The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday that renews sanctions in Haiti for another year as armed gangs continue to terrorize the population.
Up to 500,000 illegal weapons ranging from handguns to battlefield-grade semi-automatic rifles are thought to be in the hands of gangs in Haiti, even though the Caribbean country has been under a UN arms embargo for the last three years.
The UN on Friday warned of mounting risks to regional peace after a series of US military strikes on boats it accused of drug trafficking left at least 21 dead in the southern Caribbean, prompting Venezuela to declare a state of emergency and denounce the attacks as a breach of international law.
Millions of Haitians are facing food insecurity as armed groups continue to expand their territorial control around the country, the latest internationally-recognised IPC hunger report found.
The UN Security Council went into emergency session on Friday, following a request from Venezuela. The United States military has carried out four deadly air strikes in Caribbean waters over the past few weeks against what Washington alleges are Caracas-backed drug traffickers. The Venezuelan Government denies the charge, accusing the administration of being a threat to the peace and security of the whole region. Follow live coverage below and UN News app users can go here.
The number of children displaced by violence in Haiti has almost doubled in the past year, with 680,000 now uprooted from their homes, a new UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Child Alert report found.
Health authorities in Haiti are turning deaths caused by rabies-infected dogs into a public health awakening with the support of the UN’s health agency in the region, PAHO.
Rising violence by gangs in Haiti’s capital is restricting humanitarian access and pushing families deeper into hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday.
As gangs in Haiti continue to expand the areas under their control and show no signs of holding back on terrorizing the population, decisive action has been taken by the UN Security Council to fight back against the violence they are perpetrating.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday authorized a new multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to replace the Kenyan-led security support mission, amid escalating gang violence, widespread rights abuses and a humanitarian emergency affecting all aspects of life in the island nation.
