KENYA has appealed for urgent financial support from the international community to sustain a police deployment in Haiti, which has been extended by a year.
The multinational security mission, which began in June, is helping fight gangs controlling much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and nearby areas.
More than 3,600 people have been killed in the country since January, including over 100 children, while more than 500,000 Haitians have been forced from their homes, the UN said.
“We are asking the international community to match their commitment and their pledges with the necessary action for us to be able to complete the task ahead of us,” Kenya’s President William Ruto said on Friday.
He was speaking after a meeting in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, with Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille.
Violence in Haiti is still rife and a UN human rights expert has warned that gangs are targeting new areas, causing further displacement.
Kenya deployed 400 of its pledged 1,000 police officers in June and July this year.
On Friday, President Ruto said the remaining 600 are undergoing training and would join the mission next month.
A handful of other countries have together pledged at least 1,900 more officers.
Although the mission was approved by the UN security council, it is not a UN operation and relies on voluntary financial contributions.
Only $85m (£65m) of the mission’s estimated $600m required annually for its operation has been received so far through a trust fund set up by the UN, according to Human Rights Watch.
It is not clear how much money has been spent so far but Ruto says more financial support is needed to “sustain” the mission until October next year.
“When resources are made available, there will be demonstrable progress of the mission,” President Ruto.
Ruto said that the available funds would run out by March next year.
“We have a window of success that is evident from the operations that have been carried out already,” the president added.
He said the deployment was already showing positive results – “restoring hope and a glimpse of stability”.