The UN Security Council on Tuesday, 30 September 2025 authorized a new multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to replace the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), amid escalating gang violence, widespread rights abuses and a humanitarian emergency affecting all aspects of life in the island nation.
The resolution – co-penned by Panama and the United States, and backed by dozens of countries in the region and beyond – was adopted by a vote of 12 in favor, with three abstentions from China, Pakistan, and Russia.
President Abinader had advanced during his 29 September 2025 press conference that the Kenyan force could be extended to December after which a new UN mission would be sent.
The GSF expands the international security force in Haiti from around 700 to 5,500 men. What is different this time, in addition to the larger contingent, is that the UN Security Council resolution grants a broad and solid mandate to the force and places the logistical and operational aspects, which will be financed by the UN budget, in the hands of United Nations experts, granting greater stability and effectiveness to the operation.
Under an initial 12-month mandate, the GSF will work in close coordination with the Haitian National Police (HNP) and the Haitian armed forces to conduct intelligence-led operations to neutralize gangs, provide security for critical infrastructure, and support humanitarian access.
The UN Security Council stresses that Haiti’s government retains “primary responsibility” for national security and governance reform, including tackling corruption, illegal arms flows and the recruitment of children by gangs.
The GSF is intended to support Haitian authorities while creating conditions for the country to gradually assume full security responsibility.
In a statement on the Presidency website, President Luis Abinader highlights that the Dominican Republic is proud of the diplomatic success achieved with the conversion of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS) into a Gang Suppression Force.
“The Dominican Republic is proud to have contributed to this effort and will continue working to promote peace and stability in the region,” he expressed in a message.
He celebrated that the United Nations Security Council “finally listened to the claim we have been making for a long time, given the ineffectiveness of the current international mission supporting the Haitian police, and approved a new resolution, creating another force, appropriately called the Gang Suppression Force.”
“We will work toward an accelerated transition from the MSS to the new Gang Suppression Force in Haiti and, in that sense, we will closely monitor this process,” he emphasized.
President Abinader stressed that the Dominican government, through its effective diplomacy and constant effort, played a key role in leading a group of allies committed to stability and security in Haiti and the region.
“We also wish to recognize the three former Presidents, Leonel Fernández, Hipólito Mejía, and Danilo Medina, who, along with me, signed a letter addressed to the fifteen Presidents of the countries that make up the United Nations Security Council,” President Abinader stated in a disseminated message.
Speaking at the 80th United Nations General Debate, President Abinader had called on the member countries of the Security Council to promptly adopt the resolution presented by the United States and Panama to achieve the transformation of the MSS, whose mandate is set to end on October 2nd.
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1 October 2025