US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Secretary-General António Guterres discussed security concerns in Haiti, Somalia and Yemen in a phone conversation, the US State Department said in a statement.
Blinken blasted the progress made by the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti, which is facing a wave of banditry exacerbated by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. The US official discussed “the value of heeding the Haitian government’s request to transition the MSS to a UN peacekeeping operation that will provide sustainable security support for the Haitian people.”
They also discussed funding options for the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), a country known for a long-running series of terrorist attacks, particularly by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab.
Apart from that, Blinken and Guterres spoke about steps to secure the release of all UN, diplomatic and non-governmental organisation staff detained by the Houthis in Yemen. On 6 June, six UN human rights staff members, including one woman and five men, were arrested along with seven other UN staff members, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
