The United Nations Police Adviser and the Director of the Police Division, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, UN Headquarters New York Faisal Shahkar has approved turning the Kenya police-led mission in Haiti to a UN mission, officials said.
He spent the better part of last week in Nairobi and met senior officials.
This comes amid push to turn Kenya police-led Haiti mission to a UN operation.
He visited various training camps where the police being sent to Haiti are trained.
Officials said he was impressed by the general preparations and approved the push to turn it to a UN mission.
Among others, Shahkar met Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Singoei.
Kanja said during their discussion which focused on previous and current bilateral engagements, support for Pre- Deployment Training for National Police Service, and opportunities for Formed Police Units training and deployment preparations, Shahkar commended Kenya for being a major Police Contributing Country to peacekeeping missions and Peace Support Operations.
Kanja appreciated the UN for the support extended to Kenyan peacekeepers enabling them to operate successfully, and reaffirmed the commitment of NPS to continue with its contribution to UN peacekeeping missions.
Shahkar was accompanied by Ersin Zafer Police Reforms Adviser- UN Police Standing Capacity in Brindisi Italy.
The visit comes in the wake of a push by various parties to transform the mission into a formal U.N. peacekeeping operation.
The US has asked the U.N. Security Council to transform the mission into a formal U.N. peacekeeping operation, which would guarantee funding through members’ assessed contributions and allow the force to expand and get the needed equipment.
The visit is seen as part of efforts to ensure the process goes on to the end.
The Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, headquartered in Port-au-Prince, is an international operation led by Kenya and authorized by the United Nations Security Council to assist the Haiti National Police in restoring peace, law and order amid threats of criminal gangs and violence.
There are now 600 Kenya police officers in Haiti.
There are currently also police and military officers from Jamaica, along with soldiers from The Bahamas, Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Their presence boosts the total number of foreign security personnel to just under 800.
Last year, Haiti saw a record number of neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas fall to armed gangs, despite the presence of foreign forces and a new U.S.-backed transition government.
As the gangs took over neighborhoods and carried out some of the worst massacres in recent memory, they also deepened the country’s humanitarian crisis as tens of thousands more Haitians were forced to flee their homes.
The United Nations said more than 5,600 people were killed by gang violence last year, an increase over the previous two years, and over 1 million Haitians are now displaced.
Kenya promised 1,000 police officers as part of its offer to lead the mission.
President William Ruto and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a telephone conversation on the issue and discussed the MSS mission in Haiti and agreed on a joint strategy to ensure the mission serves its purpose.
