Secretary-General to host ministerial meeting on Haiti at UN on Saturday

Aiming to bolster high-level international support for Haiti and the United Nations Stabilization Mission there (MINUSTAH) as the country prepares for elections, Secretary-General Kofi Annan will chair a ministerial meeting on the Caribbean country tomorrow.

As the UN General Debate gets under way, Haitian Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue will attend the ministerial meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, as will members of the Core Group established by the Security Council last year.

The Core Group, generally chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and MINUSTAH chief Juan Gabriel Valdés, usually includes his deputies, the MINUSTAH Force Commander and representatives of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), other regional and sub-regional organizations and the international financial institutions (IFIs).

Its goal is to facilitate the implementation of MINUSTAH's peacekeeping mandate, promote the international community's interaction with the Haitian authorities and to enhance the effectiveness of the community's response in Haiti.