On July 20, 2026, multiple interconnected developments are unfolding across Haiti, spanning international diplomacy, sports, economic policy, and humanitarian response, reflecting the multifaceted challenges and milestones the Caribbean nation is currently navigating.
标签： Haiti
海地
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Official launch of the binational project «Blue Hispaniola»
Last week marked a landmark step in cross-border environmental cooperation between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) formally launched the three-year binational initiative *Blue Hispaniola*. The official launch ceremony, hosted at the CODEVI free zone in the Haitian border town of Ouanaminthe, drew a broad coalition of stakeholders spanning both nations, including government representatives, senior PADF officials, delegates from the British government, local political leaders, private sector actors, academic experts, artisanal fishing association representatives, civil society partners, community organizers, and prominent Haitian and Dominican figures focused on marine conservation.
Funded entirely through a $4 million UK International Development grant via the Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) program, the initiative is set to run through March 2029, with work concentrated on the ecologically critical shared north coast of Hispaniola. Designed to address the interconnected challenges of overexploited marine resources and vulnerable coastal livelihoods across the island, the project’s core goals are threefold: advance science-backed sustainable management of shared marine assets, bolster economic stability for communities that rely on coastal and ocean resources, and deepen long-term collaborative ties between the neighboring countries around the blue economy.
A key strength of *Blue Hispaniola* lies in its cross-border, locally led approach: the project has partnered with six community-focused organizations from both countries to build out a transboundary blue economy corridor. This corridor will support sustainable fishing practices, protect threatened coastal habitats, expand market access for small-scale producers, and scale inclusive income-generating activities that benefit local communities rather than external actors.
Four Haitian organizations anchor the project’s work on the Haitian side: Haiti Efficace, the Essence-Elle Foundation, the Peasant Movement for the Development of Paulette, and the Revolted Feminist Group of Haiti. On the Dominican side, the work is led by two respected civil society groups: the NGO AgroFrontera and Fundación Reddom. Together, the partner organizations will deliver targeted capacity-building for local fishing associations, hands-on conservation training for coastal communities, improved connections to fair local and regional markets, and targeted support to amplify women’s leadership across the entire fisheries value chain.
The initiative targets tangible, measurable impact across the island: it is projected to directly support more than 8,350 coastal residents, with at least 50 percent of those beneficiaries being women. It will also improve sustainable management practices across 92,250 hectares of vulnerable marine and coastal ecosystems, a region that supports critical biodiversity and sustains tens of thousands of livelihoods. Project leaders have stated that the initiative is designed to serve as a replicable regional model for cross-border blue economy cooperation, centered on the principles of local governance, sustainable natural resource stewardship, and inclusive economic development that lifts up marginalized coastal communities.
Speaking at the launch, PADF Executive Director Katie Taylor framed the project as a proof of concept for balancing conservation and economic progress. “Blue Hispaniola aims to transform shared waters into shared opportunities,” Taylor said. “When two countries share the same coastline, the wisest investment is one that benefits the communities that depend on it. This project demonstrates that ocean protection and economic development can go hand in hand.”
For Haiti’s Ministry of the Environment, the launch of the initiative reaffirms the government’s commitment to positioning regional cooperation as a core lever for advancing marine biodiversity protection, growing the blue economy, and boosting climate and economic resilience for coastal communities. The ministry issued a call for all relevant stakeholders to join the effort to sustainably protect the shared marine heritage of Hispaniola, emphasizing that collective action today is critical to securing benefits for both current and future generations across the island.
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UNIDO alongside Haiti for the revival of the industrial sector
In a key diplomatic step to reboot Haiti’s struggling industrial economy, Haiti’s Minister of Trade and Industry James Monazard held a high-level meeting with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Deputy Director General Cecilia Ugaz Estrada on July 16, 2026. The discussion took place on the margins of Monazard’s official working visit to Montevideo, Uruguay, marking another milestone in the Haitian government’s ongoing push to deepen institutional cooperation with UNIDO.
