WASHINGTON, DC – The United States has frozen its financial contributions to a United Nations fund supporting a multinational security mission in Haiti, effectively blocking $13.3 million in pending aid, a UN spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
The move, part of President Donald Trump’s broader efforts to slash U.S. foreign aid, raises fresh concerns over Haiti’s deteriorating security situation.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Washington had issued an “immediate stop work order” on its contribution to the trust fund for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, a Kenya-led force established to help Haitian authorities combat powerful criminal gangs.
The UN Security Council approved the MSS mission in October 2023, but the initiative has struggled with chronic underfunding and personnel shortages.
The U.S. had initially contributed $15 million to the UN fund—making it the second-largest donor after Canada’s $63 million—but only $1.7 million of that amount had been disbursed before the freeze.
Haiti, grappling with escalating gang violence, lacks a functioning president or parliament and is governed by a transitional body facing immense security and economic challenges.
UN data indicates that over 5,600 people were killed due to gang violence in Haiti last year, a sharp increase from the previous year.
More than a million Haitians have been displaced, tripling the number from 2023.
UN Secretary-General Guterres recently warned that Port-au-Prince risks falling entirely under gang control unless the international community steps up support.
He described the situation as a looming “catastrophe” that could lead to the collapse of Haiti’s security institutions.
The United States has frozen its financial contributions to a United Nations fund for a multinational security support mission in Haiti, a UN spokesperson says, a move that would stop $13.3 million in pending aid ➡️ u.afp.com/S4w4
Despite the UN fund’s struggles, the U.S. had previously allocated over $300 million in direct support to the MSS mission under former President Joe Biden, including the supply of armored vehicles.
However, Trump’s administration has sought to cut back overseas aid, including plans to dismantle USAID, the government’s main humanitarian assistance agency.
Haitian Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste told the UN Security Council that the country faces “major difficulties” threatening not just the population but “the very survival of the state.”
The MSS is not a UN peacekeeping mission, but a voluntary-funded force. To date, it has raised $110 million, far short of its projected needs.
The force, initially expected to deploy 2,500 personnel, has so far managed to send just under 800.
