(2011-03) MINUSTAH - Rapport du Secrétaire général sur la Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti (S/2011/183)

S/2011/183 United Nations Security Council Distr.: General 24 March 2011 Original: English Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti I. Introduction 1. By its resolution 1944 (2010), the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) until 15 October 2011, and requested me to report on its implementation semi-annually and not later than 45 days prior to its expiration. The present report covers major developments from the issuance of my report of 1 September 2010 (S/2010/446) to 20 March 2011. The report describes activities undertaken by the Mission in line with its mandate under Security Council resolutions 1542 (2004), 1608 (2005), 1702 (2006), 1743 (2007), 1780 (2007), 1840 (2008), 1892 (2009), 1908 (2010), 1927 (2010) and 1944 (2010), and also provides a brief overview of the political situation. A security assessment, as requested in resolution 1944 (2010), will be provided in my next report to the Security Council, following the swearing-in of a new President and Government in Haiti, scheduled for May 2011. II. Political and security update Politics and elections 2. Following my previous report, a first round of presidential and legislative elections was held, on 28 November 2010. The elections were marred by intimidation, fraud and, following the preliminary announcement of the results on 7 December 2010, violence and civil unrest in some parts of the country, including Port-au-Prince. Campaigning officially began on 15 October 2010; this phase was preceded by the so-called “silent campaign” during which only posters were permitted. However, other forms of campaigning were conducted, in violation of electoral rules. In addition, during the period leading up to election day, there were continued reports of intimidation by, and violence between, rival campaign supporters of all candidates — although the majority of the supporters were linked to Inite, the party in power. The use of State funds to promote the campaign of Inite’s presidential candidate, Jude Célestin, was also reported. 3. On election day, 14 of the presidential candidates jointly declared the elections invalid five hours prior to the closing of the polls because of alleged rigging committed by the Government and Inite-aligned officials. On 7 December, amid allegations of electoral fraud and calls for cancellation, as well as demonstrations by 11-27300 (E) 280311 *1127300* S/2011/183 supporters of various candidates, the Provisional Electoral Council announced the preliminary results of the first round of the presidential race, placing Manigat and Célestin in first and second place, respectively. On the same day, Mirlande Manigat (Rassemblement des démocrates nationaux progressistes) and Michel Martelly (Repons Peyizan) retracted their call for the annulment of the elections. Many of the major cities of Haiti experienced civil unrest, with demonstrations against the electoral authorities as well as against the Government of the President, René Préval, and the candidacy of Célestin. Martelly and his supporters employed particularly aggressive rhetoric against the alleged fraud. This violence and intimidation continued for three days, during which commercial and administrative activities in much of the country were halted. 4. During this period of heightened tension, MINUSTAH troops guarded Government installations and Mission premises and personnel. My Special Representative engaged in intensive talks with President Préval, Haitian political, business and civil society leaders, and members of the international community to find a solution to the political impasse, to address widespread criticism of the Government’s handling of the elections and the subsequent crisis, and to call for calm in a highly volatile and polarized political environment. 5. On 14 December 2010, President Préval requested the Organization of American States (OAS) to send a team of technical experts, under the authority of the head of the OAS-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) joint electoral observation mission, which had the lead responsibility for electoral observation efforts, to assist in the electoral verification process and the process of legal challenges to the preliminary results. Following this request, on 19 December, the Provisional Electoral Council announced a delay in the final publication of the results of the 28 November elections, which had been due to be announced the following day. 6. The OAS mission began its work on 31 December 2010, and the report was officially released on 13 January 2011. The report recommended that certain procèsverbaux, or tally sheets, be excluded from the final vote count and stated that “should this recommendation be implemented, the position of the candidate in third place would change to second”. This meant that Martelly would be placed as the second-ranking presidential candidate instead of Célestin, although the estimated difference between them was extremely small, with some 3,000 votes separating the two. The OAS report also contained a series of recommendations and findings aimed at improving the second round of elections. 7. The Provisional Electoral Council accepted the findings of the OAS report and, on 28 January, announced that the second round of elections would be delayed until 20 March. Later, on 3 February, the Provisional Electoral Council officially confirmed Manigat and Martelly as the first- and second-place winners of the first round. During the campaign for the second round, my Special Representative engaged the two presidential candidates and urged them to campaign in a spirit of tolerance and fair play. 8. The second-round run-off was held on Sunday, 20 March, in a generally calm and peaceful atmosphere. There were some minor irregularities, related mainly to missing non-sensitive electoral materials, which caused several voting centres in the West Department to open late and prompted the Provisional Electoral Council to extend voting by one hour in the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince. Electionrelated violence was limited to the regions, and in most cases MINUSTAH 2 11-27300 S/2011/183 personnel were able to restore order, allowing voting to proceed. At least two deaths were reported, in separate incidents. The return from South Africa of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on 18 March appears to have had little impact on voting. Preliminary results are scheduled to be announced by the Provisional Electoral Council on 31 March, while the final results will be announced on 16 April. Security 9. The overall security situation in Haiti remained generally calm but prone to localized violent episodes of unrest. In November 2010, violent public demonstrations in the North and Centre Departments took place and were due, in part, to the perception that MINUSTAH might have been responsible for the outbreak of cholera. During these demonstrations, armed groups damaged or destroyed United Nations vehicles and premises in Cap-Haïtien and in Hinche. As a result, several United Nations personnel in Cap-Haïtien had to be relocated, some humanitarian aid supplies were looted and a World Food Programme warehouse was burned down. 10. The public perception that MINUSTAH peacekeepers deployed in the Centre Department had possibly introduced cholera negatively affected the image of the Mission. MINUSTAH has reviewed the sanitation practices in all of its facilities and has also initiated internal investigations, which to date have failed to show any precise cause of the outbreak. On 6 January, I appointed an independent panel of experts to investigate and report to me and the Government of Haiti, inter alia, on the source of the outbreak. The experts travelled to Haiti between 7 and 9 March, and have indicated their intention to report on their findings in April. 