UN ends 15-Year peacekeeping operations in Haiti

The United Nations Security Council has ended 15 years of peacekeeping operations in Haiti on Tuesday.

The UN first sent peacekeepers to Haiti after then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown by the army in 2004 under the pressure of a popular uprising.

Although, the UN regretted that the country is still saddled with huge economic, political and social woe and till today remains the poorest country in the Americas, plagued by political instability.

Over the past year, it has sunk deeper into political crisis amid anti-corruption protests demanding President Jovenel Moise’s resignation — which he said on Tuesday he would not do.

“It would be irresponsible of me if today I got up, took out a letter of resignation, signed it and left, leaving the country like that,” he said at a press conference.

On Tuesday the US ambassador to the UN, Kelly Craft, described Haiti as at a crossroads.

“We urge Haiti’s political, economic, and civil society stakeholders to work peacefully to address the most pressing economic and social challenges facing the country,” she said.

Craft recalled that the United States is Haiti’s main bilateral benefactor, providing $5.2 billion in aid since a devastating earthquake hit the country in 2010.

Since coming to power in February 2017, Moise has faced the anger of an opposition movement that refuses to recognize his victory in an election widely seen as dubious.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sounded pessimistic about Haiti in a report released Tuesday.

“The protracted multidimensional crisis with which it has been contending since July 2018 shows little sign of abatement or resolution,” Guterres wrote.

“I urge all actors to set aside their differences and particular interests to work together to overcome the increasingly preoccupying situation,” he added.