Americas

Five years after an historic Peace Agreement was reached in Colombia, the process continues to show the benefits of ending the conflict through negotiation and keeping victims at the heart of the discussion moving forward. That was the main message from the Special Representative and head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, delivered to ambassadors at the Security Council on Thursday. For him, the first former conflict zone fully cleared of landmines, and...

Paraguay’s failure to prevent the toxic contamination of indigenous people’s traditional lands by commercial farming violates their rights and their sense of “home”, the UN Human Rights Committee said in a landmark ruling on Wednesday. The Committee, which is made up of 18 independent experts from across the world, monitors countries’ adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Lands represent ‘home’ The decision on Paraguay (in Spanish) marked the first...

Still reeling from the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, on 7 July, the country was crippled on 14 August by a deadly 7.2 magnitude earthquake that affected over 800,000 people in its southwestern peninsula. Helen La Lime, Special Representative and head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) said that “long awaited” national and local elections have now been further postponed while “insecurity has become rampant in Port-au-Prince, as kidnappings are once again on the rise...

The UN Secretary-General on Sunday said he was committed to ensuring that the Organisation is a place where “youth voices are heard, and their ideas lead”, as he spent the day in Barbados which tomorrow hosts a major UN conference on trade and development, focused on the need to build a global green economy and recover equitably from the COVID-19 pandemic. António Guterres arrived in the Caribbean island nation on Saturday and will be addressing the hybrid format UNCTAD15 conference which...

Saint Lucia: A near-impossible balancing act Philip Joseph Pierre, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Youth Economy of Saint Lucia, said his nation suffers from serious challenges due to its small size and vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change. While struggling to find solutions for those existing problems, Saint Lucia was hit with COVID-19. “We are now being inundated by the new, while still being overwhelmed by the old,” he stated in his...

The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, said on Saturday that “human beings, fathers and mothers who have children, are always going to flee poverty and conflict.” “Migration will continue as long as the planet has both wealthy areas, whilst most of the world’s population lives in poverty, even extreme poverty, without any prospects of a better life,” he said in a pre-recorded message. Referring to the situation of Haitian asylum-seekers, he stated that “Over recent days, the images of...

In his address to the high-level debate at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Marcelo Ebrard, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, reaffirmed his country’s commitment against discrimination and hate speech and called for more solidarity. Mr. Ebrard said that the economic recovery from the crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, has been marked by inequality. “The pandemic has highlighted the need for a strong and effective multilateral system”, he declared, calling for more...

As Haiti continues to reel from the “triple tragedy” of natural disasters, gang violence and the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed concern on Thursday that two-thirds of Haitian migrants expelled from the United States border in recent days are women and children – including newborns with “specific and immediate needs”. “When children and families are sent back without adequate protection, they find themselves even more vulnerable to violence, poverty and...

The President of Colombia on Tuesday warned that many developing countries have increased their fiscal deficit to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, putting at risk their financial capacity to act on other priorities, such as climate change. “Many (countries) have not begun to process the necessary tax reforms to pay emergency expenses, and today they are being evaluated with pre-pandemic criteria by credit rating agencies”, said Ivan Duque, during his speech to the 76th UN General Assembly...

“We anticipated, from 2060 to 2050, the goal of achieving climate neutrality. Human and financial resources, destined to the strengthening of environmental agencies, were doubled, with a view to eliminating illegal deforestation,” he said. Mr. Bolsonaro was speaking at UN Headquarters at the opening of the high-level week of the General Assembly. After being held virtually last year due the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s gathering will feature “hybrid” activities that will include...