Americas

Jacques Baudrier

UN experts urge US to address legacies of the past, police impunity and ‘crisis of racial injustice’

29 January 2016
The legacy of slavery, post-Reconstruction ‘Jim Crow’ laws and racial subordination in the United States remains a “serious challenge” as there has been no real commitment to recognition and reparations for people of African descent, a United Nations expert panel said today in Washington D.C., at the end of its second official visit.

Security Council urges Haitian parties to refrain from actions that could further disrupt electoral process

29 January 2016
Expressing strong concern regarding the indefinite postponement of the final round of elections in Haiti – scheduled for 27 December but postponed, for the second time, to January 24 – the United Nations Security Council today reiterated its condemnation of any attempt to destabilize the electoral process, and urged all parties and political actors to refrain from violence.
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard (file).

UN Security Council approves mission to monitor peace deal between Colombia and FARC

25 January 2016
The Security Council today moved to set up a United Nations political mission in Colombia, approving a team of international observers to monitor disarmament should the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) reach a final agreement to end Latin America’s longest armed conflict.
UN/MINUSTAH/Igor Rugwiza

Haiti: UN chief concerned at postponement of polls; calls on all sides to refrain from violence

23 January 2016
Voicing concern at the postponement of tomorrow's already delayed presidential elections in Haiti, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today called on all political actors to refrain from violence and complete the electoral process peacefully without further delay.
UN/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi

UN and partners in Haiti reiterate support for conclusion of electoral process

22 January 2016
The United Nations and its partners in Haiti reiterated today their support for the outcome of the electoral process in the country, where political tensions have simmered ahead of the second round of presidential polls, which was set for Sunday, but which reportedly has been postponed.
PAHO

Twenty countries in the Americas reporting cases of Zika virus – UN health agency

22 January 2016
Twenty countries in the Americas and about 10 in Africa, Asia and the Pacific have reported cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus infection according to information delivered today by the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
<a href=http://bit.ly/1LlKgiM>Kristy Siegfried/IRIN</a>

Ban welcomes joint request by Colombian Government and FARC to set up UN political office

20 January 2016
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the joint request from the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) yesterday announcing their decision to request the UN Security Council to establish a political mission in the country to monitor any future ceasefire agreement.
World Bank/Franz Mahr

UN announces that Peru will compensate woman in historic human rights abortion case

18 January 2016
Nearly a decade after the UN Human Rights Committee agreed that a Peruvian woman’s rights were violated for having been denied an abortion – and recommended that the Government compensate her – the UN human rights office announced today that Peru has said it will pay compensation for having refused her access to a legal medical procedure.
UN/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi

Haiti: six years after quake, UN cites progress but warns of ‘deteriorating’ situation for those still in camps

15 January 2016
Six years after the devastating earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left at least 1.5 million homeless, the United Nations is underlining that humanitarian action has achieved significant results, but that the situation has been deteriorating since June.
<a href=http://bit.ly/1LvXDgK>Amy Stillman/IRIN</a>

UN calls for urgent regional coordination to aid refugees fleeing Central American violence

14 January 2016
The United Nations refugee agency today called for urgent regional coordination to help people fleeing deadly violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in the light of plans by the United States to expand its resettlement programme to benefit them.