11. Between 7 and 10 December, mobs effectively closed down several towns across the country in response to the announcement of the preliminary results of the first round of elections. While MINUSTAH and the international community were not specifically targeted, at least 8 Mission vehicles were destroyed and 50 damaged. There were also attacks on MINUSTAH personnel and premises, private property and Government premises. In addition, the main headquarters of Inite was damaged, and several Haitian National Police firearms were stolen in Les Cayes. During this period, at least 4 Haitians were killed and another 20 injured. 12. While the operational performance of the Haitian National Police has generally improved since the earthquake, in particular during the November 2010 elections, the association of some officers with organized crime, including drug trafficking, kidnapping and armed robbery, remains a cause of concern. Since November 2010, 13 police officers have been killed, including 2 on 27 January. Furthermore, at least 15 Haitian National Police officers have been assaulted and injured by armed criminals in Port-au-Prince alone. The precise motivation for these attacks remains unclear. 13. Obtaining reliable data continues to be a challenge in Haiti, owing to difficulties in data collection and the underreporting of crimes. However, statistics compiled by MINUSTAH indicate a steady increase in serious crime, including murder, from 2009 to 2010. Rape, which remains a significantly underreported crime, and kidnapping, with regard to which statistics fluctuate, are of great concern. Moreover, MINUSTAH estimates that, of the 5,600 prisoners who escaped in the aftermath of the earthquake, only 8 per cent have been rearrested to date. 11-27300 3 S/2011/183 14. There has been an increase in gang activities in impoverished areas of Port-auPrince. Haitian criminals are active in the region’s guns-for-drugs trade, which has been boosted by the presence of escaped prisoners seeking weapons. A considerable proportion of the cocaine originating in South America and delivered to the United States and Europe passes relatively freely through Haiti, where drug traffickers are able to exploit the porous border and use illegal airstrips, boats and private submarines off the coast of the island. The repatriation to Haiti of at least 700 nationals who have served criminal sentences in the United States and at least 50 others who have been involved in criminal activities in the Dominican Republic remains another destabilizing factor. 15. The communities most at risk remained those within the densely populated areas in the West Department, including the camps for internally displaced persons that have limited or intermittent access to law enforcement services. Several of the camps are used as bases by escaped prisoners and gangs. Consequently, crime, including sexual and gender-based violence, appears to have increased in the camps. In 2010, according to the Haitian National Police Brigade de protection des mineurs, which is a specialized unit trained to respond to cases of violence against children, 2,509 of the 11,774 children screened at border checkpoints and at the airport in Port-au-Prince were travelling without a legal document. Another 459 children were identified as victims of trafficking. III. Humanitarian, recovery and development update 16. For Haitians, 2010 will long be remembered as a year of multiple crises, including the earthquake and the resulting displacement of 2.3 million people, a near brush with Hurricane Tomas, a cholera epidemic, and political instability and election-related challenges. The United Nations response was one of the largest ever mounted. Overall, nearly 1.5 million people were sheltered and regularly provided with food, clean water and medical care, and there were no major outbreaks of disease or violence among the earthquake-affected population. The continued efforts of the United Nations country team have focused on humanitarian and recovery issues, including the return or relocation of internally displaced persons, response to the hurricane season, the cholera epidemic (see section V below), disaster mitigation and risk reduction, and gender-based violence. 17. According to the latest report of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as of March, an estimated 680,000 people were living in 1,061 spontaneous and organized settlements, representing less than half of the estimated July 2010 peak of 1.5 million. This trend demonstrates that a number of earthquake victims have found alternatives to living in camps. However, this population remains mobile, with a number of secondary and tertiary movements to informal camps and settlement sites, making precise movements and statistics extremely difficult to verify. 18. In October 2010, there was an outbreak of cholera in Haiti. Fuelled by unprotected water sources, poor sanitation and hygiene practices, floods, fear and population mobility, the number of cases grew quickly. The Haitian authorities, the United Nations and international partners mounted a rapid response, which helped to limit the number of deaths. The case fatality rate declined from a high of 2.4 per 4 11-27300 S/2011/183 cent in November 2010 to 1.8 per cent as at 1 March 2011, with 252,640 cases and 4,672 deaths reported. 19. More than 400,000 people were employed for high-intensity labour projects between February and November 2010 as part of a joint United Nations effort. Debris removal projects also continued, which combined the demolition of damaged houses with job creation in communities affected by the earthquake. These projects helped to facilitate the return of internally displaced persons to their neighbourhoods of origin. As of early in 2011, 20 per cent of the rubble resulting from the earthquake had been removed. With more than 400,000 houses already evaluated, 90 per cent of the houses damaged by the earthquake have now been structurally assessed. Likewise, as part of a larger seismic risk reduction programme, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) completed the seismic macrozonation of Port-au-Prince. This study is aimed at evaluating factors related to potential seismic risk, with the objective of developing a system for earthquake disaster mitigation. 