US envoy to UN announces $60 million in aid for Haiti during visit

By Michelle Nichols and Daphne Psaledakis

UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. envoy to the United Nations announced tens of millions of dollars in aid for Haiti during a visit a month after the first contingent of Kenyan police arrived as part of an international security mission aimed at tackling gang violence.

The $60 million in humanitarian assistance announced by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield while in Haiti will support the country's people and alleviate suffering caused by gang violence, according to a statement. It will fill critical gaps in nutrition, food security and shelter and improve water and sanitation services, among other support.

The U.S., through the Department of Defense, also will provide a "significant number" of mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles to the international security mission. The State Department also intends to procure additional armored vehicles to assist mission personnel, according to the statement.

Gang wars have displaced more than 578,000 Haitians, while nearly 5 million - almost half the population of 11.7 million - are facing acute hunger, with 1.6 million of those people at risk of starvation, the United Nations says. 

Armed gangs, which now control most of the capital Port-au-Prince, have formed a broad alliance while carrying out widespread killings, ransom kidnappings and sexual violence. The U.N. has said that between January and August 2023, rape cases increased by 49% compared with the same period in 2022.

Some 200 Kenyan police arrived in Haiti late last month as part of the long-delayed multinational security support mission to help national police fight the armed gangs. The full force is set to number over 2,500, but it remains unclear when additional members could arrive and funding has lagged far behind requirements.

The U.N. Security Council authorized the force in October 2023, a year after Haiti's previous government asked for help. The United States has provided some $300 million for the mission, which is not a U.N. peacekeeping operation.

Thomas-Greenfield during her visit on Monday met with the transition council and Prime Minister Garry Conille. She also toured the international security mission's life support area, according to a pool reporter traveling with the ambassador.

The U.N. has appealed for $674 million to help Haiti in 2024, but has received less than a quarter of that target. 

At least 40 Haitian migrants were killed at sea after the boat they were traveling on caught fire on Wednesday last week, the International Organization for Migration in Haiti said. 

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols at United Nations, Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Andrew Heavens and Bill Berkrot)