21 September 2017 – United Nations officials today underscored the need for sustained international support for the humanitarian response in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, where millions are in need of emergency assistance.

“We can and must help the millions of people displaced by the crisis as well as those hosting the displaced across the beleaguered Lake Chad region,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock told participants at a ministerial event held on the margins of the General Assembly’s high-level session.

Mr. Lowcock, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, visited Niger and Nigeria earlier this month to raise the global profile of the Lake Chad Basin crisis, which is affecting some 17 million people in the region.

In Niger, the number of food-insecure people is around 1.8 million. Some 800,000 children are affected by acute malnutrition and almost 250,000 people are either internally displaced persons, returnees or refugees from Nigeria.

In northeast Nigeria, around 6.5 million people need life-saving assistance. Nearly 5.2 million are severely food-insecure and 450,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition, this year.

The $1.1 billion appeal for the country is currently only 48 per cent funded.

“Together, we have managed to avert famine, but we cannot pause or slow down. We must continue to step up so that the millions of people who are still just a step away from starvation are not allowed to perish,” said Mr. Lowcock.

Humanitarian needs likely to remain high

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed noted that for the past eight years, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria have suffered the horrendous consequences of the Boko Haram insurgency.

“Humanitarian needs will unfortunately remain high into next year and beyond. Sustained support is essential.”

The Deputy Secretary-General also noted that the crisis is “a powerful example” of the complex, multi-dimensional and interlinked challenges that the region faces, and shows why an integrated, comprehensive and coherent approach is needed to address the humanitarian-development nexus and its link to peace.

These challenges, she said, are driven by under-development, economic and political exclusion, environmental degradation linked to climate change, demographic shifts and structural fragility. Countries in the region are dealing with violent extremists at the same time as they are hit by economic recession and low oil prices.

“I myself grew up in Maiduguri in Nigeria – the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency,” she said. “I know better than anyone that no child is born a terrorist. Children and young people are indoctrinated and radicalized by circumstances, conditions and influences.

“Governments must act to address the root causes of violence, including the full spectrum of social, political, economic and religious grievances.”

She added that preventing crises requires investment in strengthening resilience and building the capacity of institutions and communities; investment in people and in social cohesion; reducing inequality and vulnerabilities; and expanding opportunities for all.

“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development is the best preventive tool we have,” she stated, referring to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by world leaders in 2015 to end poverty, reduce inequality and tackle climate change.

21 September 2017 – Addressing the United Nations General Assembly today, Jovenel Moise, President of Haiti, expressed deep commitment to the environmental targets in the global goals on sustainable development and said his island nation is seeking to build its resilience against the natural disasters and extreme weather events that consistently beleaguer its people and other countries in the Caribbean.

“My Government is committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change,” Mr. Moise told delegations gathered for the Assembly’s annual general debate, adding that he wished to see those countries most responsible for greenhouse gas production contribute the resources necessary for implementing that accord.

In the Caribbean, recent back-to-back extreme weather events had drawn attention to the ways in which climate affects Haiti. “Such weather phenomena are due to the impact of humans on the environment,” he stressed, and noted that in January 2018, when Haiti assumed the presidency of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), it would organize a regional conference aimed at establishing an inter-State commission that would devise a strategy for addressing climate issues, such as the availability of climate insurance.

More broadly, he said Haiti has taken steps to consolidate democracy and the rule of law, having made significant efforts to promote development and political stability. Noting that corruption has “infected” and eroded Haiti’s economy, and compromised its political situation, he said it is time that official development assistance (ODA) and domestic resources upheld the interests of the Haitian nation. In the meantime, Haiti’s new leaders are waging an unwavering struggle against corruption.

Addressing two phenomena stemming from the UN presence in Haiti – heinous sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers and other personnel, and the cholera epidemic – he said the Organization is morally obliged to provide the recourses to ensure that cholera left the country.

Improving Haiti’s health system, including by eradicating cholera, is a Government priority for his Despite some progress, the number of cholera victims stood at 10,000 people and continued to grow. Further, there were tens of thousands of cholera orphans. The United Nations must live by and give tangible form to its noble ideals, including the announced ‘new approach’ to dealing with cholera, he stressed, by shouldering all its responsibilities to remedy the situation, which had caused grave harm to the Haitian people.

Full statement (in French) available here

21 September 2017 – As the high-level segment of the United Nations General Assembly continued today, Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus, spoke extensively about multilateralism as the only way to preserve the planet; peacefully resolve conflicts; end terrorism and extremism; prevent natural disasters and alleviate humanitarian crises around the world.