20. Increases in global fuel and food prices are having an impact on Haitians, with a clear rise in the price of imported food and other products. If price increases remain unchecked, there will be risks posed to security and well-being. The United Nations and the Government are working together to identify remedial actions to mitigate such risks, including through blanket supplementary feeding programmes for children and pregnant women, continued support for nutritional centres and the national school feeding programme, the intensification of cash-for-work and voucher programmes, and the provision of seeds and tools to ensure the next harvest. IV. Activities of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti Electoral support 21. In accordance with its mandate, MINUSTAH, in close cooperation with other stakeholders, including OAS, coordinated the international support for the electoral process and provided technical support to the Provisional Electoral Council in setting up 1,500 registration centres for displaced voters. The Mission also distributed updated voter lists in the 10 departments of Haiti, delivered and retrieved all sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials at the 1,500 voting centres and, in coordination with the Haitian National Police, developed and implemented an integrated electoral security plan. The first round of elections saw the participation of 19 candidates for the presidential race, 95 candidates for the 11 vacant Senate seats and 814 candidates for the 99 vacant seats in the Chamber of Deputies. 22. According to data from the Provisional Electoral Council, violence and security problems during the elections led to the non-recovery of tally sheets at 97 of the 1,500 voting centres. Following the first round, MINUSTAH, the Provisional Electoral Council, international and national observation missions as well as political parties reviewed the events that had taken place on election day with a view to identifying measures to improve the second round. The Provisional Electoral Council committed to implementing as many of those measures as possible prior to the second round of elections. They included the replacement of electoral personnel involved in violent or fraudulent behaviour, as well as further measures to help voters find their assigned voting centres. International donors 11-27300 5 S/2011/183 provided an additional $2.4 million to the agreed electoral budget of $28.9 million to allow for these improvements. 23. The Provisional Electoral Council published a new electoral calendar, setting 20 March as the date for the second round of elections, in accordance with the electoral law. At the same time, MINUSTAH, in collaboration with the Haitian National Police, reviewed security priorities for the voting centres in the light of events during the first round. The second round saw the participation of 2 candidates for the presidential race, 14 candidates for the 6 Senate seats that still needed to be filled and 142 candidates for the 71 seats in the Chamber of Deputies that had not been decided in the first round. A total of 18 political parties participated in the second round. Military 24. The military component of MINUSTAH continued to deliver critical support for recovery efforts during the reporting period. It focused its work on three priority areas: (a) ensuring a secure and stable environment, particularly through the protection of internally displaced persons, vulnerable groups, including women and children, and host communities; (b) natural disaster response, which included training and exercises with partners; and (c) support for the elections. A total of 1,827 military personnel, out of the additional 2,000 authorized by the Security Council in its resolution 1908 (2010), had deployed as at 16 March. An engineering company from Indonesia and medical personnel from Argentina are expected to deploy this summer. 25. The troop surge contributed significantly to the maintenance of a secure and stable environment, and aided in the recovery of post-earthquake Haiti. In particular, the surge provided the Mission’s military component with an increased ability to support massive emergency relief efforts with greater security and to deal with crisis periods of longer duration. The additional engineering units enhanced the military component’s ability to support reconstruction and relief operations, including the clearing of land for cholera treatment centres, the improvement of public access roads, debris removal and the clearing of canals. 26. The military component continued to conduct security and stability operations jointly with the Haitian National Police and United Nations police, and to provide community-based patrols around 863 camps within and outside Port-au-Prince, including those designated most at risk. The military component also worked closely with other MINUSTAH components and United Nations and Government of Haiti partners to provide extensive security and logistical support for the electoral process. Furthermore, alongside the country’s immigration and customs agents, the Haitian National Police and United Nations police, the military component has expanded its support for the State’s border management activities through increased land and maritime patrols and air surveillance. Police 27. Since my previous report, MINUSTAH has continued its efforts to implement the 2006-2011 Haitian National Police reform plan. On 2 September 2010, the twenty-second promotion of Haitian National Police cadets, comprising 913 recruits, including 64 women, commenced its training at the Police Academy. All cadets have been vetted, and, of the 913 individuals enrolled, 879, including 58 6 11-27300 S/2011/183 women, remain. Some cadets have been dismissed for health or disciplinary reasons. Graduates will serve as police officers in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, as well as with the Direction de l’administration pénitentiaire, the maritime police and the anti-drug unit. In addition, more than 800 Haitian National Police officers took part in specialized training related to border activities, close protection, crowd control and justice. 28. The vetting process has been stalled since the earthquake, remaining limited to database and file recovery. Moreover, a facility in which to co-locate United Nations police and the Haitian National Police has not yet been identified, further delaying the relaunching of the process. Haitian National Police investigators, however, continue to follow up on the 3,585 cases submitted to the Inspector-General before the earthquake. Twenty-two donor-funded construction projects for Haitian National Police offices are under way, including the construction of the new Haitian National Police headquarters in Port-au-Prince, the reconstruction of major commissariats affected by the earthquake in the West and South-East Departments, the construction of a central warehouse, the expansion of the new Police Academy, and the reconstruction of the Inspectorate-General headquarters. 