US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (center left) meets with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness (center right) and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith (right) and US Ambassador to Jamaica N. Nick Perry (left) at the Pegasus Hotel prior to an emergency meeting on Haiti at the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Kingston, Jamaica, March 11, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday expressed appreciation to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its partners for developing a solution to the Haiti crisis, a UN spokesman said.

Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for Guterres, said the UN chief called on all Haitian stakeholders to act responsibly and to take steps toward implementation of the agreement on a transitional governance arrangement to restore democratic institutions through peaceful, credible, participatory and inclusive elections.

The spokesman said the health system's capacity remains a major concern, with many health facilities forced to shut down. Blood shortages persist, and efforts are under way to bring in blood from the neighboring Dominican Republic

The accord includes the establishment of a presidential council and the appointment of an interim prime minister.

Dujarric said that Guterres also acknowledged Prime Minister Ariel Henry's announcement that he would resign immediately upon installing a transitional presidential council.

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"The secretary-general reiterates his unwavering solidarity with the people of Haiti who are in need of safety, shelter, food and medical care, and to live their lives in dignity," said the spokesman.

However, a political solution cannot be imposed on the Haitian people from the outside, said Dujarric. "It is important that the international community, CARICOM and others, support this path, and we hope that will lead to better days for the Haitian people."

On the humanitarian front, the spokesman said the world body and its partners continue to deliver relief amid gang violence.

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He said the International Organization for Migration and its partners continue to run mobile medical and psychosocial clinics at sites for displaced people and are making referrals for more vulnerable cases.

The spokesman said the health system's capacity remains a major concern, with many health facilities forced to shut down. Blood shortages persist, and efforts are under way to bring in blood from the neighboring Dominican Republic.

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"The total number of displaced people, including the 15,000 people newly displaced in Port-au-Prince, has reached to more than 360,000 people," Dujarric said. "More than half of them are children, a particularly vulnerable group."

He said the lack of goods and resources is worsening an already precarious economic situation, with water and essential services being stretched to the limit.