El Salvador

The United Nations Refugee Agency today welcomed recent actions taken by several European countries to collectively end a stand-off on the Mediterranean, where some 450 refugees and migrants had been stranded at sea amid a battle over disembarkation.  France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Spain and Portugal have agreed to land the ships and share the processing of these people.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United Nations refugee agency evacuated 74 refugees, mostly children and women, from Libya to Niger.  In the Central African Republic, voluntary repatriation of Sudanese refugees has begun; since Tuesday, 230 refugees have arrived in Sudan.  Agency-chartered flights will bring some 1,500 refugees home by the end of 2017.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report having noted an increase in murders and threats against human rights defenders and community leaders in the country’s Pacific Coast region.  In most cases, the victims are from indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

The new Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations, Ruben Armando Escalante Hasbun, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today that funding shortfalls are threatening education for millions of children caught up in conflicts or disasters.  Of the $932 million needed this year for its education programmes in emergency countries, it has so far received recorded voluntary contributions of less than $115 million.

United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix is expected shortly in Bangui, Central African Republic, where he will participate in a memorial ceremony for the five peacekeepers killed during the attack in Bangassou this week, joining the President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and Cabinet members.

A report published today by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the United Nations Human Rights Office details grave human rights abuses as well as serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Juba during and after the fighting that occurred between 8 and 12 July 2016.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message, delivered by Miroslav Jenca, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Salvadorian Peace Accords, in New York today:

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Benito Andión of Mexico as his Special Envoy to facilitate dialogue in El Salvador.  The new facilitator has the mandate to facilitate dialogue among Salvadorians and to address the key challenges affecting their country.