29. The 2006-2011 Haitian National Police reform plan, adopted by the Government of Haiti in 2006 and endorsed by the Security Council in its resolution 1702 (2006), will end in December. The relaunch of this plan for the period after 2011 will require a joint assessment, with the Haitian National Police, of all activities carried out under the initial plan, as well as discussions with the newly elected Government and other key partners. Ideally, the updated reform plan, once finalized, would receive endorsement by the Security Council, as was the case with the current plan. Protection of vulnerable groups 30. During the reporting period, the number of people in camps fell from an estimated 1.5 million to an estimated 680,000. However, the departure of hundreds of thousands from the camps by no means corresponds to a significant improvement in basic social and economic conditions. Analysis of trends in population movements is ongoing, but preliminary information suggests that some people have returned to slum communities and others have moved to new informal communities on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince where conditions are little different from those in the camps and, in some instances, may be worse. “Evictions” or expulsions from camps, which began in March 2010, continued throughout the reporting period. In this context, the lack of Government decision-making remains a key obstacle to progress. 31. Incidents of sexual and gender-based violence continued to occur during the reporting period. As in the past, weaknesses in the capacity and functioning of the Haitian National Police and the judiciary severely limited State response. As a preventive measure, MINUSTAH repeatedly revised the patrolling of its police and military personnel to cover areas where sexual and gender-based violence appeared to be most prevalent. In addition, United Nations police launched a project aimed at strengthening specialized sexual and gender-based crime units within the Haitian National Police and strengthening the National Police office for the coordination of gender and women’s affairs. A train-the-trainers course focusing on mechanisms for referring survivors of sexual and gender-based violence to relevant legal, 11-27300 7 S/2011/183 psychosocial and medical support services was conducted by MINUSTAH and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, for 49 officers (44 United Nations police and 5 Haitian National Police) who were conducting patrols in camps for internally displaced persons. 32. During the reporting period, United Nations police camp and gender units, established in July 2010, maintained a permanent presence in 7 internally displaced persons camps in the capital and continued spot patrolling in another 70 camps and their immediate surroundings. Employing a community policing approach, the internally displaced person camp unit worked closely with camp committees and the local population. However, the full impact of this approach was hindered by a lack of participation by the Haitian National Police in patrols and protection tasks owing to its limited capacity. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations police internally displaced person camp unit have facilitated patrolling by the Brigade de protection des mineurs in 102 camps, covering more than 236,000 people. Furthermore, United Nations police have set up prefabricated containers for use as temporary police stations in 3 camps. 33. In August 2010, the United Nations developed an operational plan aimed at increasing women’s security in camps for the internally displaced by ensuring more systematic monitoring and information-gathering on sexual and gender-based violence and formulating a referral system for survivors of such violence. In addition, MINUSTAH has begun to regularly analyse information on cases of sexual and gender-based violence reported to the police and cited in internally displaced person camp incident reports, and to gather information through non-governmental organizations and women’s organizations on the ground. Technical support has also been provided for the data collection system put in place by Concertation nationale contre les violences spécifiques faites aux femmes, a tripartite coordination mechanism comprising the Government, civil society and international organizations. However, the establishment of a systematic and reliable data collection system that can be used by all continues to be a challenge. 34. MINUSTAH has launched a campaign aimed at discouraging sexual violence and providing information to sexual and gender-based violence victims, local communities and potential aggressors. The overall objective is to ensure that survivors receive medical treatment, psychosocial assistance and access to legal information. Community violence reduction 35. MINUSTAH completed 94 of the 99 community violence reduction projects initiated in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, amounting to a total of $14 million. The remaining five 12-month projects will be completed by 31 May and will focus on professional skills training for at-risk youth, women’s entrepreneurship, and health and psychosocial support for vulnerable children and youth. Work in Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves, Saint-Marc, Léogâne, Gressier, GrandGoave, Petit-Goave, the nine communes of the South Department, the Artibonite valley and the slum areas of the capital included a total of 1,900 dry-wall dams, covering a distance of 45 kilometres and built in 15 ravines in the water catchment area adjacent to the capital. These projects, together with the rehabilitation of 56 drainage canals, employed 34,157 at-risk young people and 14,639 women from 8 11-27300 S/2011/183 violence-prone neighbourhoods and contributed to the reduction of floods in the internally displaced person camps and slum areas of the capital. 36. The Mission’s community violence reduction projects also contributed to cholera mitigation efforts through the installation of 4,000 water dialysis filters in exposed communities in the Artibonite valley, Saint-Marc, Mirebalais, Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves, Jacmel and Port-au-Prince. The filters provide daily drinking water to more than 1 million people. Fifteen community violence reduction projects have been approved for the current financial year, for a total of $2.1 million. Support for State institutions 37. MINUSTAH continued its support for the Ministry of the Interior and promoted the decentralization process by training a core group of local government civil servants, including 73 municipal accountants, and by assisting with the recruitment and training of 22 municipal engineers. The Mission also recruited nine additional national officers to provide technical advice to the departmental delegations in which the Government of Haiti is concentrating its technical resources to boost the performance of the country’s 140 municipalities. 