Report of the Secretary-General on Haiti (S/2004/300)

Submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 1529 (2004), this report presents the findings of a multidisciplinary assessment mission dispatched to Haiti in March 2004 after the armed insurgency and the departure of President Aristide on 29 February. It reviews the installation of the transitional government under Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, the 4 April Consensus on the Political Transition Pact, and plans for municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005. The security section documents the near collapse of the Haitian National Police, reduced to no more than 2,500 officers, the freeing of all prisoners during the insurgency, and widespread arms proliferation. The report describes bleak social conditions, with about 52 percent of the population below the poverty line and the highest HIV prevalence outside sub-Saharan Africa, and outlines priorities in food, health, education and employment. It concludes by recommending a multidimensional United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) with up to 6,700 troops and 1,622 civilian police for an initial 24 months.