Madam President,
I would like to thank the Special Envoy, Ms María Isabel Salvador, the Executive Director of the UNODC, Ms Ghada Fathi Waly, and the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, Ms Tirana Hassan, for their statements. I would also like to welcome the presence of the Foreign Ministers of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia and Kenya at this session.
As the speakers have pointed out, insecurity continues to spread in Haiti. The population is faced with impossible choices in order to survive, and is exposed to danger simply by leaving their homes. According to the Secretary-General's latest report, human rights violations continue to escalate. Sexual and gender-based violence is widespread and disproportionately affects women and girls. The availability of and access to essential services are declining, and the vulnerability of children in particular is increasing every day. They are also the first to be affected by acute food insecurity, which affects almost one in two people in the country. To promote lasting peace, it is essential to make progress in all areas - security, development, humanitarian aid and politics.
In this respect, I would like to highlight three points:
Firstly, to meet the challenges and put an end to gang violence, the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS) should be deployed as soon as possible - in compliance with the highest standards of international law, and in particular those relating to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. As a Council, we must redouble our efforts to facilitate this rapid deployment. At the same time, we must continue to build the capacity of the Haitian National Police (HNP) and fully implement the sanctions regime. With regard to the role of BINUH, Switzerland welcomes the rapprochement initiated with government institutions, particularly in the field of Community Violence Reduction (CVR) and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR).
Secondly, political dialogue must be pursued to enable elections to be held once security has been restored. The re-establishment of participatory democratic institutions will contribute to the search for inclusive solutions, and the progress made in the fight against impunity and corruption is encouraging. The support of the CARICOM Eminent Persons Group should help to facilitate intra-Haitian trade. We welcome the discussions around the formation of a national unity government, a new Provisional Electoral Council and a constitutional reform process.
Thirdly, the international community must maintain its commitment to solidarity in the country. The Humanitarian Response Plan remains largely underfunded, while needs will continue to increase in 2024. With this in mind, we need to guarantee safe, rapid and unhindered access to communities and increase coordination and cooperation between international response actors, including in particular the MMSS. Switzerland will continue its long-term involvement in Port-au-Prince and the south of the country. Our action will focus on two areas. On the one hand, climate change, disaster risk reduction, and water, sanitation and hygiene. On the other, protection, with a focus on preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence.
This approach, established in cooperation with our Haitian partners, will aim both to respond to contemporary challenges and to strengthen preparedness for future risks.
Madam President,
BINUH must use all the resources at its disposal, including human resources, to fulfil its mandate. In addition, the fight against the proliferation of illegal arms and munitions must remain a priority. To this end, we must ensure the security of the Sanctions Committee's Panel of Experts so that it can continue its work.
We must maintain our focus on this crisis, which has gone on for too long. Our responsibility, our credibility and, as we stressed at the beginning of our statement, the future of the Haitian people is at stake.
I thank you.