The core goal of the bilateral talks was aligning efforts to advance the revitalization of Haiti’s industrial sector, which has faced years of political instability, infrastructure gaps and limited foreign investment. Both sides used the meeting to reaffirm their shared commitment to building a long-term strategic partnership between Haiti’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MCI) and UNIDO, locking in two key actionable initiatives to move the recovery process forward.
First, the partners have agreed to launch a comprehensive technical study that will lay the groundwork for the development of new industrial parks across Haiti’s Great South region. Second, UNIDO will deploy a team of international industry experts to Haiti to participate in the country’s planned Industry Week, scheduled for September 2026, where the experts will provide on-the-ground guidance and technical input.
The targeted technical assistance from UNIDO is designed to bolster the MCI’s ongoing work to develop tangible, scalable solutions for broad-based industrial growth. Planned outcomes include attracting much-needed foreign and domestic investment, strengthening the technical and institutional capacity of Haiti’s national industrial ecosystem, and creating long-term sustainable jobs that can lift local communities out of poverty.
The Montevideo meeting capped off a week of intensive diplomatic activity for Minister Monazard, who had just completed a high-stakes advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. ahead of the South America visit. In Washington, the minister held talks with senior U.S. administration officials to lobby for the renewal of the HOPE/HELP trade legislation, a critical framework that provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for Haitian exports and supports thousands of jobs in the country. Following that mission, Monazard continued his outreach across South America to drum up new investment, speed up industrial recovery, and build the stable economic conditions needed to deliver shared growth to all Haitian citizens.
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Dominican Republic : Strengthening the operational capacities of the Dominican army
In a major step to upgrade its military capabilities and harden border security along its shared frontier with Haiti, the Dominican Republic has formally received a large shipment of new military hardware – much of it developed and built domestically – in a ceremony held on July 17, 2026. The delivery, coordinated by the country’s Ministry of Defense, includes a diverse array of cutting-edge equipment designed to enhance surveillance, rapid response, and multi-domain defense capabilities across the nation’s border regions and strategic installations.
Among the new assets delivered are five unmanned vertical takeoff and landing drones, a mobile unmanned surveillance unit mounted on an all-terrain vehicle, 10 indigenously developed Centauro tactical vehicles, and 179 additional ground vehicles of varying types. The acquisition package also includes a full structural renovation and re-equipping of seven key facilities at San Isidro Air Base, a major operational hub for the Dominican armed forces.
The highlight of the ceremony was the public unveiling of the FURIA VBD-2, the latest armored fighting vehicle fully developed and assembled by the Dominican Republic’s domestic military industrial sector. Boasting military-grade ballistic protection, a full 360-degree rotating turret, and advanced battlefield operational capabilities, the first completed FURIA VBD-2 is the inaugural unit of a planned 18-vehicle production run. Once completed, these armored vehicles will be deployed to reinforce second-line defense brigades stationed along the country’s shared land border with Haiti, where security concerns have grown in recent years.
Breaking down the full roster of new ground vehicles, Defense Minister Carlos Fernández Onofre outlined that the shipment includes 76 purpose-built patrol trucks, 25 heavy trucks for troop and supply transport, seven minibuses designed for secure personnel movement, four minivans, and 67 motorcycles for rapid patrol operations in diverse terrain.
President Luis Abinader, who attended the official handover ceremony, used the occasion to frame the new equipment delivery as a landmark milestone for the country’s growing military industry. He emphasized that domestically developed hardware like the FURIA VBD-2 and Centauro tactical vehicles serves as tangible proof that the Dominican Republic now boasts a leading military industrial sector across Central America and the Caribbean. “Today, we have an exemplary military industry in Central America and the Caribbean, and we are at the forefront. It rivals the most advanced countries. We are on track to reach the level of the highest-performing Latin American countries,” Abinader told attendees.
