Costa Rica

In Lebanon, United Nations peacekeeping personnel report an escalation in the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line in recent days. Several fatalities were reported following Israeli strikes. At least five people were reported to have been killed in Sector West-Khirbet Silim on 9 March, and another person in Baalbek on 11 March.

The UN team in Costa Rica is presenting a “Preparedness and Response Plan for People in Transit” to partners this week, which aims to boost assistance to vulnerable refugees and migrants. Over 500,000 people entered Costa Rica from Panama in 2023 — more than double the number of those who did so in 2022.

The Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide expressed concern over the ongoing situation in the South Caucasus, in which it is reported that tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians have left the area for Armenia in the span of just a few days. All efforts must be made to ensure their protection and human rights.

In Costa Rica, Resident Coordinator Allegra Baiocchi and the UN Team launched a new guide addressing online hate speech against women in politics, ahead of the country’s local elections scheduled to take place in February 2024. Online hate crime specifically targeting women jumped 72 per cent in the past year.

The World Health Organization announced today that 12 countries across different regions in Africa are set to receive 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine over the next two years. The roll-out is a critical step forward in the fight against one of the leading causes of death on the continent.

Costa Rica will be the first country in Latin America to have a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, having concluded a Government agreement with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on an ethical approach supportive of human rights.

The new Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations, Maritza Chan Valverde, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

In Yemen, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that aid agencies remain concerned that the humanitarian crisis there will deteriorate sharply in the coming months largely due to economic problems, including a weaker currency and higher prices due to the Ukraine war.

Some 175,000 people in Ethiopia have been displaced from their homes due to the drought ravaging the Horn of Africa, and over 1.5 million cows and other livestock are estimated to have died, humanitarian affairs officials say.  The drought also displaced 670,000 men, women and children in neighbouring Somalia.

In Myanmar, the United Nations country team there remains deeply concerned over increasing internal displacement and more people needing humanitarian assistance as a result of conflict, political instability and COVID-19 since the military takeover on 1 February.