EMBATTLED Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to hold general elections by mid-2025, Caribbean leaders said on Wednesday night.

Members of the Caricom regional trade bloc issued a statement at the end of a four-day summit in Guyana, saying that Mr Henry had agreed on the need to hold elections and work with the opposition and civil society groups to achieve that goal.

They said that all stakeholders in Haitian society would have to make concessions to allow elections and a restoration of democracy to take place.

“Caricom heads expressed their deep concern over the continued deterioration of the security, humanitarian and political situation and the continued delay in overcoming the political stalemate, which have blocked the possibility of free and fair elections,” the statement said.

“Caricom heads underlined the critical and immediate need for a clear political path forward which should be participatory and inclusive.”

A spokesman for Mr Henry’s office declined to comment and officials said that he was en route to Kenya after leaving Guyana.

Mr Henry has repeatedly pledged to hold elections ever since being sworn in as prime minister after the July 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise.

Earlier on Wednesday, UN humanitarian co-ordinator Ulrika Richardson said that indiscriminate violence was escalating in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region.

She told a virtual press conference that armed gangs were continuing to carry out killings and acts of sexual violence.

“The level of violence that people are exposed to is inhuman,” Ms Richardson said.

The UN has just launched its humanitarian appeal for this year, seeking $674 million (£528m) to help tackle the violence.

A UN-backed plan to deploy Kenyan police to Haiti has been stalled by the High Court in Nairobi ruling it unconstitutional.