Speaking on behalf of the secretary-general at a meeting in New York aimed at eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, UN disarmament chief Nakamitsu Izumi on Tuesday warned that military spending around the world continues to rise.
New conflicts put millions of people at risk and small arms and light weapons play a major role in these conflicts, she said.
Merchant of Death
In fact, “small arms are the leading cause of violent deaths around the world and are the weapon of choice in nearly half of all homicides worldwide.”
She said the situation was only going to get worse, with new developments in small arms manufacturing, technology and design, including 3D printing, making illegal production and trafficking of small arms increasingly widespread.
The Secretary-General's New Agenda for Peace policy brief recognizes the importance of small arms control in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and recommends strengthening regional, national and global control efforts on both the supply and demand sides.
Guterres called for bolder proposals to strengthen the agenda framework, particularly on new technologies, weapons-based repurposing, gender, and international cooperation and aid.
“A peaceful and sustainable future depends on addressing the threat of small arms and light weapons,” Nakamitsu said.
Relief plane arrives in Haiti
Two cargo planes arranged by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) have arrived in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, carrying 55 tons of medicines, shelter and hygiene supplies, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq announced on Tuesday. He told reporters in New York that the supplies would be used to help displaced people and prepare for hurricane season.
A WFP chartered cargo plane unloads 15 tons of badly needed medical supplies at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.
The Caribbean island nation has been rocked by gang-led violence and unrest, leading to a socio-economic crisis and political vacuum, but its newly appointed government, supported by the United Nations and partners, is trying to stabilise the humanitarian situation.
Millions of meals
Haq said WFP's school feeding programme has distributed about 30 million meals across the country since the start of the year, of which about 17 million have been provided through programmes supporting local farmers.
“As we have said before, the education sector has been severely affected by the recent violence, with more than 200,000 students and 4,000 teachers affected in the departments of Ouest and Artibonite. 39 schools across the capital have also been turned into evacuation centres and are no longer functioning.”
Since June 8, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Haiti's Ministry of Education have been running classes and courses in 30 centers in Port-au-Prince to make up for lessons that have had to be canceled over the past few months.
Huge difference in attitudes towards immigrants, asylum seekers: UNHCR
Although attitudes towards refugees have become tougher in some Western countries, three in four still believe that people fleeing war or persecution should be able to seek safety in other countries.
This is according to the results of a global survey released on Tuesday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on how asylum seekers and refugees are viewed in countries across the North and South.
A UNHCR poll conducted in partnership with Ipsos found that 73 percent of people across 52 countries agree that people should be able to seek refuge in another country, including their own.
But the data showed that support for providing shelter has fallen “in many countries” from high levels in 2022 in the aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Those surveyed in countries with a long tradition of hosting refugees, such as Uganda and Kenya, were generally optimistic about integrating refugees, but some major host countries and Western countries were “less positive”, the UN agency said.
UNHCR explained that while one in three people believe that refugees have a positive impact on their country's labour market, economy and culture, an equal number hold the opposite view.
The U.N. agency's survey also uncovered concerns about the impact of refugees on national security and public services, particularly in countries with large refugee populations, the U.N. agency said ahead of World Refugee Day on Thursday.
