PM Fils-Aimé Concludes Rome Diplomatic Mission — Returns to Haiti May 11 After Vatican Audience, FAO/IFAD Meetings

On May 10, 2026, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé completed the final day of his May 8–11 official diplomatic mission to Rome and the Holy See, with the delegation scheduled to return to Port-au-Prince on May 11. The mission's primary engagements included the May 9 papal audience with Pope Leo XIV (who received the PM at the Vatican with subsequent meetings with Cardinal Parolin and Archbishop Gallagher) and a solemn Mass for Peace in Haiti celebrated at St. Peter's Basilica. The Rome-based leg of the mission targeted international organizations headquartered in the Italian capital, including the FAO and IFAD — both directly engaged in Haiti's food security crisis, which sees 5.8 million Haitians (52% of the population) facing IPC Phase 3+ food insecurity and 600,000 in IPC Phase 5 Catastrophe. The humanitarian response plan for 2026 remains critically underfunded at approximately 20% of the $880 million required, with USAID cuts deepening the gap; WFP alone needs $332 million to maintain its 2.7 million-person outreach in Haiti. PM Fils-Aimé's government has framed the Rome mission as part of an 'active diplomacy focused on dialogue, cooperation, and finding concrete solutions.' The PM's trip — his third major foreign mission in 2026 following visits to Washington and participation in multilateral forums — drew sustained criticism from Haiti-based civil society and independent journalists, who noted that the Artibonite security situation continued to deteriorate during his absence. Viv Ansanm's destruction of the Marchand-Dessalines police station on May 7 and IOM's confirmation of 4,419 additional Artibonite IDPs (May 2–7) occurred while the PM was abroad, amplifying criticism from commentators such as Rezo Nòdwès about the gap between foreign diplomacy and on-the-ground security.