Only collective efforts can address crises “like the current one with North Korea, which threatens […] the peace and security architecture of the region and beyond,” he stated. Mr. Anastasiades also pointed to international, multilateral cooperation as being vital in dealing with terrorism, while also calling “education, dialogue, economic growth and social inclusion” essential to prevent and counter violent extremism within societies.

Enhancing societal resilience is a key aspect of multilateral endeavours he said, telling the Assembly “our determination to implement the 2030 Agenda must remain high on our list of priorities, sustainable development is at the heart of dealing with the root causes of forced migration.”

The President also pointed to the need for “a just, effective and efficient global governance system,” for which Cyprus is in accord with the Secretary-General’s reform priorities to ensure that multilateralism remains relevant and effective.

Mr. Anastasiades stated Cyprus’ opinion that “the most vital pillar to achieving inter-State, regional and global peace is through respecting and ensuring the full and unhindered independency, territorial integrity and sovereignty” of each UN Member State as the only way to avoid inter-State conflicts that, in turn, establish conditions for protracted destabilization, violence and uncertainty.

Turning to matters closer to home and the recent UN-facilitated negotiations on Cyprus, he stressed that the vision of the people of Cyprus is on ending the unacceptable status quo and establishing a federal state which would ensure to the generations of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, conditions of stability for a safe, prosperous and peaceful future.

“A State free from any foreign interventions and dependencies; ‘a normal state,’ as the UN Secretary-General very correctly stated. A State led by Cypriots for Cypriots,” he said, urging Turkey and Turkish Cypriot compatriots to realize that it is only through mutual respect and compromises “and not obsolete fixations to failed practices that we will achieve a viable and lasting settlement.”

Full statement available here

21 September 2017 – The United Nations must play a more active role in resolving the crisis posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear and missile programmes, both by promoting dialogue and through sanctions, Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in told world leaders today.

“The most important role the United Nations is asked to play today is to come up with fundamental measures to stop the vicious cycle of increased provocations and heightened sanctions,” he told the General Assembly’s 72nd general debate, stressing the need for a political solution to what UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called ‘most dangerous crisis we face today.’

“In the wake of the (recent sixth) nuclear test, the Korean Government has made enhanced efforts to convince countries in the region and beyond of the necessity for stronger sanctions and pressure to make North Korea stop its provocations and choose the path of dialogue,” Mr. Moon said, vowing that his country seeks neither the DPRK’s collapse nor unification by absorption.

Calling on his northern neighbour to “cease making reckless choices that could lead to its own isolation and downfall and choose the path of dialogue” by abandoning its hostile policies against other countries and giving up its nuclear weapons programme, he held out the prospect of a new economic era for the Korean peninsula.

“The spirit of the United Nations is to realize global peace through multilateral dialogue,” he said. “The Korean Peninsula is where that spirit is most desperately needed. The realization of peace is the issue for which the United Nations was created, for which it is aiming and which it is in the process of achieving. We need the United Nations to play a more active role on the Korean Peninsula.

Highlighting the need to prevent the outbreak of war, Mr. Moon called for “stable” management of the situation “so that tensions will not become overly intensified or accidental military clashes will not destroy peace.”

Full statement available here

21 September 2017 – Kicking off the third day of the high-level segment of the United Nations General Assembly, Aleksandar Vucic, the President of Serbia, drew attention to the future of the Western Balkans region – with a focus on how to preserve peace and ensure prosperity.

Mr. Vucic said that while Serbia does not recognize “the unilateral declaration of independence of the so-called Kosovo,” he would not speak about disrespect for his country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, but instead about Serbia’s efforts to resolve the problem because “peace and reconciliation are more important than gaining easy political points.”

Noting his country’s commitment to responsible fiscal practices, he laid out a list of its achievements that included a decrease in unemployment, a new flexible labour market and its investment in it youth. “Digitalization and artificial intelligence are becoming important topics in Serbia and not only in the most developed countries of the world,” the President explained.

A better and improved economy is also a priority for the region, including Serbia. Mr. Vucic stressed that Serbs are eager to continue with economic reforms along with the creation of the Regional Economic Zone. Telling the Assembly that the former Yugoslavia is a respected market that attracts investors and international attention, he pointed out that today, the regional countries are too small as individual markets, but he believed that “unique customs zone and taxation system is the future of the region.”

As part of Serbia’s economic progress, the President also underscored the importance of its becoming a member of the European Union. Calling the EU Serbia’s “most important trade and investment partner,” he elaborated that membership is seen as “a path towards greater stability, economic progress and strengthening democracy acquis.”

Full statement available here