The ribbon established for participating in the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) is unique in that it was subsequently used for four other U.N. missions: the Support Mission (UNSMIH) in Haiti, the Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH), the Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH), and the Civilian Support Mission in Haiti (MICAH). An argument could be made that the current decoration established for participation in the current U.N. mission in the country, the Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), should simply use the old ribbon since its mandate is almost identical in spirit, if not in letter, to all the previous missions.
The first U.N. mission to Haiti was established with the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 867 in September, 1993. In effect from 1993 to 1996, its original mandate was to modernize the Haitian military and establish a new police force, but these efforts were initially squelched by the lack of cooperation from the Haitian military leaders. The mandate was later revised to incorporate broad-based goals such as “sustaining a secure and stable environment” along with the original missions involving the military and police.
June 30, 1996 marked the end of the original U.N. mission, but it was almost immediately succeeded by another mission with many of the same goals. Serving as a sort of political bookend to the two missions was Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was president of Haiti when the first Security Council Resolution was passed and had been deposed as president just a few months prior to the launch of MINUSTAH in 2004. That mission has been reauthorized and is still in effect some thirteen years after it went into effect.