Human rights

In Somalia, the United Nations and the Government have just unveiled a revamped multi-donor trust fund in support of the country’s development priorities. The Somalia Joint Fund will provide flexible funding to address key challenges facing the country and its people.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, observed on 17 May:

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

Closing its twenty-second session this afternoon, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues sent three draft decisions to the Economic and Social Council for formal adoption as it approved several recommendations on this year’s priority theme, “Indigenous Peoples, human health, planetary and territorial health and climate change: a rights-based approach”.

Calls for Indigenous Peoples’ full inclusion took centre stage once again as the Permanent Forum today continued its twenty-second session, with speakers underscoring their need to ensure their full participation in realizing the Forum’s six mandated points, including their social and economic development and the preservation of their culture and languages, as well as their environment.

The Resident Coordinator in Haiti today signed with host authorities the five-year United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework — a road map to boost sustainable development and address the root causes of instability.

Calling attention to the myriad challenges, violations and injustices faced by their communities, speakers stressed that the rights of Indigenous Peoples cannot be realized without their full, meaningful representation and participation in decision-making processes at all levels affecting their territories, governance and families, as the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues continued its twenty-second session with a day-long discussion on the human rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the opening ceremony of the twenty-second session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, in New York today:

The knowledge and insight of Indigenous People must be harnessed to address the global climate crisis, speakers told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today, as it opened its twenty-second session amidst observations that such People’s participation must be enhanced, and their rights protected if the international community is to enjoy the benefit of their custodial experience in tackling these existential challenges.

A World Food Programme (WFP)-chartered vessel berthed today in Al Salif port in Hudaydah, carrying 30,000 metric tons of wheat to support humanitarian assistance in Yemen, where approximately 85,000 tons of wheat is needed each month. Continued donor support has so far kept famine at bay, according to WFP.