On Wednesday 11 June, the head of the European Union delegation to the United Nations, Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, reiterated the EUs support for Haiti, calling for a coordinated international response to the crisis in the country.
“The armed group violence and lawlessness that have characterised the past year have inflicted a heavy toll on the country’s people. And the situation is further deteriorating. This is a clear example of a situation where we need to take a comprehensive peace-development-humanitarian nexus approach”, he said in New York, speaking on behalf of the EU Member States at the joint meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC).
In the context of international efforts to stabilise the country (see EUROPE 13543/35), Mr Lambrinidis mentioned four major priorities: - strengthening security, in particular by tackling arms trafficking and supporting the Haitian national police force; - tackling the socio-economic causes of violence; - the need to protect children forcibly recruited by gangs; - the importance of targeted support for women and girls in the peace process. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)