Minister Onofre echoed the president’s remarks, noting that the acquisition and domestic production of this new generation of equipment marks significant progress in the armed forces’ push for technological modernization. He added that the shift toward domestic assembly and production of key military assets – including upcoming drone production that is set to begin in the near future – will generate substantial long-term savings for the national government budget.
“ The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic continue to move resolutely toward technological advancement, consolidating a permanent surveillance capability, increased responsiveness, and multi-domain defense, in line with the challenges of the 21st century, all in service of the security, sovereignty, and defense of the Nation,” Onofre said.
The upgrade comes amid ongoing regional security focus on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, where the Dominican government has stepped up efforts to control irregular migration, counter smuggling, and protect territorial sovereignty in recent years.
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Zapping Haiti of July 19, 2026
In a series of developments across Haiti in mid-July 2026, the country has progressed on multiple fronts, from anti-gang law enforcement actions to humanitarian relief for displaced populations, international cooperation on anti-corruption efforts, and preparations for long-awaited cultural and educational milestones.
Northern Haiti law enforcement has scored major victories against organized gang activity. The Northern Department Police (DDN) released a public operational briefing on Saturday, July 18, detailing results from a six-and-a-half-week crackdown running from June 1 through July 17, 2026. The operation, conducted to curb rising violent crime in the region, resulted in the deaths of two high-ranking gang leaders during armed exchanges with officers, along with multiple other fatalities among lower-ranking gang members. Authorities also seized eight illegal firearms as part of the raids. The first high-profile fatality came on June 28, when gang leader Alland Gérôme, widely known by his alias “Jhon”, was killed during an operation in the commune of Limonade. Just over two weeks later, on July 15, a second operation in the Latanbri area of Cap-Haïtien’s Morin neighborhood eliminated gang leader Peterson Belony and his senior associate, only identified by the street name “Dejwe”. In total, 391 suspects were taken into custody across the operation, facing charges ranging from murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and sexual assault to kidnapping, unlawful detention, illegal weapons possession, criminal conspiracy and breach of public trust.
In Kenscoff, where widespread armed violence has displaced tens of thousands of residents, humanitarian organizations are ramping up relief efforts to address the growing emergency. On July 15, a delegation from Haiti’s Social Assistance Fund (CAS), led by executive director Jhony Raphaël, held coordination talks with Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon to organize support for the municipality’s 35,000 displaced people, grouped across roughly 7,000 displaced families. CAS has already begun distributing 2,000 pre-packaged food kits to affected households, and is expanding its relief plan to provide 7,000 personal hygiene kits specifically targeted at women and girls. A specialized mobile social work team will also be deployed across the municipality to locate and support an additional 500 at-risk vulnerable people, including elderly residents and people living with disabilities who have been displaced by violence.
On the governance front, Haiti’s national government is moving to strengthen international cooperation to tackle systemic corruption. Prime Minister Fils-Aimé, joined by Special Advisor Guerly Leriche, met with Monica Juma, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), who traveled to Port-au-Prince alongside a large UN delegation. The two sides held in-depth discussions on expanding bilateral collaboration across multiple priority areas, including anti-corruption enforcement, development of specialized judicial hubs, improved border security, and exploration of new joint initiatives. Prime Minister Fils-Aimé reaffirmed the Haitian government’s unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law and eradicating public corruption, highlighting ongoing reforms already implemented by the Ministry of Justice. These reforms include the transfer of roughly 40 pending high-level corruption cases to judges at specialized anti-corruption judicial hubs for accelerated processing.
