AUTHOR Robert Maguire
BACKGROUND
On October 13, 2009, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a one-year extension of the mandate for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The sixth mission since 1995, MINUSTAH was first authorized in 2004. The mission, under Brazilian command, comprises 6,940 soldiers and 2,211 police. It also has unprecedented star power since the May 2009 appointment of former U.S. President Bill Clinton as U.N. special envoy to Haiti.
The day after MINUSTAH's reauthorization, a panel of experts met at the United States Institute of Peace to discuss the U.N.'s future in Haiti and the continuing need for peacekeeping forces. The panel consisted of:
- David Harland, director of the Europe and Latin America division, U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations;
- Ambassador Raymond Joseph, ambassador to the United States, Republic of Haiti;
- David Beer, director of business development, Pearson Peacekeeping Centre of Canada;
- Eduarda Hamann, deputy coordinator, Peace Operations Project, Viva Rio of Brazil.
Dr. Robert Maguire, associate professor at Trinity Washington University, chair of USIP's Haiti Working Group and former USIP Jennings Randolph senior fellow served as moderator. The following is a summary of the views expressed during the meeting.
AN EVOLVING MISSION
In 2004 Haiti was a country in chaos. With the 2,500 strong Haitian National Police force (HNP) in disarray and the country under the grip of armed gangs, public safety had eroded completely. Intense political rivalry – often devolving into violence – further undermined both citizen safety and economic wellbeing. In this context, MINUSTAH's first order of business – the 'Plan A' of most U.N. Peacekeeping Missions – was deployment to provide immediate security, followed by efforts to help create legitimate political process and to support elections, with a view in mind of working with the government that would emerge. The mission also undertook direct operations against gangs and provision of support to build-up the capacity of security institutions.
By 2007, the 'Plan A' approach had yielded positive results. An elected government was proving itself a capable partner in a context of lively democratic process and economic growth. Violence and kidnappings had decreased and a sense of public safety had reemerged. Efforts to help rebuild and reinforce the capacity of the HNP had begun to bear fruit. Newly trained recruits have boosted the force to roughly 9,500 officers by mid-2009, well past the halfway mark of an envisaged goal of 14,000 officers by 2011. Concurrently, police reform efforts resulted in the removal of 1,000 rogue officers from the force. Public confidence in the HNP grew as public safety improved.
During 2008, however, a cost-of-living crisis driven by rising food prices followed by the collapse of the government and the devastation caused by four strong storms underscored how the mutually reinforcing elements of weak government, poverty, violence and vulnerability to external shocks had created a situation so brittle that the positive results seen in 2007 were easily reversed. From a U.N. perspective, MINUSTAH's 'Plan A' peacekeeping orientation had shown itself as a necessary, but insufficient approach for achieving enduring peace in Haiti. To achieve enduring peace, the mission's largely successful efforts to restore security and public safety would have to be complemented by a more robust approach toward a social and economic agenda. The approach – referred to short-handedly as 'Plan B' – encompasses a development and reform agenda that draws upon ideas and analyses emanating from assessments of late 2008 and early 2009, including a pivotal one undertaken by economist Paul Collier. These assessments have yielded broad agreement within the U.N. and with Haitian officials on the importance of heightened emphasis on manufacturing, agriculture, job creation, education, health, disaster preparedness and poverty reduction as necessary pre-conditions for the improvement and maintenance of security. This approach is reflected not just in UNSC Resolution 1892 extending MINUSTAH's mandate to mid-October 2010, but also in the secretary-general's most recent report on Haiti to the U.N. Security Council.
