At Community of Caribbean and Latin American States Meeting, Secretary-General Praises Mechanism’s Focus on Reducing Inequality

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks as prepared for delivery to the meeting of the Community of Caribbean and Latin American States (CELAC), in New York today:

Es un honor participar en esta reunión de la CELAC.  Agradezco a los Gobiernos de la República Dominicana y del Ecuador la realización de la ceremonia de traspaso de la presidencia pro tempore de CELAC a nivel ministerial aquí, en la sede de las Naciones Unidas.

CELAC may be a relatively new international actor, but it is already an important one, representing more than 500 million people.

You have shown leadership on sustainable development, fighting inequality, combating climate change and tackling drug trafficking.  I would particularly like to commend your region’s solidarity with people in need — including your contributions to Haiti, your regional cooperation on humanitarian crises and your generosity in offering to host thousands of Syrian refugees.

I urge you to build on your record as humanitarians, and look to you to play a leading role in the World Humanitarian Summit that I am convening in Istanbul on 23 and 24 May.  Preventing and ending conflict will be a key theme in Istanbul.

I want to recognize and thank you for your efforts to support the peace process in Colombia, including the Special Declaration adopted at your recent summit in Quito.  Progress on the peace process in Colombia is critical for the whole region.

The United Nations welcomes your willingness to send observers to join the mission that will be responsible for monitoring and verifying the ceasefire.  We will continue to work with CELAC member States on requirements for the mission, as the negotiations evolve and a final agreement is signed.

As we look ahead, I invite your continued engagement and commitment in two priority areas.

First, implementation of the landmark 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

I thank CELAC Member States for your contributions to shaping the 2030 Agenda.  The thinking behind many of the Sustainable Development Goals dates back to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and was further refined at the Rio+20 summit.

I commend your focus on combating poverty and hunger, and reducing inequality — issues that remain challenges across the region.

Fighting global threats to health is an important element of the 2030 Agenda, and I welcome your fast collective action against the Zika virus.  Although we do not yet have a clear understanding of this virus, regional cooperation on best practices and strategies must clearly be part of the response.  The World Health Organization (WHO) launched its Global Strategic Response Framework this week and stands ready to support your efforts.

Second, some CELAC countries, like many others around the world, are dealing with major population movements and a growing refugee crisis.  Women and unaccompanied children are sometimes venturing thousands of kilometres to find safety from violence, criminality and abject poverty.

We need global solutions to deal with this extremely complex and multi-faceted global issue.  The United Nations stands ready to support national and regional efforts.  I count on you to engage in the search for solutions at the high-level summit on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants that I will convene in New York on 19 September.

CELAC plays an important role across the agenda of the United Nations.  I look forward to our continuing cooperation with CELAC to build a world of peace, development and human rights for all.