The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution to authorize a Multinational Security Support mission for Haiti.

Resolution 2699 authorizes UN member states to form and deploy a Multinational Security Support mission for an initial period of 12 months with a lead country, in close cooperation and coordination with the Haitian government.

The mission is tasked to provide operational support to the Haitian National Police (HNP), as it works to counter gangs and improve security conditions in Haiti, and to help the HNP with the provision of security for critical infrastructure sites and transit locations.

It also calls on the mission to help ensure unhindered and safe access to humanitarian aid for Haitians in need.

The resolution decides whether the mission may, preventing the loss of life and within the limits of its capacities and areas of deployment, adopt urgent temporary measures "on an exceptional basis" to help the HNP maintain basic law and order and public safety, including arrest and detention. It requests the leadership of the mission to update the Security Council on any measures that may be adopted on this basis.

The resolution states that the cost of implementing this temporary operation will be borne by voluntary contributions and support from individual member states and regional organizations. It calls on UN member states and regional organizations to contribute personnel, equipment, and necessary financial and logistic resources.

Kenya has agreed to lead the Multinational Security Support mission.

Immediately after the adoption of Resolution 2699, the UN secretary-general's special representative in Haiti, Maria Isabel Salvador, welcomed the move, describing it as "a positive and decisive step" to bring peace and stability to Haiti.

She pledged the full support of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, which she leads.

"Haiti is facing an emergency on multiple fronts: security, humanitarian, and socio-economic. Haitian political actors must rise to the occasion to address the challenges facing the country and its population," she said.

(Cover: Students walk to their classroom at the start of the new school year on September 26, 2023 in Petit-Goave, Haiti. /CFP)