– Haiti to hold elections in August 2025, CARICOM to spearhead needs assessment ahead of polls
-international partners to further lend support

IN a collective decision on Wednesday, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders determined that the regional bloc will take the lead in conducting a needs assessment to support the significant advancement in hosting elections in Haiti.

The 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government took place in Georgetown, Guyana, where regional leaders gathered. In the closing press conference for the summit, Dr. Irfaan Ali, the Chairman and President of CARICOM, mentioned the series of meetings held before and during the event.

“The issue of Haiti was a very difficult task,” he said.
Confidential meetings were conducted with the presence of Haiti’s Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, who participated in the extended four-day summit.

President Ali acknowledged the member states of Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, and Dominica for their significant contribution of over 15 hours in sidebar meetings and 10 hours in formal meetings.
“This is of such importance to the region and the region has to provide the leadership on this issue that we cannot avoid at this time.”

President Ali added: “We are urging that each stakeholder must recognise that we will not obtain all they want but Haiti must obtain what it needs. Every stakeholder in Haiti must also give in order for Haiti to get what it needs.”

NEEDS ASSESSMENT
While addressing Wednesday’s closing press conference, the Bahamas Prime Minister, Phillip Davis said the hosting of free and democratic elections in Haiti is ‘A significant step forward’.
The establishment of a needs gap assessment team, led by CARICOM and the United Nations, has been agreed upon by the leaders.

This will receive support from international partners, such as Canada, the United States of America, and the Organisation of American States (OAS).
“That committee will be put together and report by the 31st of March, identify those gaps that we can decide how to move the situation forward.”

In 2018, protests began in communities throughout Haiti in response to increased fuel prices. Over time, those protests evolved into demands for the resignation of Jovenel Moïse, the then-president of Haiti.
An interim government was installed after the assassination of Moïse; however, surges of violence continued.

Subsequently, a number of Haitians have departed from the nation. Meanwhile, there have been instances of internal displacement.

“Haiti is hemorrhaging …if you look at the amount of deaths in the month of January, it has been noted that they are more deaths in Haiti than occurred in the war in Ukraine and Russia, that tells us the of the depth of the suffering that is occurring amongst the people in Haiti,” the Bahamian Prime Minister said, noting that most of the summit sessions were spent dealing with the Haitian crisis and bringing some resolution.