More money, equipment and personnel are needed for the Kenya-led international force, Guterres said, adding that any further delays risk the “catastrophic” collapse of Haiti’s security institutions and “could allow gangs to overrun the entire metropolitan area” of Port-au-Prince.

The UN secretary-general lamented that the mission is “still not deployed to full strength,” limiting its capacity to support the Haitian national police.

Haiti’s Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste, speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, said that the country faced “major difficulties” that threaten not just the population but also “the very survival of the state.”

The Security Council gave the green light in October 2023 to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission designed to support Haiti’s authorities in their fight against gang violence.

But since then, just under 800 of the 2,500 police officers hoped for have been deployed.

More than 5,601 people in Haiti were killed in Haiti last year as a result of gang violence, about a thousand more than in 2023, the UN said.

In the report, Guterres said setbacks in Haiti’s political process have “contributed to a climate in which these atrocities have become possible.”

Haiti currently has no president or parliament and is ruled by a transitional body, which is struggling to manage extreme violence linked to criminal gangs, poverty and other challenges.

The UN also recorded 315 lynchings of people allegedly affiliated with gangs as well as 281 cases of alleged summary executions by police.

More than a million Haitians have been forced to flee their homes, three times as many as a year ago.

‘Timidly hopeful’