THE United Nations security council is to vote on Monday over whether to authorise a one-year deployment of an international force to help Haiti quell a surge in gang violence and restore security to the troubled Caribbean nation.

The US-drafted resolution welcomes Kenya’s offer to lead the multinational security force, but makes clear this would be a non-UN force and must be funded by voluntary contributions.

The force would be allowed to provide operational support to Haiti’s National Police, which only has 10,000 active officers for a country of more than 11 million people.

The resolution says the force would help build capacity of local police “through the planning and conduct of joint security support operations as it works to counter gangs and improve security conditions in Haiti.”

The force would also help secure “critical infrastructure sites and transit locations such as the airport, ports and key intersections."”

Powerful gangs have seized control of key roads leading from Haiti’s capital to the country’s northern and southern regions, disrupting the transport of food and other goods.

However, in an indication that the initiative may be being imposed on Haitians by the US, a spokesman for the Caribbean nations Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was not aware of the resolution or the upcoming vote and said the government did not immediately have a comment.

If adopted, it would mark the first time a force has been deployed to Haiti since the UN approved a so-called stabilisation mission in June 2004 that was marred by a sexual abuse scandal and a cholera outbreak. That mission ended in October 2017.

Concerns have also surrounded the proposed Kenyan-led mission, with critics noting that police in the east African country have long been accused of using torture, deadly force and other abuses.

The resolution to go before the security council stresses that all those participating in the proposed mission must take necessary action to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse as well as vet all personnel. It also demands swift investigations of any allegations of misconduct.

It was not clear how big the force would be if approved, although Kenya’s government has previously proposed sending 1,000 police officers. 

Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Antigua & Barbuda have also pledged to send police to Haiti.

According to the most recent UN statistics, up to August 15 this year, more than 2,400 people in Haiti had been reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped, 902 injured and more than 200,000 displaced by the violence.