In cultural news, one of Haiti’s most prominent feminist events is preparing to mark its 10th anniversary this month. Organizers announced that the 10th edition of the Nègès Mawon Feminist Festival will run from Wednesday, July 22 to Saturday, July 25 2026 in Port-au-Prince, held this year under the theme *Batay Nou Makonnen*. To celebrate a decade of feminist organizing and programming, a full schedule of events has been planned across the festival run. Conferences, artistic performances, film screenings followed by open community discussions, skills-building workshops and social gatherings at the Nègès Salon will take place on July 23 and 24 at the dedicated Nègès Mawon venue. The festival will conclude with a closing ceremony on July 25 at a hotel in Pétionville, headlined by the *Alarive lanmou* concert featuring performances from Lunise Morse of the group Ram, Riva Nyri, and Charline Jean-Gilles of Nanm Vodou a, with overall direction from Haitian actress Gaëlle Bien-Aimé.
The United Nations has also enacted new sanctions against Haitian organized crime, adding three major Haitian criminal groups to its global sanctions blacklist: Gran Grif based in the Artibonite department, and Kraze Baryè and 400 Mawozo both operating in the country’s western department.
In educational updates, Haiti’s Minister of National Education Vijonet Déméro issued a public statement on Friday, July 17, 2026 congratulating students and education staff on the successful completion of national baccalaureate exams. Déméro noted that the exam period proceeded without any major security or administrative incidents, and officially confirmed that centralized grading of all exam papers will begin on Monday, July 20.
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Diaspora : 20th edition of the Haiti en Folie Festival (program, video)
Montreal’s beloved celebration of Haitian culture is gearing up for a landmark milestone this summer, as the Fabienne Colas Foundation prepares to launch the 20th edition of the Haiti en Folie Festival, presented by TD Bank Group. Running from July 23 to 27, 2026, this year’s hybrid programming blends in-person outdoor experiences across four iconic Montreal public spaces with accessible online content, inviting both local attendees and global audiences to engage with the rich artistic and cultural heritage of Haiti. More than 200 artists from across North America and the Caribbean are set to take part in the five-day event, which will unfold at Parc Lafontaine, Quartier des Spectacles, Jardins Gamelin, and Parc des Compagnons.
The 2026 festival lineup is packed with diverse offerings for visitors of all interests, centered around a core schedule of TD-sponsored music performances, industry conferences, literary showcases, the popular SAQ Food and Craft Fair, panel discussions, hands-on workshops, the annual Rara parade, and dozens of family-friendly interactive activities. To mark the 20th anniversary of the event, headlining musical performances will come from a stacked roster of acclaimed talent, including Grammy-nominated Haitian roots group Boukman Eksperyans, award-winning international artist BélO, multidisciplinary creator Rebecca Jean, rising R&B performer Papi Jay, and vocalists Ericka Julie, Jessie Simmons, and Modeline Raymond, alongside emerging acts Cinthia Michel, Sara Rénélik (performing as Luna Taina), Barnev, and the Montreal Community Choir.
A fan-favorite staple of the festival, the annual Rara Parade will mark its own 10th consecutive year as part of the 2026 event. The decade-old parade was created to honor Haiti’s national soccer team, the Grenadiers, who made history by qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in 2010, ending a 52-year drought for the nation. This year’s parade will feature energetic live sets from Rara Jazz, Rara Pa Nou, and Ayiti Makaya, carrying forward the tradition of celebration that has defined the event for a decade.
Additional standout programming includes the late-afternoon “Haiti Madness 5 to 7” showcase, which will feature DJ sets from DJ Cliff and DJ Nalee, alongside live performances from Ensemble Afrovibes and Kayos KF. Visitors can also explore curated literary events, join thoughtful panel discussions on Haitian arts, culture, and diaspora life featuring creator Sara Renélik, Grammy-winning musician Wesli, multidisciplinary artist Rebecca Jean, poet Sylphir, and many other leading voices from the Haitian community. The SAQ Haiti en Folie Food Fair, a perennially popular attraction, will return to offer attendees a chance to sample authentic Haitian cuisine and handcrafted goods from local vendors. All online programming, including pre-recorded panel discussions and film screenings, will be accessible to remote attendees around the world, expanding the festival’s reach beyond Montreal’s city limits.
