Wawa and Kristen Chege, Advocacy Coordinators, MCC Haiti write about the October 15th mandate renewal of the UN Mission in Haiti.
In 2004, the United Nations passed a resolution authorizing the presence of the United Nations Stabilizing Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The U.N. mission was given the original mandate to “ensure a stable and secure environment.” However, peace has remained elusive, and many argue that MINUSTAH troops have only made things worse.
In recent months, MCC Haiti has collaborated with local advocacy partners to find out more about Haitian sentiment towards MINUSTAH. Plateforme des Organisations Haitiennes des Droits Humains (POHDH), Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH), and the Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif (PAPDA) each declared that the U.N. peace-keeping force in Haiti is inappropriate for the context they are working in.
Haitian Civil Society has criticized MINUSTAH for the astronomical spending by MINUSTAH and question the effectiveness of the peace-keeping mission. In February of this year, the Security Council mission to Haiti noted that, “Haitians have deep concerns about aspects of the Mission, including allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse and claims that United Nations personnel introduced cholera into Haiti.” Indeed the Nepalese Battalion serving near the Artibonite River in central Haiti in 2010 disposed of human waste contaminated with cholera in water-ways connected to the river. In addition to this travesty, MINUSTAH has cost the international community billions of dollars since 2004; spending $1.9 billion dollars just since the 2010 earthquake.
In this letter to the U.N. Representatives, MCC reflects along with our Haitian partners on the results we have seen of MINUSTAH’s presence, and call on the U.N. to bring accountability to MINUSTAH, pay reparations for cholera, and withdraw from Haiti.
Also see MCC Fall Washington Memo: http://washingtonmemo.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/wm_2012_fall-winter.pdf