UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- A UN official on Thursday asked for a sense of urgency in the transition of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti to a non-peacekeeping presence by October 2019.
"Time is of the essence to make concrete progress on Minujusth's mandate implementation," Bintou Keita, assistant UN secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, told the Security Council, using the acronym of the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti.
Minujusth and the UN country team in Haiti as well as the Haitian government will need to redouble efforts to make up for the time lost because of the violence in early July, given the time-bound nature of the mandate and transition process, she said.
The government's announcement in early July to remove fuel subsidies triggered massive protests and violence.
Since the July violence, the Haitian authorities have not tried to remedy the root causes of the precarious social conditions. The risk of major troubles remains high as political and socio-economic triggers exist, she said.
Keita said dedicated intervention to spur progress is required for all transition targets to be achieved by October 2019.
Constant efforts must be undertaken to ensure that the development plan for the Haitian national police is fully implemented so that both the professionalism and the number of police officers continue to improve, she said.
Another critical area, on which progress on several benchmarks hinges, is the adoption and promulgation of key rule of law legislation, said the UN official.
Minujusth is a smaller police mission than its predecessor, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah), which was composed of military personnel. Minujusth replaced Minustah on Oct. 16, 2017.