Full information on the festival schedule, venue locations, ticket access, and online viewing options is available now on the official Haiti en Folie website at www.HaitiEnFolie.com.
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Cap
In a formal ceremony held July 17 at Cap-Haïtien’s Versailles Complex, Haiti’s national police force (Police Nationale d’Haïti, PNH) officially kicked off the second phase of its groundbreaking outreach campaign, “PNH New Generation: Women at the heart of change.” The targeted initiative is designed to break down historical barriers to female entry in law enforcement, encouraging more professional women across the country to pursue careers with the PNH while reshaping the institution’s public image through greater gender diversity.
The launch event drew senior police leadership, United Nations officials, and community stakeholders, including Divisional Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille, the North Department’s PNH director; Louis Guerro Plancher, representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Divisional Commissioner Erna Royal, UNDP Focal Point for the program’s Basket Fund; and Divisional Commissioner Étienne Salvador, PNH’s community policing coordinator.
Speakers across all participating organizations aligned on a core message: expanding women’s representation within the PNH is a critical step toward repairing and deepening trust between law enforcement and local communities, as well as advancing ongoing institutional modernization efforts across Haiti’s national police force.
Divisional Inspector Nativita Kerline Jean Philippe, head of gender-based violence response for the North Department, highlighted the on-the-ground practical benefits of increasing female police presence. She noted that greater gender balance within the force would allow officers to more effectively respond to Haiti’s complex social realities, particularly by delivering more culturally appropriate, trauma-informed support to survivors of gender-based violence.
Representing the PNH’s Police Recruitment Service (SRP), Municipal Inspector Paul Smith Bonne Année walked attendees through the campaign’s next steps, outlining official admission requirements for new recruits, breaking down the multi-stage recruitment process, and detailing long-term career growth pathways available within the force. He closed his remarks by inviting all eligible attendees to bring their skills and experience to public service, serving the Haitian nation through a career in law enforcement.
Following formal presentations, the event concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session between speakers and attending community members. Participants demonstrated significant enthusiasm and interest in the campaign, raising detailed questions about recruitment eligibility, career advancement opportunities, and institutional onboarding processes—all of which received clear, direct responses from the event’s panel.
International partners are backing the second phase of the campaign to advance police reform in Haiti. The initiative receives core funding from the European Union, is implemented on the ground by the UNDP, and is being executed by local Haitian firm KONEKTE, as part of a broader international effort to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Haitian National Police amid ongoing governance and security challenges in the country.
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Japan bilateral meeting
Amid the high-level convenings of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), top diplomatic officials from Haiti and Japan gathered this week at Haiti’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations for targeted talks focused on revitalizing long-standing bilateral development cooperation. The meeting brought together Sandra Paulemon, Haiti’s Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, and Kiyoto Tsuji, Japan’s Minister of the Environment, to align on shared priorities and outline next steps for expanded support to Haiti’s ongoing recovery efforts.
Opening the discussion, Minister Paulemon extended Haiti’s formal and deep gratitude to the Japanese government for its unwavering support spanning more than 15 years, particularly in the aftermath of Haiti’s catastrophic 2010 earthquake. In that crisis, Japan stepped forward to mobilize more than $100 million in combined humanitarian aid, cash donations, technical expertise, and targeted reconstruction assistance, a commitment that has delivered tangible benefits to Haitian communities across multiple key sectors.
Paulemon emphasized that Japanese-backed initiatives have directly advanced Haiti’s progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with successful projects spanning public health, education, agricultural development, critical infrastructure, and disaster risk reduction. She highlighted a roster of completed, impactful works: the full reconstruction and equipping of the Jacmel general hospital, the major rehabilitation of Léogâne’s community water supply system, the construction and upgrade of dozens of primary and secondary schools across vulnerable regions, farmer-focused agricultural extension programs, and nationwide disaster preparedness training initiatives that have strengthened local response capacity.
