UN peacekeeping chief, visiting Haiti, promises improved security under new mandate

Wrapping up a five-day fact-finding visit to Haiti, United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guéhenno said the mandate the Security Council approved for the UN mission last week provided for tighter security in the Caribbean country in which several peacekeeping troops have recently been killed or wounded.

"The new mandate gives us more possibilities for improving the security in Haiti," Mr. Guéhenno told staff members at the Departmental Electoral Centre in Cap Haïtien, Haiti's second largest city, where the staff described their experiences registering northern voters for the elections later this year.

He was accompanied on his visit by the Special Representative for the Secretary-General (SRSG) Juan Gabriel Valdés, who is also head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The Council extended MINUSTAH's mandate until 15 February, a week after the scheduled inauguration of the newly elected government, and said it would renew the mandate for further periods. It also added more than 1,000 personnel, bringing the total to as many as nearly 9,400 in the run-up to the elections later this year.

Mr. Guéhenno, along with Mr. Valdés, visited the Chilean contingent of MINUSTAH in Cap Haïtien for a briefing on the contingent's accomplishments and challenges in providing a safe and secure environment in their area of responsibility, especially in preparation for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) exercise and the elections.

The contingent had converted a neighbourhood garbage dump into a football and a basketball field for the youth of La Fossette district, MINUSTAH said.

The two UN officials also visited the poorly equipped sub-station of the Haitian National Police (HNP) in Pont-Neuf district to assess its needs, given its strategic location, it said.