Americas

Haiti: UN expert urges further progress to strengthen civil and political rights

29 November 2008
The independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti has urged the impoverished Caribbean nation to make further progress in ensuring civil and political rights for its citizens, especially with regard to improving its penal system.

Panama: UN food agency provides assistance to thousands of flood victims

28 November 2008
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is rushing assistance to about 15,000 people along Panama’s Caribbean coast, where floods following a week of heavy rains have destroyed homes, roads and other infrastructure and left locals in urgent need of help.

Haiti: UN mission funds public works projects employing more than 2,000 people

26 November 2008
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is providing $250,000 to fund two construction projects in the Central Plateau region of Haiti, one of the poorest regions in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Carbon neutral airline gets on board UN scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions

20 November 2008
The world’s first carbon neutral airline, which offsets its harmful gas emissions by investing in ecological projects, has joined a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative, promoting low-carbon economies and societies, the agency announced today.

Obama phones Ban to discuss current crises and global affairs

20 November 2008
United States President-elect Barack Obama has telephoned Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss how to address current crises and strengthen the partnership between the US and the United Nations.

Hondurans face many months of struggle after deadly floods, UN aid wing says

18 November 2008
The basic living conditions for more than 310,000 Hondurans will remain precarious for months as a result of the deadly floods that have engulfed the Central American country, and a lack of support so far from donors is slowing the efforts of aid workers to provide relief, the United Nations humanitarian wing warned today.

With seeds, water and ‘plastic’ UN helps Haiti offset hurricanes, food prices

17 November 2008
With a packet of seeds, a stream of water and a prepaid remittance card the United Nations is racing against the clock to help Haiti recover from the triple whammy of four successive hurricanes, soaring food prices and the impact of the global economic downturn.

UN recruits North American youth to join fight against climate change

14 November 2008
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) enlisted the help of North American youth to help tackle climate change at a summit kicking off today in the United States city of Chicago.

Serious displacement crisis continues in Colombia, UN official warns

14 November 2008
Colombia continues to endure a serious displacement crisis due to new illegal armed groups, new structures of organized crime and the ongoing 45-year-old conflict between the army and irregular armed groups, despite some recent progress, a senior United Nations humanitarian official warned today.

Poor Dominican Republic farmers to win greater access to markets under UN project

13 November 2008
Some 19,000 rural households in the poorest areas of the Dominican Republic are set to benefit from a $31 million United Nations project to directly link farmers with markets and pilot new risk management mechanisms.