Jamaica and Barbados among nations to contribute troops to UN's Haiti support mission.

Haitians protest against violence in their country.

The embattled nation of Haiti will soon receive help from seven countries who have pledged to send security forces to assist that country's police in curbing the escalating crime monster. The seven voluntary nations are from Kenya, Benin, Chad, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados and Bangladesh. 

On Friday, April 26, the group through a representative notified the United Nations' Secretary General of their willingness to join its mission to Haiti. If they follow through with their pledges, the seven nations will be a part of what will be known as the Multinational Security Support Mission, the MSS, which will be deployed to Haiti in the coming weeks. 

Some sources noted that Chad and Bangladesh, have previous experience in international deployments as blue helmets in peacekeeping missions. However, the UN has made it clear from the beginning that the mission in Haiti will not be for peacekeeping but merely for support, being subordinate to the Haitian National Police.

The United Nations has had a long standing interest in the security and stability of the Haitian nation. In 1996, the UN Security Council established the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) by its resolution 1063 (1996) on 28 June 1996. It's purpose was to support:

"...the commitment of the Government of Haiti to maintain the secure and stable environment established by the multinational force in Haiti (September 1994--March 1995) and extended with the assistance of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) (September 1993--30 June 1996)." [1]

For the mission, the UN needs an estimated 2000 boots on the ground to provide support, as well as a whopping US$240 million a year to fund its operation. To date however, they have only been able to raise US$18 million, the majority of the funding coming from Canada and the US so far, with US$8.7 million and US$6 million respectively. France has only provided US$3.2 million. The spokesperson for the office has been urging member states to be more generous and fill the gap to cover all the needs.

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References

1. United Nations Security Council. Haiti Background: Establishment of UNSMH,                       

                                          https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/past/unsmihbackgr.html