Scoop World

11 August 2008 - Senior officials with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti have met with their counterparts in the Haitian National Police (HNP) in a notorious district of the capital to discuss how to strengthen the relationship between the two institutions.

Friday's meeting, held at a checkpoint in the Cité Soleil neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince, was focused on improving relations and on discussions about joint work involving the forces on the groundMajor-General Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz, the Force Commander of the UN mission, and the Commissioner of UN Police, Mamadou Mountaga Diallo, attended on behalf of the mission, which is known as MINUSTAH.

The Force Commander stressed that good relations between the two institutions "are essential for the successful completion of work," according to a press release issued by MINUSTAH.

Cité Soleil has been plagued by high crime rates and gang problems for many years, and the neighbourhood has also long been wracked by poverty.