Cuba

Angela Merkel, the former Chancellor of Germany, was announced today as the recipient of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) 2022 Nansen Refugee Award. The award is given to an individual, group or organization that has worked to protect refugees, internally displaced or stateless people.

The United Nations has been stepping up efforts in Cabo Verde to support authorities to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Across three islands, the Organization has supported the creation of 1,000 jobs in 24 rural communities.

In Cuba, the United Nations took part in the consultation process to make reforms to the country’s Family Code. Almost 75 per cent of Cubans voted on 25 September in a referendum on the diversity of families, affection and solidarity as key social values and strengthening the protection of a host of vulnerable groups.

Today marks five years since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force. The Convention protects human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) administers the agreement, which has 137 parties.

A United Nations-chartered vessel carrying the first shipment of humanitarian food under the Black Sea Grain Initiative is expected to berth soon at Ukraine’s Yuzhny (Pivdennyi) port to collect Ukrainian wheat purchased by the World Food Programme in support of the drought-stricken Horn of Africa where there is risk of famine.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic deployed a rapid reaction force near Ndélé, Bamingui-Bangoran Prefecture, to protect civilians amid reports of possible attacks by armed groups. The Mission continues to reinforce community protection, including in Ouadda-Djallé, Vakaga Prefecture, through early warning training.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today launched an appeal for $10.7 million to deliver life-saving health care in the next six months to over 2 million women and girls in Sri Lanka, where the health system risks collapsing amid debilitating power shortages and a lack of critical supplies and equipment.

The General Assembly today adopted a decision on the “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”.

In Yemen, the United Nations and partners continue to provide life-saving aid to thousands of civilians on both sides of the front lines in Ma’rib, Al Bayda and Shabwah since fighting escalated in these governorates in September, amid calls by the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, for de-escalation.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution addressing the decades-long United States embargo against Cuba, as delegates called for an immediate end to the sanctions, particularly amid global efforts to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.