Kenya's Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez pose for a picture after signing a bilateral agreement in support of Kenyan police officers deployed in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Erika Santelices
The top diplomats from Kenya and the Dominican Republic met in Santo Domingo on Monday and called on the international community to fulfill and expand its promised funding for the UN-backed security mission in neighboring Haiti.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez and his Kenyan counterpart Musalia Mudavadi warned that the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti is struggling to fight the country's worsening gang violence effectively due to a lack of funding and logistical support.
BY THE NUMBERS
Kenya deployed officers to the MSS in June 2024. The mission includes around 1,000 personnel, with approximately 75% from Kenya.
In the first three months of 2025 alone, over 1,600 people were killed in Haiti, and more than 1 million displaced, according to UN estimates.
KEY QUOTES
Both ministers "acknowledged that the Mission has been unable to be more effective due to the lack of financial and material resources necessary for the full and complete deployment of the troops stationed there," according to an official statement.
They urged the international community to "fulfill the contributions offered, and even increase them, so that the mission can fully operate."
CONTEXT
Heavily armed gangs have expanded their control in Haiti this year as the MSS and local police struggle to contain escalating violence.
The mission, led by Kenya and authorized by the UN Security Council in 2023, remains only partially deployed due to unmet funding pledges.
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski; Additional reporting by Harold Isaac; Editing by Leslie Adler)