38. In February, the Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, and my Special Representative signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the provision of logistical support by MINUSTAH pursuant to Security Council resolution 1927 (2010). The memorandum outlines the terms of the temporary logistical assistance that the Mission will provide to the Government of Haiti to build the capacity of its rule-of-law institutions and accelerate the implementation of its resettlement strategy. The memorandum also identifies the responsibilities of the Haitian authorities with respect to the United Nations-owned equipment and assets that will be lent. 39. Meanwhile, the Mission, together with the Ministries of the Interior and Planning, identified locations for temporary office buildings and office equipment to re-establish departmental and communal town halls and planning offices. Over the coming months, the Mission will complete the provision of temporary office buildings and equipment at 13 priority locations in earthquake-affected areas. 40. In response to a request from the Haitian authorities, the Mission is constructing temporary office space for the 129 legislators and 100 administrative staff of the forty-ninth legislature. The facility, to be completed by 21 April, will be used until the construction of the temporary Parliament building is finished, and will also house the Mission’s Parliamentary Support Unit in an effort to ensure greater proximity and collaboration between MINUSTAH and Parliament. 41. Together with the Haitian National Police, the Mission’s United Nations police identified requirements for 10 additional prefabricated buildings in Port-au-Prince to facilitate and encourage the co-location of United Nations police and the Haitian National Police. Two of the 10 sites are ready to be occupied, while another 6 are being reconnoitred by MINUSTAH. Two locations still need to be identified. Rule of law 42. In keeping with the ideas expressed by my Special Representative at the meeting of the Group of Friends of Haiti held in New York in October 2010, 11-27300 9 S/2011/183 MINUSTAH has begun the process of realigning its priorities and resources in support of a rule-of-law compact. 43. In addition to securing the commitment of the Haitian authorities, grass-roots organizations, the private sector and the international community to rule-of-law reforms, the proposed compact would serve as a tool to strengthen public demand for justice and legal security and to ensure coordinated support from donors and the private sector for reforms, bringing the rule of law and economic development together. The parties to the proposed compact would assume their respective roles and responsibilities in strengthening and upholding the rule of law in the broadest sense. The compact would be nationally led and based on the principle of mutual accountability, with all parties committing to a set of results agreed among the Haitian authorities, relevant segments of society and the international community. Justice 44. During the reporting period, the Justice Section focused on overcoming the recurrent challenges faced by the judicial institutions of Haiti in the daily administration of justice, through improvements in the caseload management, record-keeping systems, and support for the processing and adjudication of cases. MINUSTAH also supported the training of 20 Haitian magistrates in France and Haiti, in partnership with UNDP. Moreover, the Mission provided technical assistance to a special commission for reform of the penal and criminal procedure codes, to help it finalize draft proposals that will be submitted to the newly elected Government. 45. In collaboration with UNDP, MINUSTAH installed three prefabricated office containers and two office tents at the Ministry of Justice. The Mission also used quick-impact project funds to rehabilitate the Forensic Institute in Port-au-Prince. 46. Since my previous report, the Ministry of Justice has agreed to the deployment of 54 seconded justice experts. Most of these experts will work in the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor’s Office in Port-au-Prince, while some will be deployed to the regions. In the interim, MINUSTAH has deployed full-time staff to the École de la magistrature and the Prosecutor’s Office to work on prolonged pretrial detention. Corrections 47. MINUSTAH worked with the Direction de l’administration pénitentiaire, the Governments of Canada, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, and other partners on the development of infrastructure projects throughout Haiti to reduce overcrowding in prisons and to improve the safety and well-being of prisoners. Overall cell space has been increased by 15 per cent since my previous report, resulting in a national average of 0.6 square metres per inmate, which still falls far short of international standards. 48. MINUSTAH corrections personnel were able to contribute to the reduction in prolonged and illegal detention by enhancing the capacity of the sentence administrators of the Direction de l’administration pénitentiaire to refer such cases to judicial institutions. Those efforts have resulted in the release of 209 detainees since September 2010. There was also significant progress in the development of the 10 11-27300 S/2011/183 policies required for the effective operation of prisons, such as principles governing crisis management and the use of force, sentence administration, health management and possible amendments to the existing prison regulations. 49. The training of 10 Direction de l’administration pénitentiaire trainers was completed in January, and the training of 300 new Direction recruits is ongoing at the Police Academy. Moreover, the Corrections Unit collaborated closely with health-care non-governmental organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) in managing the spread of cholera within the prisons. 50. Haitian prisons experienced the third incident of food shortages within the past year, owing to problems with Ministry of Justice contracts with suppliers. After January, the problem worsened considerably, resulting in a complete lack of foodstuffs in some prisons. In response, MINUSTAH assisted in identifying partners that provided foodstuffs, but their donations provided only minimal levels of sustenance to inmates and were a temporary measure. During the crisis, MINUSTAH expressed its concerns in writing to the Prime Minister. Following that intervention, in mid-March, funds were finally released by the Minister of Finance, allowing for the replenishment of food supplies. However, the necessary tender process has yet to be completed, increasing the risk that such problems may recur. Human rights 51. In the area of human rights, the Mission focused on efforts to address killings, including lynchings; arbitrary arrests and the ill treatment of detainees; and sexual and gender-based violence in camps and slums, as well as on the State’s investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of human rights violations. With the return of Jean-Claude Duvalier to Haiti on 16 January, MINUSTAH also worked closely with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to encourage the Government to meet its international legal obligation to prosecute persons responsible for grave violations committed during the Duvalier regime. Despite their limitations, the State authorities moved swiftly to initiate judicial proceedings, which are ongoing. 