A statement released by spokesman Stéphane Dujarric confirmed Guterres’ concern, amid the surge in violence and attacks on critical infrastructure including police stations and two penitentiaries over the weekend.

The text insisted on the pressing need for urgent action, in particular to provide financial support to the Multinational Support Mission, approved to “meet the pressing security demands of the Haitian people and prevent the country from slipping further into chaos.”

Guterres called on Haitian government and other political actors to seek agreement on measures necessary to progress in political process towards restoration of democratic institutions through elections.

Last Friday, the UNSG called for urgent actions to promote the Multinational Mission, passed last October and still with no date to begin its operation.

After the signing of an agreement between Haiti´s Prime Minister Ariel Henry with Kenyan authorities for the deployment of troops, the UNSG harped on the need for measures in terms of financing and any other type of support.

Increasing violence and the escalating situation underscored the need for faster work for such an initiative, the UNSG’s spokesperson told reporters.

“We´ve been talking for months about how civilians in Haiti and Port-au-Prince are basically trapped by gang violence,” Dujarric warned as he recalled that schools remain closed, hospitals are not functioning and people are suffering on a daily basis.

Guterres himself urged member nations of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to “do much more to guarantee this mission’s deployment without further delays and a political solution that can solve the country’s fundamental issues”.

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