This report examines the United Nations’ and international responses to the evolving dynamics of transnational organized crime in Haiti over the past two decades, and how these dynamics have contributed to the country’s current breakdown.
The report is structured in two parts. The first provides an overview of the current gang landscape in Port-au-Prince and traces the evolution of organized criminal dynamics alongside international responses since 2004, focusing on MINUSTAH, MINUJUSTH, and BINUH. It reviews the tools deployed by successive UN missions, highlights missed warning signs, and analyzes why previous gains proved partial, fragile, or reversible. The second part proposes a practical toolbox for peace operations addressing transnational organized crime, drawing on lessons from Haiti as well as other UN contexts where trafficking and organized crime shape conflict dynamics, including Sudan, South Sudan, and Colombia. The report concludes by outlining a minimum yet feasible pathway forward to improve the situation in Haiti under current constraints.
Download the full report: Peace operations in Haiti: Lessons from two decades of UN engagement