UN General Assembly: Kenyan president Ruto says Haiti crisis "can and must be solved"

Kenya’s president on Monday said the situation in Haiti "can and must be solved”, despite logistics and resources issues associated with the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti.

William Ruto spoke at the High-Level meeting on Haiti during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He said the biggest challenge the MSS faces is logistics, transport and support. "If that remains unpredictable, I'm afraid the next mission may suffer the same as MSS," he added.

The UN Security Council created the MSS with a resolution adopted on 2 October 2023.

As of June 2025, fewer than 1,000 personnel - mostly from Kenya - have been sent to Haiti, well short of the 2,500 troops planned for the UN-backed mission.

In his comments, Ruto thanked the United States for its efforts to provide transportation but regretted the sometimes poor condition of US equipment.

"Most of the vehicles were second-hand vehicles, and therefore they broke down a lot, many times, and in fact, it put our personnel in great danger when they broke down in very dangerous places. But at least [the US] stepped up," said Ruto.

The United States on Monday has also reaffirmed its call for a scaled-up Gang Suppression Force (GSF) with a broader mandate to bring back security in Haiti.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the GSF proposal had received support from all 32 members of the Organization of American States. "It’s not that often you get all 32 members of an international body to agree on something," he said.

This new force would consist of more than 5,500 personnel, "more than five times the size of the current MSS mission," he added.

The mandate of the MSS is expiring on 2 October, as gang violence remains rampant in Haiti.