In September, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, arrived in a gang-ravaged Port-au-Prince to see Haiti’s deepening crisis first-hand and draw it to the world’s attention. Wherever he went – whether a dehumanizing tent city home to the displaced or a women-led charity centre caring for rape survivors – he heard the same message: Haitians are tired of the unrelenting violence that has haunted their country for years and simply want peace.
A fortnight later diplomats at the UN approved a beefed-up force to tackle Haiti’s armed gangs (China, Pakistan and Russia abstained in the Security Council vote). But with the country’s ruling Transitional Presidential Council coming to the end of its mandate in February, will the new Gang Suppression Force (GSF) deliver what Haitians want?