52. The Mission also supported local authorities in addressing protection issues, including evictions from, and the large-scale movement of people out of, camps. The Human Rights Section conducted training courses for officials and non-governmental organizations at the departmental level, and advocated the inclusion of a human rights perspective in the work of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission. The Mission also helped Government officials and civil society to conduct a human rights analysis of national and regional budgets, and provided support to the Office de la protection du citoyen, the country’s ombudsman entity. Gender 53. Women’s representation in decision-making remains a challenge in Haiti. Only 4.65 per cent of the representatives in the forty-eighth legislature are women, which is among the lowest rates of parliamentary representation by women in the western hemisphere. Forty-five female legislative candidates, one female senatorial candidate and two female presidential candidates participated in the recent elections in Haiti. Among the senatorial and legislative candidates, two female legislative 11-27300 11 S/2011/183 candidates were elected outright in the first round and six female legislative candidates participated in the second round. 54. MINUSTAH provided logistical and technical support to all 45 female legislative candidates. This included the development of a media campaign, which was conducted through public and private radio and television networks, in close collaboration with a platform of women’s organizations. Moreover, in nine departments, sensitization workshops on gender and elections were held, and training material on electoral disputes was distributed. MINUSTAH also conducted security assessments for female candidates at their request. Child protection 55. During the reporting period, the Mission’s Child Protection Unit focused on monitoring and reporting violations of children’s rights. According to reports from the Brigade de protection des mineurs, the MINUSTAH Joint Mission Analysis Cell, United Nations police and non-governmental organizations, incidents of rape and attempted rape of minors, trafficking for illegal adoption, theft and armed robbery continued. There was a decrease in the number of reported cases involving the kidnapping of minors for ransom or assault. According to the Brigade de protection des mineurs, however, there was a surge in reported trafficking of children to neighbouring countries, mainly the Dominican Republic, for the purpose of labour and/or sexual exploitation. As a deterrent measure, the Child Protection Unit, together with national and international counterparts, sensitized local communities and officials at border points through media outlets. 56. In an effort to mainstream child protection work, the Child Protection Unit trained MINUSTAH personnel, including 173 United Nations police, 654 military personnel, and 15 civilian staff, as well as 43 officers of the Brigade de protection des mineurs and 978 cadets of the Haitian National Police, on the promotion and protection of child rights, with a particular focus on vulnerable children and those in need of special protection. The Unit also continued to collect information and follow up on individual cases of detained, abused and neglected child victims, including victims of sexual violence and exploitation, trafficking and displacement and children in conflict with the law or associated with armed gangs. HIV/AIDS 57. The HIV/AIDS Unit continued its awareness-raising activities in the Mission. The Unit also participated in a regional assessment mission hosted by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which highlighted the importance of including the issue of HIV as a priority in post-emergency programmes, including establishing strong coordination mechanisms to lead AIDS response and reinforce national structures for sustainable interventions. In conjunction with the Haitian Coalition on Women and AIDS, a women’s health advocacy campaign was held for the electoral candidates. An HIV and cholera prevention campaign was also carried out in various regions during the Carnival. Finally, HIV training was provided to 910 recruits at the Police Academy, 2,784 Mission personnel and 229 community leaders, while 975 Mission personnel received voluntary counselling and testing services. 12 11-27300 S/2011/183 Quick-impact projects 58. To support the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti and strengthen the Mission’s relations with the Haitian population, the 2010/11 budget for quickimpact projects was increased to $7.5 million in the current fiscal year, with an individual project ceiling of $100,000. As at 15 March, 141 projects were ongoing and 32 others were about to be launched. Over the past six months, quick-impact projects, focused on the delivery of basic services and the rehabilitation of infrastructure, have been employed to repair three municipal buildings, 17 schools, 12 water supply systems, 6 peace tribunal facilities, 2 prisons, 4 Haitian National Police commissariats and 3 health-care centres. Quick-impact projects also allowed for the distribution of 1,500 water filters to schools to fight the cholera epidemic, and for the rehabilitation of 3 bridges and 8 rural roads. Conduct and discipline 59. The Conduct and Discipline Unit focused its efforts on strengthening preventive measures in the Mission through the training of personnel from all components. A total of 2,217 MINUSTAH personnel were trained on what constitutes misconduct, which included 12 sessions for MINUSTAH military personnel, 2 sessions for United Nations police posted in regional offices and 3 sessions for formed police units based in Port-au-Prince. The Unit also conducted three assessment visits, to Port-de-Paix, Les Cayes and Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. Its awareness-raising activities included the holding of town-hall meetings for civilians during assessment visits, the distribution of brochures and posters on standards of conduct during training sessions, and visits to MINUSTAH the military component and formed police unit camps. The team also made available a variety of documents and packages for new Mission arrivals, including international civilian staff, on conduct and discipline issues. Public information and outreach 60. MINUSTAH continued its public information and outreach efforts through the release of press statements and the holding of press conferences, as well as the production of television programmes and the expansion of outreach activities to internally displaced person camps. The Mission also produced a regular flow of television and radio spots and public service announcements in support of the electoral process and on cholera prevention and disaster preparedness. In this context, Radio MINUSTAH FM deployed two additional transmitters, in Port-dePaix and Cap-Haïtien, and launched nationwide special programming that highlighted the Mission’s technical, security and logistical support for the Government and the Provisional Electoral Council in the preparations for the presidential and legislative elections. 