MINUSTAH by the Numbers

MINUSTAH by the Numbers

Thursday, 08 December 2011 14:19

The United Nations Peacekeeping operation in Haiti, MINUSTAH by its French acronym, has been the target of recent popular protests and a source of controversy because of its role in re-introducing cholera to Haiti, the sexual assault of a young Haitian man and other past abuses. On November 3, 2011 the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and Bureau des Avocats Internationaux filed a legal complaint on behalf of over 5,000 cholera victims seeking damages from the United Nations. The UN has so far not responded or given a timetable for a response. Here is MINUSTAH, by the numbers: Percent of worldwide UN peacekeepers that are in Haiti, despite it not being a war zone: 12.5 Number of MINUSTAH troops (military and police) currently in Haiti: 12,552 Rank in size among the 16 UN peacekeeping operations worldwide: 3 Rank in size of Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, respectively: 1, 2 Percent of Haiti’s annual government expenditures to which MINUSTAH’s budget is equivalent: 50 Percent of Haiti’s GDP to which MINUSTAH’s budget is equivalent: 10.7 Total estimated cost of MINUSTAH since the earthquake: $1,556,461,550 Percent of UN peacekeeping operations worldwide funded by the United States: 27 Percent the U.S. has disbursed out of its $1.15 billion pledge at the March 2010 donor conference: 18.8 Percent of the U.S.’ contributions to MINUSTAH since the earthquake that this represents: 41 Factor by which MINUSTAH’s budget exceeds the amount of funds the UN’s cholera appeal has raised: 8 Percent of MINUSTAH’s budget it would take to fully fund the UN’s cholera appeal: 1.7 Number of days operating expenses it would take to fund a cholera vaccination campaign that would cover the entire country: 18 Percent of a single day’s MINUSTAH budget that the cholera vaccination pilot program will use over its multiple-week lifespan: 40 Minimum number of people killed from cholera in Haiti since October 2010: 6,908 Number of people killed by homicide in Haiti in 2010: 689 Number of people, per 10 million (roughly the population of Haiti), killed by homicide in Brazil, the largest troop contributor to MINUSTAH: 2,270 Number of cholera victims who filed a claim with the UN seeking damages: 5,000 Number of cholera victims: 513,997 Rate per minute that Haitians were falling ill with cholera in July 2011: 1 Amount by which MINUSTAH’s budget exceeds the UN’s 2012 humanitarian appeal for Haiti: $562,517,100 Number of MINUSTAH personnel who were repatriated this year after a cell phone video emerged showing troops sexually assaulting a young Haitian man: 5 Number of successful prosecutions against over 100 MINUSTAH troops repatriated to Sri Lanka after allegations of involvement in child prostitution surfaced in 2007: 0 Number of standing claims commissions set up by the UN under Status of Forces Agreements so that local population may have means of redress from peacekeepers, historically: 0 Years MINUSTAH has been in Haiti: 7 Shortfall in trained national police officers that are supposed to take over for MINUSTAH: 10,000 Rank among Haiti’s top donors, including governments, that MINUSTAH would be if its budget went towards relief and reconstruction efforts: 3 Date on which cholera was discovered: October 21, 2010 Date the head of MINUSTAH was reported saying it was “really unfair” to accuse the UN of bringing cholera to Haiti: November 22, 2010 Distance, in miles, from the Nepalese MINUSTAH base to the location of the first reported case of cholera: .1 Date on which scientific paper confirmed that Haitian and Nepalese samples of cholera were "almost identical": August 23, 2011 Days since the cholera outbreak it has taken for the UN to accept responsibility: 413 (and counting) Date on which MINUSTAH’s mandate was extended through 2012: October 14, 2011 Percent of Haitians in a recent survey who said they wanted MINUSTAH gone within a year: 65 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/minustah-by-the-numbers