Swedish Statement at the UN Security Council Briefing on MINUJUSTH

Mr President,

I would like start by thanking the Secretary-General for his report, and Assistant Secretary-General Keita for her informative briefing this morning. Let me echo colleagues in their appreciation for the way in which you presented progress made in these charts this morning as well.

Mr President,

Sweden commends Haiti for the progress made in its consolidation of democracy and stability. At the same time, the events of the last few months have also shown that the situation remains volatile. There is a strong need for broad based political support for key reforms.

The mandate of MINUJUSTH is well aligned with the priorities set out by President Moïse: Rule of Law and the respect for human rights, as well as improving economic development, infrastructure, resilience and security. We now hope that a new government will turn with renewed energy to achieve progress on these priorities. We hope to see results soon, such as the adoption of a new criminal code and a new code of criminal procedure.

The benchmarks presented in the Secretary-General’s report will help these efforts by linking progress made in core areas of the Mission’s mandate, with other key aspects for stability in the country. These include socio-economic development and fighting corruption. The mission is one of the first making a transition from traditional peace keeping in the era of sustaining peace. A continuously successful transition would therefore be important not only to Haiti but also to the wider UN System in demonstrating its capacity to support countries in emerging from internal strife.

Mr President,

We welcome the appointment of Helen Meagher La Lime as new SRSG of MINUJUSTH at this key juncture of the transition phase. Securing a smooth and effective transition will be one of the main tasks in the coming months, and we give SRSG our full support.

It is important that the Mission continues to pay close attention to gender aspects in its policies and strategic development. Supporting women’s participation in political processes is particularly important, as well as measures to improve women’s security and protection against sexual and gender based violence. The Mission needs to maintain a strategic focus and clear gender-budgeting. Ensuring there is adequate information gathering, monitoring, reporting and coordination on these matters is key. And in this regard, let me thank you Bintou for the gender disaggregated data and the comprehensive gender analysis of the benchmarks that you presented to us in your report today.

Given the lack of progress in some of these areas, we are worried about the Secretary-General’s report’s conclusion that the capacities of the mission and the UN Country Team to work on gender issues are limited. As more and more tasks are given to the Country Team, the international community must step up to ensure that the Team has the resources to take them on.

Mr President,

Much has been achieved by the Haitian people in recent years. Now it’s important to keep up the momentum for reform. Longer-term stability and sustainable development requires continued commitment by all parties. Sweden will remain a committed partner for Haiti as the country makes further progress towards consolidating peace, democracy and Rule of Law.

Thank you.