The UN Security Council on Oct. 1 approved a resolution transforming the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission—whose mandate ended the following day—into a Gang Suppression Force (GSF). Sponsored by the United States and Panama, the new force is set to include up to 5,500 military and police officers, and 50 civilians; the old MSS force was supposed to be 2,000-strong but mustered fewer than 1,000, mostly from Kenya. It's not clear which countries the personnel for the GSF will come from, but it will also have "a broader mandate" than the MSS, which was restricted to supporting the Haitian National Police (PNH). The initial 12-month mandate includes "intelligence-led targeted counter-gang operations to neutralize, isolate and deter gangs" and "provid[ing] security for critical infrastructure sites and transit locations," as well as supporting the PNH, the Haitian armed forces, and national institutions to ensure the security conditions needed to hold elections and allow access to humanitarian aid. Additionally, a UN Support Office will be established to provide logistical and operational support to the GSF.

The news was welcomed by transitional Haitian President Laurent Saint-Cyr, the Organization of American States, and the regional CARICOM bloc. However, other than a US State Department press release stating that the GSF will be "an international burden-sharing model with the sufficient resources needed to fight the gangs," little is known about its composition and funding.

From The New Humanitarian, Oct. 3