UNITED NATIONS (CMC) — Haiti’s Foreign Affairs Minister Raina Forbin on Monday said her country needs “free, credible, inclusive and above all participatory elections” as she urged the international community not to abandon the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country in its time of need.

The last time Haitians voted someone into power was in 2016. The last President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021 and since then, armed gangs have seized control of almost the entire capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as large swathes of rural areas of Haiti.

Addressing the United Nations (UN) Security Council, Forbin said that elections which restore trust, strengthen democratic legitimacy as well as pave the way to lasting peace and stability must be encouraged.