In this Aug. 16, 2016 photo, a Brazilian U.N. peacekeeper opens a gate at the U.N. base in the Cite Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. According to an AP investigation, some 150 allegations of abuse and exploitation were reported in Haiti between 2004 and 2016. The allegations involved U.N. peacekeepers and other personnel. Alleged victimizers came from Bangladesh, Brazil, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uruguay and Sri Lanka, according to U.N. data and interviews. More countries may have been involved, but the United Nations only started disclosing alleged perpetrators’ nationalities after 2015. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
In this Aug. 16, 2016 photo, a Brazilian U.N. peacekeeper opens a gate at the U.N. base in the Cite Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. According to an AP investigation, some 150 allegations of abuse and exploitation were reported in Haiti between 2004 and 2016. The allegations involved U.N. peacekeepers and other personnel. Alleged victimizers came from Bangladesh, Brazil, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uruguay and Sri Lanka, according to U.N. data and interviews. More countries may have been involved, but the United Nations only started disclosing alleged perpetrators’ nationalities after 2015. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) Credit: Dieu Nalio Chery

The Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to end the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti in mid-October after 13 years, sending a strong signal that the international community believes the impoverished Caribbean nation is stabilizing after successful elections.

The peacekeepers helped normalize a country in chaos after political upheaval in 2004 and a devastating 2010 earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people – including the head of the U.N. mission itself – as well as Hurricane Matthew, which caused widespread devastation in October.

But they also leave under a cloud. U.N. troops from Nepal are widely blamed for introducing cholera that has killed at least 9,500 people in Haiti since 2010. And some troops also have been implicated in sexual abuse, including of hungry young children, an issue reported on Wednesday by the Associated Press.

The resolution approved by the U.N.’s most powerful body extends the mandate of the mission, known as MINUSTAH, for a final six months during which the 2,370 military personnel will gradually leave.

It creates a follow-on peacekeeping mission for an initial period of six months comprising 1,275 police who will continue training the national police force. The new mission will also assist the government in strengthening judicial and legal institutions “and engage in human rights monitoring, reporting and analysis.”

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycrof said the resolution sends a signal that once peacekeepers aren’t needed, U.N. missions should close or transform to focus on other challenges.

“We are at the end of an important phase in Haiti,” he said. “What we now need is a newly configured mission which is focused on rule of law and human rights.”

The United Nations has been involved in Haiti on and off since 1990. A 2004 rebellion had the country on the brink of collapse, leading to deployment of the U.N. force, and Haiti has been trying to get its shaky democracy on a firmer foundation ever since.

A political crisis and ensuing street protests stemming from a repeatedly derailed 2015 electoral cycle again threatened the stability of the country but an elected president and lawmakers are now in place.

The United States has launched a review of all 16 peacekeeping missions to assess costs and effectiveness, and U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that Haiti is “a success story when it comes to drawing down a peacekeeping mission.”