Can the New Gang Suppression Force Bring Relief to Haiti?

In September 2025, the UN Security Council approved a new security mission in Haiti, emboldened with a stronger mandate to tackle the gang violence that has plunged the country into a new era of insecurity since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Replacing the expired Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, the new Gang Suppression Force (GSF) will operate with an explicit mandate to control criminal gangs and restore public safety and stability to Haiti, with the capacity to conduct military and intelligence-led operations.

The GSF’s authorization comes as gangs have gained more ground in Haiti—now controlling up to 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince—and have displaced more than 1.4 million people, creating a severe humanitarian crisis. While some experts say the GSF is necessary to stabilize Haiti, its expanded scope raises questions surrounding force and the rule of law.

What is the Gang Suppression Force? 

The GSF marks the third major international intervention in Haiti since 1994. Prior to the MSS, there was Operation Uphold Democracy (1994–95) and the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (2004–2017). The latter ultimately sowed deep distrust in the United Nations due to the introduction of cholera by peacekeepers and allegations of human rights violations and sexual abuse. 

Compared to its predecessor, the GSF is a larger mission with a more offensive mandate and is set to last an initial period of one year. It has the potential to reach 5,550 personnel—though troop commitments have yet to be announced—who will work alongside Haitian authorities to target and neutralize gangs, combat illicit arms trafficking, secure critical infrastructure, and ensure security conditions conducive to holding national elections. (By contrast, the MSS deployed only eight hundred Kenyan officers to support and train the Haitian National Police, falling short of its ceiling of 2,500.)  

Experts say a notable difference between the two missions is the GSF’s ability to lead intelligence missions with or without Haitian involvement, as well as carry out operations against gangs directly. The mission will also include a new UN Support Office in Haiti and a Standing Group of Partners—a coalition led by the United States that includes the Bahamas, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Kenya—to facilitate coordination and direction of the GSF.

“The UN Support Office is an important development, giving the GSF better odds of success,” said Sam Vigersky, an international affairs fellow at CFR with more than two decades of humanitarian experience. The new force addresses several of the MSS’s shortcomings, he noted, including issues with substandard equipment, logistics, and difficulties securing funding, which can now be paid for through UN assessed contributions that the UN Support Office has access to. However, paying for GSF troops will require the Standing Group to raise voluntary contributions, which will then be managed through a UN Multi-Donor Trust Fund, similar to the MSS.

Why did the United Nations authorize a new security mission in Haiti? 

As the humanitarian situation in Haiti has grown increasingly dire, experts say the MSS mission has been unable to effectively curb gang violence or stabilize the country. Authorized in October 2023, it has struggled with understaffing—never exceeding one thousand personnel—and faced severe funding shortfalls. The effort ultimately expired in October 2025.

Per the United Nations, armed gangs now have a “grip on the capital.” Attacks by criminal gangs on critical infrastructure, including government buildings and police stations, have disrupted the country’s health-care and food distribution systems and closed schools. Gangs have also subjected civilians to kidnappings, rape, and killings. In total, more than sixteen thousand people have been killed by armed violence since 2022 and over seven thousand have been injured. Today, Haiti is “a country at war,” Laurent Saint-Cyr, chairman of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, told the UN General Assembly in September 2025. 

Of the more than 1.4 million Haitians that are internally displaced—many of whom are living in temporary shelters—half of them are children. While reporting from the country in 2024, journalist and documentary filmmaker Adam Desiderio said he was struck by the increased presence of armed young children in the streets, encountering a “rag tag group of mostly children [who] were literally on the front line.”  

According to Vigersky, the GSF’s first challenge is halting the spread of gang control, which now extends beyond the capital and into critical farmland. “Next, working with the Haitian National Police, they’ll want to secure key infrastructure to allow transport of commodities, like food, from ports and rural areas to markets. From there, the hope would be people return home, businesses reopen, and children can attend school,” Vigersky said.

Why is the authorization controversial?  

Reactions to the GSF’s authorization have been mixed among Haitian officials, human rights groups, and Haitian citizens. Saint-Cyr, as well as acting Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, praised the move, calling it a “decisive turning point” in efforts to restore stability to the besieged country.  

However, some civil society groups—including the Haitian nonprofit Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights—have taken a more cautious stance, arguing that coordination between the GSF and Haitian institutions, as well as the establishment of accountability mechanisms, will determine the mission’s success. Others, like the Patriotic Congress for National Rescue, an initiative supported by Haitian civil society groups and universities, are more skeptical. Marc Prou, the organization’s coordinator, told the Haitian Times that the GSF resembled previous interventions that “has already failed to deliver.”  

Desiderio said that based on his conversations with Haitians on the ground, many hope to be empowered to “secure the country for themselves.”

What will be the role of the United States?  

Aside from the debate over the authorization, a key factor of the GSF’s success will be whether the United States takes a concerted role in its implementation after being a driving sponsor of the resolution.  

“Unlike the past, we’re going to go on offense,” Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News in October. He also called for international burden-sharing, stating that “the U.S. shouldn’t have to do all of this alone.” Notably, the United States will not provide ground troops, but has already sent twenty armored vehicles to support the GSF.  

Washington has said that the Organization of American States, of which the United States is a member, will oversee GSF fundraising. Yet the Trump administration announced cuts to the regional organization earlier this year, reducing funding for at least twenty-two of its programs. These cuts, combined with other regional tensions, could complicate efforts to recruit and sustain forces for the mission.

Ellora Onion-De is an editorial intern at CFR.