During the meeting, Paulemon outlined the core priorities of Haiti’s newly drafted national framework, the Economic, Social, and Territorial Stabilization and Recovery Program (PNSREST), which the Haitian government is finalizing to guide its multi-year recovery and stabilization agenda. She formally invited Japan to contribute to the program’s centralized common financing Basket Fund, which is designed to pool international resources to advance Haiti’s top national recovery priorities. She also added a request for targeted budgetary support from Japan to back Haiti’s upcoming 2026-2027 national budget, which is currently in the final stages of preparation.
A key request put forward by the Haitian delegation centered on resuming a long-standing humanitarian aid mechanism that has been paused since 2020. Paulemon asked Japanese officials to reactivate the country’s humanitarian aid program, which was previously implemented through Haiti’s Bureau for the Monetization of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD). She stressed that restoring this channel would be critical to expanding support for Haiti’s most vulnerable populations and accelerating the government’s ongoing economic and social recovery work. She also requested expanded partnership in technology and innovation, noting that Japan’s global leadership in technological transformation, climate and disaster resilience, and risk management offers a valuable blueprint that Haiti can leverage to strengthen its own institutional capacity and improve the delivery of public services.
In response, Minister Tsuji acknowledged the deep, positive diplomatic roots that tie the two nations together, recalling a striking moment of mutual solidarity following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami: even in the wake of its own devastating national disaster just one year prior, the Haitian people and government extended meaningful support to Japan during its time of crisis. That reciprocal solidarity, he noted, forms the foundation of the strong bilateral relationship today.
Tsuji confirmed that the Japanese government will give full, careful consideration to all of the requests put forward by the Haitian delegation, covering everything from technological partnership to participation in the PNSREST framework. He signaled clear positive momentum on the request to resume BMPAD-mediated humanitarian aid, noting that Japan would move forward with reviewing the proposal in close coordination with the Japanese Embassy in Port-au-Prince to identify the most effective forms of support for Haitian communities. Following the meeting, Haiti’s Ministry of Planning announced that it will continue sustained bilateral discussions with Japanese authorities to turn the outlined cooperation prospects into tangible, large-scale projects that support long-term stabilization, inclusive economic growth, social development, and recovery across Haiti.
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Leisure : Did you know ? #42
Twice every week, the popular Haitian digital platform HaitiLibre releases a new installment of its engaging general knowledge series “Did you know?”, presented through its interactive Quiz.Haitilibre project. The 42nd entry of the column, published July 18, 2026, poses a compelling question centered on Haitian cultural history: In what year did the inaugural edition of Haiti Fashion Week take place?
The answer to the trivia question traces a pivotal milestone for Haiti’s creative economy: the very first Haiti Fashion Week launched in 2012 in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. This landmark event came just two years after the catastrophic 2010 earthquake that devastated much of Haiti’s infrastructure, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and shattered the country’s existing economic networks.
Organized by the Haitian Fashion Network (CHAM) with backing from both local cultural institutions and international partners, the first Haiti Fashion Week was far more than a showcase of glamorous runway shows. It was framed as a deliberate, strategic initiative to drive post-disaster economic recovery by leveraging the country’s rich cultural and artisanal heritage. For the first time, dozens of local Haitian designers gained access to a professional, curated platform where they could display their work directly to international buyers and global fashion journalists. The event successfully demonstrated that high-end Haitian craftsmanship could compete in global luxury markets, while opening up critical professional dialogue that laid the groundwork for a more structured, sustainable national textile production chain.
