On September 30, 2025, the United Nations Security Council took a decisive step in the ongoing struggle to restore order in Haiti, authorizing a new and significantly expanded Gang Suppression Force (GSF) to tackle spiraling gang violence and a deepening humanitarian crisis. The move comes as previous international efforts, including the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, have failed to curb the power of armed groups that now control vast swathes of Port-au-Prince and have left millions of Haitians in peril.
The resolution, co-drafted by Panama and the United States and passed by a vote of 12 in favor with three abstentions from China, Russia, and Pakistan, replaces the MSS with the GSF, a force more than double its predecessor in size and scope. The GSF will deploy up to 5,550 personnel over an initial 12-month mandate, working in close coordination with the Haitian National Police and the Haitian armed forces. Their mission: to conduct intelligence-led operations to neutralize gangs, provide security for critical infrastructure, support humanitarian access, and protect vulnerable groups, including children and women who have been particularly affected by the violence.
According to the UN News, the force’s expanded role also includes supporting the reintegration of former fighters and helping to strengthen Haitian institutions—an ambitious mandate in a country where nearly 1.3 million people are internally displaced and 5.7 million face food insecurity. The humanitarian emergency is compounded by widespread sexual violence, kidnappings, and a political crisis that has left Haiti without an elected president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021 and with elections repeatedly postponed.
The Security Council’s decision was hailed by many as a turning point. “The council’s decision today marks a true turning point. By granting the mission strength and a more offensive, more operational mandate, the Council is giving the international community the means to respond to the gravity of the situation in Haiti,” said Haiti’s representative, Ericq Pierre, in remarks reported by Miami Herald. He expressed gratitude to Washington, Panama, and the Caribbean community for their mobilization, emphasizing that the fight against Haiti’s armed groups is not just a national issue but a matter of international security, given the regional dynamics of arms and drug trafficking as well as irregular migration.
Panama’s Representative to the UN, Eloy Alfaro De Alba, introduced the resolution with a message of solidarity: “Today, we say to Haiti that, once and for all, you are not alone,” he stated, as quoted by Al Jazeera. The new GSF, he argued, would finally provide Haiti with the necessary reconfiguration on the ground to face the gangs and address the country’s insecurity.
Yet, not all voices were in harmony. Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia criticized the resolution as “ill-conceived and rushed,” warning of a “virtually unrestricted mandate to use force against anyone and everyone labelled with the vague term ‘gangs’.” China’s Permanent Representative Fu Cong echoed similar reservations, suggesting that “resorting to military force to combat violence with violence at this juncture is not only unlikely to succeed, but could further complicate Haiti’s already intractable situation.” Both countries, along with Pakistan, abstained from the vote, highlighting concerns about the ambiguity of the mission and a lack of consensus among international partners.
These criticisms were not without context. The Kenyan-led MSS mission, first authorized in October 2023, had been plagued by chronic underfunding and insufficient personnel. Despite an initial pledge of 2,500, fewer than 1,000 police officers were ever deployed, and the mission struggled to make a dent in the gangs’ territorial control. The Miami Herald noted that the United States has spent over $1 billion on the Kenyan mission, but questions lingered about its commitment to Haiti, especially after delays in endorsing the new force and clawbacks of previously authorized aid to UN agencies.
US Ambassador Mike Waltz acknowledged the shortcomings of previous efforts, stating, “It lacked the scale, scope and resources needed to take the fight to the gangs and restore a baseline of security in Haiti ... today’s vote sets that right.” He underscored the hope that the new resolution offers to Haiti, where gang violence has “jeopardized the very existence of the Haitian state.”
For many Haitians, the stakes could not be higher. Laurent Saint-Cyr, head of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, described the crisis as “a war between criminals who want to impose violence as the social order and an unarmed population struggling to preserve human dignity.” He pleaded with the international community for “large scale measures, not half steps,” highlighting the devastating impact of violence, including more than 3,100 deaths between January and June 2025 and the collapse of healthcare and other essential services.
In addition to the GSF, the Security Council’s resolution calls for the establishment of a UN Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH) to provide logistical and operational support to the new force, the Haitian National Police, and the armed forces. This includes everything from rations and medical care to transportation, strategic communications, and troop rotation. The UN Support Office will also back the Organization of American States’ SECURE-Haiti project and ensure compliance with international human rights standards—a critical point, given Haiti’s fraught history with foreign interventions. Past peacekeeping deployments have been marred by sexual abuse scandals and the deadly cholera outbreak that followed the 2010 earthquake, as Al Jazeera reminded readers.
Human Rights Watch has called for robust safeguards to prevent the repetition of such abuses, stressing the need for “sustained and predictable funding, sufficient personnel, and robust human rights safeguards.” The resolution, however, leaves many of these details to be worked out, only stating that parties must establish rules of engagement in line with “Haiti’s sovereignty and in strict compliance with international law.”
Despite the expanded mandate and international backing, the Security Council emphasized that Haiti’s government retains “primary responsibility” for national security and governance reform. The GSF is intended as a support mechanism, creating the conditions for Haiti to gradually assume full responsibility for its own security. Tackling corruption, illegal arms flows—especially from South Florida, as noted by China and Russia—and the recruitment of children by gangs are among the challenges that remain squarely in the hands of Haitian authorities.
While the creation of the GSF is widely seen as a necessary escalation, questions abound regarding its funding, leadership, and the willingness of other nations to contribute troops and resources. The force will largely rely on voluntary contributions from UN member states, and its success will depend on the international community’s ability to sustain its commitment amid competing global crises.
For now, the Security Council’s decision represents a rare moment of unity and resolve, offering a glimmer of hope to a nation long beset by violence and instability. Whether this new force will finally turn the tide in Haiti’s favor remains to be seen, but for many, it marks the most significant international intervention in years—one that could determine the country’s future for decades to come.