International partners of Haiti held Thursday a new meeting on the situation of the country plagued by rampant insecurity and a serious political crisis. The meeting, initiated by France, was part of the international community’s efforts to create conditions conducive to the organization of elections to restore democratic institutions, which inevitably requires a political agreement between national actors and a solution to the problem of insecurity.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols attended the meeting, which was also attended by Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Géneus.
Participants encouraged a political agreement between Haitian actors so that elections can take place as soon as conditions allow, said a statement from the State Department spokesman published on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.
“This meeting also reaffirms our efforts to provide advisory support, training and other resources to the Haitian National Police. We commend our partners who have also contributed to strengthening the HNP’s operational capacity and continue to work with them and international organizations to facilitate Haiti’s response to complex security challenges,” the statement added.
“Helping Haiti create conditions for elections and making improvements to its beleaguered police force remain key priorities for the international community,” said Assistant Secretary of State Brian A. Nichols, as quoted by the Florida newspaper Miami Herald.
Nochols welcomed the new meeting as evidence “of the international community’s willingness not to let Haiti down despite a series of problems ranging from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the global migration crisis to inflation and economic dislocation that the world is facing.”