The new Haitian Prime Minister was sworn in

Garry Conille was sworn in as Haiti’s prime minister on Monday, promising to “deliver” for the impoverished Caribbean nation, which is grappling with overlapping security, humanitarian and political crises.

Conille was appointed by the transitional presidential council that runs the country following the resignation in April of Prime Minister Ariel Henry as gang violence increased.

“Let’s get down to business and I assure you we will deliver what we promised,” the 58-year-old said at the ceremony at the Villa d’Accueil, an official government building in the capital Port-au-Prince.

The swearing-in empowers him to form a government in consultation with the council, said its head, Edgard Leblanc Fils.

“We count on Dr. Conille to implement the policies agreed with the presidential council, to address in particular the issue of insecurity, as well as to improve the country’s economy, reform its institutions and hold credible, democratic and free elections by the end of 2025,” he he added.

A doctor by training, Conille briefly served as Haiti’s prime minister in 2011-2012 and was until recently regional director for the UN aid agency UNICEF.

The task before him is monumental: to alleviate the crises ravaging the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and pave the way for the first elections in 2016.

Gang violence has long ravaged the country, but in late February armed groups launched coordinated attacks on strategic locations in Port-au-Prince, claiming they wanted to oust the unelected and unpopular Henry.

Henry was leading the country as prime minister after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. The country has not had a president since then.

Violence affects food security and humanitarian access, with much of the capital in the hands of gangs accused of abuses including murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping.

Last year, a UN-backed security force to be led by Kenya was promised as a boost to Haiti’s struggling police, but has yet to be deployed.

The UN Food Agency reported on Monday, however, “significant progress”, with aid arriving through the reopened international airport and food distributed in the capital’s largest slum.

The mandate of the transitional presidential council will end in February 2026 at the latest.

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