President,

China welcomes the unanimous adoption by the Security Council of the resolution extending for one year the authorization of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.

Since the adoption of Resolution 2699 by the Council last October, the international community has been actively promoting the early deployment of the MSS, so that it can play its role in stabilizing the situation. After many rounds of consultations between Haiti and Kenya, a bilateral reciprocal agreement on deployment arrangements was finally signed in March this year, enabling the Mission to begin its deployment. At present, the Mission has deployed more than 400 people and has made some progress in fighting gang violence by conducting several operations. Subsequent deployments are also underway. China hopes that the Mission accelerates its full deployment and helps the Haitian police to enhance their capacity to combat gang violence and to strengthen the protection of residential areas, hospitals, schools, and other civilian facilities, as well as the protection of civilians, so as to play a greater role in improving the security situation in Haiti. 

We note that the Mission still has a rather big gap in funding, and that a large portion of pledged funds has not yet been delivered. China calls on the relevant contributing countries to fulfill their commitments as soon as possible and to provide the Mission with stable financial resources. We support the UN Trust Fund in strengthening the mobilization, management and use of funds, so as to play its due role in ensuring the effective operation of the Mission.

In previous consultations, some members have proposed to promote the transformation of the Mission into a UN peacekeeping operation. The UN has in the past deployed multiple peacekeeping operations in Haiti, but the results have never been satisfactory, and the lessons learned have been extremely profound. We believe that it is imperative that Resolution 2699 be fully implemented, and that the role of the Mission be truly realized. Discussing other options now will only interfere with the implementation of the Mission’s mandate. After all, peacekeeping operations are not a panacea, let alone a backup man. Haiti does not have the conditions for the deployment of peacekeeping operations right now.

President, 

Haiti has long been mired in multiple crises. If there is no legitimate, effective, and accountable government, it is difficult for any external support to have a lasting effect. We hope that the parties and factions in Haiti can put the interests of the people first, and come up with a feasible and credible elections timetable and roadmap as soon as possible, so as to effectively promote a Haitian-led and Haitian-owned political process. At the same time, if illegal arms and ammunition continue to flow into the country, no amount of external support can fundamentally improve the security situation in Haiti. We urge the countries concerned to effectively strengthen the control of arms and ammunition, and we look forward to stronger measures by the Council when discussing the extension of the sanctions regime concerning Haiti next month.

Thank you, President.