses. This is a structural and multidimensional crisis, which has adversely affected our institutions and is hindering economic development and social progress. The crisis has now reached a critical phase, with a deteriorating security situation in which the population is subjected daily to violent attacks by armed gangs that control several quarters of the capital and certain provincial towns. They murder, set fire, pillage, rape and plunder with rare cruelty. They drive people from their homes, block roads and force schools, hospitals and businesses to close.
The deterioration of the security situation in recent weeks has led to a new humanitarian crisis, with displaced persons spontaneously occupying various sites in order to escape gang violence. More than 25 schools in the capital are being used by more than 16.500 displaced persons, according to estimates. They are facing grave difficulties and living in subhuman conditions. There is also a health threat, with cases of cholera reported in certain sites. That increases the risk of transmission and poses a real public health problem for the population.
Abuses and systematic human rights violations caused by gang violence are jeopardizing the peace, stability and security of the country and the region. Kidnappings, looting, arson, recent massacres, sexual and gender-based violence, organ trafficking, human trafficking, homicides, extrajudicial executions, the recruitment of child soldiers and blockades of main roads are just some of the crimes perpetrated by armed gangs.
That has had serious consequences for the economy, which has recorded five years of contraction, with a negative growth rate and a high inflation rate of nearly 40 per cent. In addition, the humanitarian crisis is worsening. According to estimates. 4.9 million people are food insecure. That is almost half the population living below the poverty line, on less than $2 a day.
We are not here to cast blame or to justify the past. We are here to ask friendly countries and all those who — from near or far — are watching our country and understand that urgent action must be taken to help the Haitian people and to create a better future for the children of Haiti by restoring security and stability.
In the past 15 years, the Haiti has lived through several shocks, one after the other — three major earthquakes, several cyclones and the heinous assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. It is impossible today to invent or presented biased stories on Haiti. The reality is plain to see and concerns us all.
A series of bad decisions, inappropriate actions and various strains of radicalism have led us to this state of affairs. From this rostrum. I now plead once again to help Haitians remain in their country. Thousands are seeking elsewhere for a better life and the calm that their birth country can no longer offer them in a world where there are no more “golden lands” due to climate change and recurring economic crises.
On behalf of the Haitian people and the Government that I head. I reiterate our plea to lend a strong hand to support the Haitian National Police so that it can truly respond to the challenges it faces and fulfil its mission of serving the people and protecting lives and property.
Certain countries have lived through situations similar to the current situation in Haiti. The feeling of all-powerful criminality must not. for much longer, be allowed to ignore the laws of the Republic and block the will of the entire citizenry to regain their freedom of movement and to participate in their country.
Today Haitians can be found worldwide. Many hope to be able to return to their country. We are very grateful to the countries that have welcomed them, but I wish to tell them that as soon as order and stability return, they will be able to return — if they so desire — to participate in the great task of reconstruction.
On behalf of the Haitian people. I have come here to declare that we are ready for the change that we have been waiting for more than 200 years. Freedom is only complete if it enables all our citizens to fulfil their potential and to live in dignity and in decent conditions. On behalf of the Haitian people. I have come here to say that the issue of security remains my Government’s top priority and that trafficking in firearms, kidnappings for ransom and massacres are major concerns for my Administration.
The daily lives of the Haitian people are often filled with pain. That is why the Security Council, which has the necessary power and competence under Chapter VII of the Charter, must act urgently to authorize the deployment of a multinational security support mission with both police and military components in order to help the Haitian National Police fight the gangs and restore order. The use of force, as a first step, remains essential to creating an environment conducive to the proper functioning of the State. But while it is a necessary prerequisite, it is not sufficient. Socioeconomic development must be taken into account in order to sustainably address extreme poverty, the source of all our ills.
Social inequalities and the extremely unbalanced distribution of our national wealth have created a huge gap between the masses who are in need and the small minority of property owners who control 90 per cent of the country’s wealth. Extreme poverty exacerbates youth unemployment, marginalizing young people in poor neighbourhoods so that they are easily drawn into delinquency and crime, making them a fertile recruiting ground for gangs. Once again, from this rostrum. I appeal to all Haitians of good faith, those who live in the diaspora as well as those in the country, and all political actors, whatever their leanings, to work with the Government to fight the gangs, restore security and. like true democrats, take power through the ballot box. The interim Government that I lead is determined to hold elections as soon as possible, and in the coming days, despite the situation. I will be finalizing an agreement with the High Transitional Council to launch the electoral process, with the support of the international community.
The Government intends to continue engaging in talks with all political and civil-society actors in my country, with a view to reaching a historic consensus together in a spirit of patriotism that can make it possible to resolve our crisis successfully. Democracy is in trouble, and the country needs a return to normalcy if it is to tackle the big challenges of the day. I also want to see women, young people, civil society and all other stakeholders participate meaningfully in a joint effort to bring about Haiti’s recovery. Only a legitimate Government that is a product of free, honest, democratic and transparent elections can take on the task of territorial, economic, social and institutional reconstruction.
I would like to draw the international community’s attention to a situation that has developed on the Haitian-Dominican border in the past weeks, creating unnecessary tensions between the two republics that share our island. I want to make it clear that Haiti is not at war with anyone. Haitians are a generous people who believe in solidarity and dialogue and in the possibility of sharing common resources equitably, smoothly and in a mutually respectful manner. I am here to say that we have no judgment or intentions that might adversely affect our neighbours, with whom we share the island and with whom we are called to live and progress. Every day. history reminds us that violence between fraternal countries can lead only to regrets and bitterness that are passed down from generation to generation.
I have come here, above all. to convey to the Assembly the message of the Haitian people as a whole. The river that we call the Massacre River, a place that has seen enormous friction between the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, both historically and today, calls on us to do our best not to rouse old demons, reopen old wounds or create new ones. Haiti reaffirms the sovereign right of the Haitian people to use binational water resources in the same way that the Dominican Republic does, and it demands an equitable division of the river’s waters. The Haitian people have chosen a path of dialogue and negotiation to peacefully settle the dispute, in compliance with the international legal instruments already signed in good faith between the two States in 1929 and 2021.
Before concluding. I would like to take this opportunity to commend those countries that are our brothers and friends, as well as various international organizations, for their engagement and solidarity with Haiti, particularly Kenya, which has welcomed the idea of assuming the leadership of a multinational security support mission in Haiti and has already carried out an assessment mission in the country in August. We also thank the Caribbean Community and its Eminent Persons Group.
Throughout history Haiti has been a symbol of freedom and solidarity. We have always answered the call, coming to the aid of our fellow peoples in their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination, and we have done that within the United Nations itself. The Republic of Haiti has identified with the universal values for which it fought in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Despite the unspeakable suffering and distress they are enduring, the Haitian people remain hopeful as they continue to pursue a better and more dignified future. In the same way that they astonished the world in 1804 by radically changing their status from enslaved to free people, the Haitian people can once again redefine their destiny — and
they want to. That is why I am asking for support, in the spirit of that fraternal solidarity, to help us turn this dark page. I ask the international community to act. and to act quickly. Long live the renaissance of our relations with Mother Africa. Long live international cooperation. Long live Haiti.