Mr. President,

China thanks SRSG La Lime for the briefing. I have listened carefully to the presentation by the representative of the Haitian civil society, and that of the Haitian official present.

The political gridlock in Haiti remains. The COVID-19 pandemic is complicated with economic and social difficulties. Rising violent crimes are intertwined with social unrest. This has brought tremendous suffering to the people. Haiti is still trapped in multiple political, economic and social crises. The Haitian people seem to have lost hope for the future. The Haitian government and leaders should be held responsible primarily for such hopelessness, and even despair. For a long time, the Haitian political parties have engaged in endless feuds. Politicians have done nothing at all. Corruption and abuse of power persist in defiance of prohibition, and national governance has almost failed.

This year is a crucial one for Haiti. The Secretary-General describes it in his report as a watershed moment for Haiti. The constitutional referendum to be held in April and the subsequent parliamentary presidential and local elections will, to a large extent, shape the development of the Haitian political situation in the future and fate of the Haitian people.

China supports the call of the Secretary-General and strongly urges all political parties in Haiti to set store by the interests of the country and the people, abandon self interests, take up their responsibilities, listen carefully to the views of people of all walks of life, and promote constitutional referendum and elections based on broad political consensus and through dialogue and consultations, so that conditions can be created for the early restoration of the country's political stability and the achievement of security and development. They should not once again let the Haitians down and fail the expectation and help of the international community.

China appreciates the dedication and contribution of the UN to helping Haitian people, and supports BINUH in its continued mediation efforts to promote political dialogue in Haiti and the successful holding of elections. At the same time, years of experience and lessons have shown that unless all political parties in Haiti assume their responsibilities, demonstrate political will and work together for national stability and development, any external efforts and help will be of no avail.

Since the 1990s, the United Nations has invested huge resources in helping Haiti out of the crisis. Over the past 30 years, the Council has successfully deployed UNSMIH, UNMIH, MINUSTAH, MINUJUSTH, and now BINUH. The total cost of these operations has reached nearly 8 billion US dollars. In addition, various agencies of the UN system and international donors and partners have all along made enormous efforts to help Haiti restore stability, achieve development and protect human rights. The accumulated investment is a staggering amount. It pains us to see that all these investments seem to have not been cherished and used wisely, nor have they yielded the desired results.

I would like to stress here again that there is no solution to the Haitian problem from the outside. We should learn the lessons, comprehensively assess the situation in light of what is happening, ponder seriously on the future presence of the UN in Haiti, and avoid endless and fruitless investment.

I thank you, Mr. President.