During a visit to the United Nations Headquarters to meet Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General, the troop-contributing countries and a number of UN officials, while the staff of the United Nations Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH) are in the process to be revised downward, Mariano Fernández Amunátegui, the Special Representative of Ban Ki-moon and Head of the Minustah in Haiti declared this weekend on the UN Radio that "The security, stability and the rule of law are the biggest current challenges," relying on the willingness of the Government of Haiti, to fully assume its responsibilities in this area.

Moreover, he considered that the recent adoption by the Superior Council of the National Police, of Five Year Development Plan of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), which must be countersigned shortly by its new Director General, Godson Orélus, was a decisive step in the right direction "The Minustah should continue its efforts and continue to support Haiti in its struggle against insecurity which affects particularly the capital for several weeks," considering also that the UN force had already accumulated "lots of experience" in the fight against insecurity. "We continue to monitor the situation and we are ready to lead and multiply our operations to fulfill this part of our mandate."

Mariano Fernández relies on the training of the Police Nationale d'Haiti (PNH). "We contributed to the training of 10,000 police officers, but we must reach the figure of 16,000, otherwise we will not have the staff needed to take over the Mission and ensure the national security satisfactorily."

HL/ HaitiLibre / Interview conducted by Maha Fayek