A United Nations envoy warned the U.N. Security Council Wednesday (April 26) that conditions are increasingly dire in Haiti, urging the ambassadors to take immediate action.

“Time is of the essence, and the Haitian people deserve your urgent action. If not supported, the vicious circle of violence, political, social, and economic crisis, in which the people struggle every day, will continue to turn,” U.N. Special Representative Maria Isabel Salvador told the U.N. body that is responsible for maintaining global peace and security.

According to Salvador, Haitian police are overwhelmed, as armed gangsters expand their control of the capital city Port-au-Prince and terrorize the residents there. Meanwhile, approximately 5.2 million Haitians are in desperate need of humanitarian aid in an ongoing cholera epidemic.

She was appointed to the post in March and started her mission to the impoverished Caribbean nation earlier this month. During her first visit, Salvador met with civil society representatives, national authorities and senior government officials.

Conditions in Haiti have deteriorated since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Since then, gangs have taken control of at least 60 percent of Port-au-Prince, ruling the streets through violence and sexual attacks on residents, The Associated Press reported in December.

Gangs in Haiti are increasingly using sexual violence against women to control people and territory. The gangs are even targeting children as young as 10, elderly women and sometimes men in the explosion of violence, according to a disturbing UN human rights report last October.

Meanwhile, government investment in the understaffed and ill-equipped Haitian National Police has failed to stem the wave of violence, Salvador stated.

On April 24, a vigilante mob in the capital took matters into their own hands. Residents beat and burned to death 13 suspected gangsters after snatching them away from police custody.

“During my initial exchanges and interactions, I observed that a path for Haitians to engage in dialogue towards restoring democratic institutions in the country has been charted. However, the general sentiment is that it will be difficult to move forward without effectively addressing rampant insecurity,” Salvador told diplomats on the council.

She called on the Security Council to deploy an international specialized force to support the Haitian police.