61. In close coordination with other MINUSTAH sections and United Nations agencies, the Communications and Public Information Section continued to produce its weekly 15-minute video programmes, which were broadcast on seven national television stations in the nine multimedia centres in the regions, as well as on diaspora television stations in the United States. These programmes focused on the work of the Mission in security, community violence reduction, the environment, electoral assistance, quick-impact projects and all aspects of justice and human 11-27300 13 S/2011/183 rights, including protection and gender-based violence, as well as in supporting the sensitization campaigns of national institutions. Mission support 62. The Mission Support Division continued to focus its attention on the re-establishment of offices and residential accommodation, and the recruitment of personnel to enable the Mission to implement its mandated activities (see para. 65 below). The interim Mission headquarters was completed in January. Plans for a longer-term headquarters are under development. MINUSTAH also continued to prepare sites for surge troops and police. 63. MINUSTAH continued its efforts to provide adequate, safe and secure office and residential accommodation for all Mission personnel. Structural inspections of all premises to be occupied by Mission personnel continued. The construction of a 250-person accommodation camp was completed at the beginning of September 2010, which coincided with the expiration of the contract for an accommodation ship leased after the earthquake. 64. Meanwhile, the Liaison and Support Centre in Santo Domingo moved to longterm premises, and continued to provide administrative support to all MINUSTAH components. Furthermore, in coordination with the United Nations country team, an integrated regional office was established in Léogâne, while an assessment of longer-term requirements is ongoing. 65. During the reporting period, the Mission pursued a major drive to fill the new posts authorized under the commitment authority for 2010/11 and the 2010/11 budget. The deployment of a “tiger team” to focus exclusively on this recruitment effort helped significantly to address the acute shortage of staff in MINUSTAH. The 171 national and 334 international personnel recruited since the establishment of the team, in August 2010, played a significant role in managing the additional workload created by the influx of troops and police and the expansion of the Mission’s mandated activities. V. Humanitarian, recovery and development activities Coordination between the Mission and the United Nations country team 66. Shortly after the earthquake, the United Nations country team and MINUSTAH engaged in a joint planning exercise that culminated in the formulation of an integrated strategic framework. This was endorsed by the Integrated Mission Task Force in November 2010 and by the Government of Haiti in February. Through the integrated strategic framework, which has become the main programming framework for all United Nations entities in Haiti, the country team and MINUSTAH agreed on joint strategic objectives and results directly aligned with the priorities outlined in the Government’s national action plan for recovery and development. 67. While the integrated strategic framework was being formulated, MINUSTAH and the United Nations country team also intensified their efforts to produce and implement joint programmes. From June to December 2010, the country team jointly selected, formulated and submitted 14 projects to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, amounting to a total of approximately $300 million, of which $224 14 11-27300 S/2011/183 million, or 75 per cent, remains unfunded. Of the 14 projects submitted, 10 involved at least two United Nations agencies. These projects were related to education, employment, agriculture, health care, gender-based violence and natural disaster risk reduction. 68. These joint efforts enabled the United Nations to make some progress in meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of the population in 2010. For example, 90 per cent of the residents of camps for internally displaced persons had access to health care, and 367 temporary learning spaces and more than 100 semi-permanent schools were built. Equally important, 500,000 short-term jobs were created, and approximately 31,650 transitional shelters, hosting 158,000 families, were constructed. Response to the cholera epidemic 69. On 11 November 2010, the United Nations, together with the national authorities launched a strategic appeal for additional funding to respond to the cholera epidemic. This strategy covers key sectors of the response, including, health care, water, sanitation and hygiene; camp management and coordination; logistics; and communications, for a total cost of $175 million. As at 15 March, the cholerarelated sections of the appeal remained 46 per cent funded. 70. As part of the wider international response to the cholera epidemic, MINUSTAH provided engineering support for the establishment of cholera treatment centres. The Mission also participated in a massive distribution of family hygiene kits, water purification tablets and oral rehydration salts, led by the water, sanitation and hygiene cluster and the Direction nationale de l’eau potable et de l’assainissement, with supplies provided by UNICEF. 71. The Government of Haiti and its partners led awareness-raising campaigns to inform the population about cholera prevention and treatment, with messages developed by the Ministry of Health in partnership with WHO and UNICEF, which were broadcast on Radio MINUSTAH FM, among other radio stations. The education cluster facilitated a campaign on cholera awareness that reached half of the schools in the country, and the child protection subcluster was able to engage 38,000 children in 640 residential care centres nationwide. Furthermore, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations worked with the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, and partners in the agriculture cluster to ensure that clear and practical messages about cholera reached farmers in order to minimize the economic impact on agricultural production, and to ensure food security. 72. As of late in February, 98 cholera treatment centres, 215 cholera treatment units and 642 oral rehydration posts were operational in Haiti. During the reporting period, some local authorities were hesitant to designate sites for treatment centres, waste disposal centres and burial places in the light of public demonstrations against such sites. Many decisions in this regard were still pending at the time of reporting. Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti 73. As at 10 March, international public sector donors had disbursed 30.4 per cent of the money pledged to earthquake recovery efforts for the 2010/11 period. During the reporting period, the Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti, together with UNDP, 11-27300 15 S/2011/183 continued to track aid to Haiti and contributed significantly to the establishment and functioning of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, through the provision of technical support to the Commission Co-Chairs and the assignment of a shelter adviser to work with the Commission’s shelter and debris management groups. The Office also participated in the evaluation and revision of the environmental components of projects submitted to the Commission, and is supporting the health planning process led by the Ministry of Health, including cholera response efforts. VI. Financial aspects 74. By its resolution 65/256, the General Assembly appropriated the amount of $853,827,400 for the maintenance of MINUSTAH for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011. The proposed budget for the Mission for the period from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012 has been submitted to the General Assembly for its consideration at the second part of its resumed sixty-fifth session. 75. As at 10 March 2011, unpaid assessed contributions to the Special Account for MINUSTAH amounted to $247.5 million. The total outstanding assessed contributions for all peacekeeping operations as at that date amounted to $1,926.3 million. 76. As at 28 February 2011, amounts owed to contributors of troops and formed police units to MINUSTAH totalled $59.6 million. Reimbursements of troop and contingent-owned equipment costs have been made for the periods up to 30 September 2010 and 30 June 2010, respectively, in accordance with the quarterly payment schedule. VII. Observations 77. The year following the catastrophic earthquake of 12 January 2010 has been deeply challenging. Haiti has faced the difficult task of rebuilding and coping with the aftermath, in which 230,000 of its citizens perished and countless more were injured; an outbreak of cholera that to date has killed at least 4,600 persons and infected more than 240,000; a close brush with Hurricane Tomas; and political instability and deadlock, and related electoral violence. The ongoing displacement and continued precarious living conditions of more than 800,000 Haitians are a daily reminder of the need to accelerate the pace of reconstruction efforts. 78. The incoming Government of Haiti will inherit a set of daunting challenges, compounded by the onset of another hurricane season, a severe lack of public sector expertise and a growing disenchantment among the general population with the existing political leadership and class and the long-standing socio-economic order. The next President of Haiti may well face a protracted period of difficult cohabitation with a divided and potentially fractious Parliament. The executive and legislative branches of Government will have to work together to meet the aspirations of the Haitian people and to deliver the reforms that they have been denied for far too long. 79. I am encouraged that there appears to be a continuing consensus on the need to ratify the package of constitutional amendments agreed upon by Parliament in September 2009, before the swearing-in of the new President, which must take place 16 11-27300 S/2011/183 no later than 14 May. Moreover, the new Parliament will have to decide on the renewal or continuance of the state of emergency law of 15 April 2010 if it is determined that the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission should exist beyond October. The Commission, for its part, will need to redouble its efforts to achieve the visible reconstruction on which social stability will depend. 80. In order to achieve lasting peace and prosperity, Haitians must embrace the rule of law. This will require a genuine commitment to creating an independent and effective judiciary, a Parliament that is accountable to the people and not driven by special interests, and a Government that is transparent, responsive to the needs of the country and truly representative of the Haitian people. Furthermore, the rule of law should encompass the creation of comprehensive land and civil registries, as well as construction and building codes and commercial laws. It should manifest itself through the capacity of the State to collect taxes and guarantee adequate legal protection as a means of facilitating economic development. 81. Haiti will require the sustained support of the international community to bring about systemic rule-of-law reform. I call on all international partners to work with the Government and the United Nations in a concerted and cohesive effort to strengthen the rule of law in Haiti. Such an effort should be based on an agreed framework geared towards overcoming the bilateralism that has prevailed so far, which has produced little in the way of lasting results. 82. In this context, the return of Jean-Claude Duvalier has brought the country’s turbulent history of State-sponsored violence to the fore. It is of vital importance that the Haitian authorities pursue all legal and judicial avenues in this matter. The prosecution of those responsible for crimes against their own people will deliver a clear message to the people of Haiti that there can be no impunity. It will also be incumbent upon the incoming Administration to build on the achievements of the Préval presidency, which put an end to State-sponsored political violence and allowed Haitians to enjoy freedom of association and expression. 83. I intend to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the security challenges and needs in Haiti in my next report to the Security Council. In the course of the electoral campaign, the final two presidential candidates, as well as other candidates, committed themselves to the re-establishment of a military force in Haiti. This political stance will need to be clarified in the coming months, including in the context of its impact on the presence, future and mandate of MINUSTAH. In the meantime, the Mission will continue its efforts to strengthen and increase the size of the Haitian National Police, as mandated by the Security Council. 84. Haiti has the chance to make a fresh start under a new Administration. A new leadership must try to heal the wounds of a deeply polarized society and provide jobs, education and services to a population that is economically impoverished. The United Nations will work with the new Government and all sections of Haitian society to enhance the rule of law in Haiti, and to ensure that the population can fully enjoy its fundamental economic, social, civil and political rights. 85. I would like to conclude by expressing my sincere gratitude to my Special Representative, Edmond Mulet; to my Special Envoy, former United States President William J. Clinton; and to the men and women of MINUSTAH and the United Nations country team and their partners for their courage and dedication to building a better Haiti during an especially difficult phase in the country’s history. 11-27300 17 S/2011/183 18 11-27300