Beyond sharing this little-known piece of Haitian cultural and economic history, the column also promotes the full Quiz.Haitilibre platform, which offers free, no-registration general knowledge games for audiences of all ages and skill levels. Each quiz on the platform comes in three difficulty tiers: easy, intermediate, and expert, and is available in both French and English to accommodate a wide user base. As part of the platform’s monthly content refresh, 31 new quizzes were added on July 1, 2026, bringing the total number of available games to 180, with new content added on a monthly rolling basis. The platform covers topics ranging from local Haitian history and culture to global current events and specialized subjects, allowing users to expand their knowledge and test their skills across a wide range of themes. Visitors are invited to access the full platform at quiz.haitilibre.com, share the resource with friends and family, and leave feedback via a comment form available at the end of every game.
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Zapping Haiti of July 18, 2026
On July 18, 2026, multiple official and private institutions across Haiti released a series of critical announcements affecting applicants, voters, residents, and cultural stakeholders across the country.
First, the Haitian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a revision to the schedule for the 2026-2027 academic year Kingdom of Morocco government scholarship admission competition. Referencing an earlier notice from July 6, the ministry confirmed that the exam, originally set for July 18 in Les Cayes for applicants from Haiti’s Great South region, has been rescheduled to July 21. The test will now take place at the Public University of Les Cayes. Notably, the original July 18 date remains in effect for two other exam centers: Lycée de Pétion-ville in Port-au-Prince and the MAEC regional office in Vaudreuil, Cap-Haïtien. The ministry thanked candidates for their interest and urged all affected applicants to adjust their plans accordingly.
In electoral news, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced the launch of a new nationwide voter registration drive. Starting July 20, registration will open in the capitals of nine of Haiti’s ten geographical departments, with the West Department excluded from the initial rollout. Eligible citizens will have a 90-day window to complete their registration at any local Registration and Voting Center. To complete the process, applicants must bring a valid national identification card. Voters may register at the center closest to their residence or at a center in their preferred voting constituency, with no mandatory pre-assigned locations. However, the CEP stressed that on election day, voting will only be permitted at the center where a citizen is registered, and unregistered residents will not be allowed to cast a ballot.
Telecommunications provider Digicel also issued a public statement regarding a new service disruption in southern Haiti. The company confirmed that on July 15, an intentional cut to its optical fiber infrastructure along National Road #2 caused outages for multiple services across the Deep South region. Technical teams were mobilized immediately to assess damage and begin repairs, but ongoing security instability in the affected area has blocked safe access for work crews. Digicel announced that its teams are coordinating closely with local security authorities to secure the necessary access to complete repairs as quickly as possible. The company acknowledged the significant inconvenience the outage has caused for residential and business customers, noting that all available resources are being deployed to restore full service, and thanked the public for their patience during the interruption.
The Haitian Ministry of Environment also announced an extension to a regulatory measure affecting sand quarry operations. A ban on extraction in four locations – Pèlerin, Laboule, Boutilliers, and Kenscoff – will be extended for 15 additional days starting July 16. At the conclusion of this extension period, only quarry sites that have been deemed operationally eligible following technical assessments from the Bureau of Mines and Energy (BME) and the National Environmental Evaluation Office (BNÉE), and whose operators have completed all required regulatory compliance steps, will be allowed to resume extraction activities.
On the international front, the United Nations confirmed that Haiti will return to the UN Security Council’s formal agenda on July 20. Three months after his last briefing to the council, Special Representative Jack Christofides will deliver a comprehensive update on the deployment, operational progress, and strategic direction of the international Gang Suppression Force, deployed to help Haitian authorities curb widespread gang-related violence.
In cultural news, UNESCO’s Haiti office hosted the official restitution event for the preservation project *Les Rhythmes du Tambour Haïtien* (The Rhythms of the Haitian Drum) on July 17. Attendees at the event got an exclusive first look at the opening 35 minutes of the project’s documentary series. The series explores the craft of drum-making, the playing techniques of traditional drummers, and the cultural spaces where Haitian drumming takes place, highlighting the central role of the drum in shaping Haitian national cultural identity. Funded by the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund, the initiative aims to document, preserve, and transmit this intangible cultural heritage to current and future generations of Haitians.