EDGARD LEBLANC FILS, President of the Presidential Council of the Transition of Haiti, said that as “the first Black republic in the world”, his country was proud of its heroic fight for freedom and human dignity and expressed hope for a better future, while calling for international solidarity.  Citing alarming data on climate change, poverty and conflicts faced by the world, he detailed their devastating effects on his country.  In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Haiti is facing a high level of poverty and structural challenges, he noted, emphasizing that this global crisis demands comprehensive economic reform.  With nearly half of Haiti’s population suffering from acute food shortages, he warned that the country’s stability is at serious risk.  Noting that Haiti is one of “the least connected countries”, he called for urgent support “to fill in the digital divide” and enable his country’s participation in the global economy.

“These global challenges can only be addressed through renewed commitment to multilateralism, through solidarity and collective action,” he said, pledging his country’s commitment to build, together with the international community, “a future where peace, justice and human dignity are triumphant”.  Turning to Haiti’s internal political situation, he highlighted the creation of the Presidential Council of Transition — “the embodiment of the plurality of Haitian society” — as a key development in the country’s effort to overcome its multidimensional crisis.  While noting that the ultimate responsibility for his country’s recovery lies with the Haitian people themselves, he pointed out the international community’s responsibility, which played “a decisive role in the history of Haiti”.

Painting a grim picture of the unprecedented security crisis, which has engulfed Haiti — with people fearing to move around the country or send their children to school — he welcomed the decision of the Security Council to authorize the deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission.  However, he acknowledged the “heavy heritage” of serious human rights violations associated with previous UN missions and stressed the importance of learning from the past by “rethinking the approach”.  Therefore, he called on the international community to transform the current mission into a peacekeeping operation under the United Nations mandate.  Such a transformation, he stressed, would ensure more stable funding and reinforce Member States’ commitment to restoring security in Haiti.

“Haiti is the greatest victim of a historical injustice,” he stated, recalling that his country was forced to pay a colossal debt to France in 1825 in exchange for the recognition of its independence.  This debt, paid under threat, “siphoned off” vital resources from Haiti, “plunging it into an infernal cycle of impoverishment”.  Demanding “recognition of the moral and historic debt”, he called for “the implementation of just and appropriate reparations, which will make it possible for our people to free themselves from the invisible chains of this unjust past”.