Dominican Republic, Kenya call for funds for struggling Haiti security effort

By Natalia Siniawski

May 12 - 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)