A recap of Thursday's stories: Guterres calls for military de-escalation in Syria's north-east; the role of cities in the climate crisis; new UN data resource to support refugees; reintegration of Colombia's ex-rebels; global community raises billions to eliminate diseases.
The UN migration agency, IOM, has welcomed Colombia’s decision on Monday to grant nationality status to more than 24,000 Venezuelan babies born inside the country after their parents fled across the border.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has sent extra teams this week to the border between Peru and Ecuador to support the authorities, as an unprecedent number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants – over 15,000 – have entered Peru this week.
As the United Nations announced four million Venezuelans have fled their country, Angelina Jolie, a special envoy for the world body’s refugee agency, visited camps along the Colombian-Venezuelan border, where on Saturday she appealed for more leadership, more humanity and more support to countries bearing the brunt of the crisis.
This Friday, we cover: the UN calling for an end to attacks against human rights defenders; a record number of displaced due to conflict and disasters; human rights issues in Myanmar; 900 children released from the ranks of a north-east Nigeria self-defense armed group; and referenda asking for the border dispute between Belize and Guatemala to be examined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Alarmed by the “strikingly high number” of human rights defenders being killed, harassed and threatened in Colombia, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in the country on Friday, called on authorities to “make a significant effort” to “tackle the endemic impunity” surrounding these cases.
Top news on Friday included: a call for respect for human rights in Sudan’s protests; the 25th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda; five years since the Chibok girls were abducted in Nigeria; the UN chief condemning a deadly terrorist attack in Pakistan; continued fighting in Libya’s capital; and an update on Colombia’s peace process.
A United Nations human rights team is to begin an official visit to Venezuela on Monday at the invitation of the Government, potentially paving the way for an official mission to Caracas by the UN’s top rights official, Michelle Bachelet.
Two years after the signing of the historic peace agreement in Colombia and following a recent escalation of violence, the newly-appointed representative of the United Nations in the country, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that its people have established a “broad consensus” against further conflict, before highlighting key steps to stabilize the nation.
