Costa Rica condemns global silence on humanitarian crises at UNGA
Costa Rica has sharply criticised what it calls the international community’s “silence and delay” in addressing humanitarian crises, warning that inaction fuels human suffering and global insecurity.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Arnoldo André said more than 300 million people worldwide are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance (UN OCHA, 2024). He cited Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine as emblematic of the devastating consequences of stalled responses.
“In Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti, we see the consequences of arriving late,” André said, pointing to mass displacement and human rights abuses in Latin America and the Caribbean. “We could have acted in time; we could have prevented the repeated and systematic violation of human rights and the exodus of millions of people who today seek refuge and other forms of international protection, and we did not.”
André accused world powers of lacking political will rather than financial resources, calling humanitarian aid “the price we pay for not taking timely preventive action.” He urged countries to strengthen real-time information-sharing, harmonise regulatory frameworks, and coordinate regional responses to prevent future crises, according to The Tico Times newspaper.
Costa Rica, long recognised for its role in regional peace and human rights advocacy, linked Latin America’s instability to broader global security concerns. André warned that migration corridors across the Americas are being exploited by organised crime and drug trafficking, compounding humanitarian pressures.
The foreign minister also expanded his appeal to global challenges, calling for the “complete, verifiable, and irreversible elimination” of nuclear weapons, warning that the risk of nuclear conflict is at its highest in decades and the urgent collective action on the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, including advancing energy transitions, ocean protection, and finalising a global plastics treaty.
Costa Rica's intervention highlights an escalating frustration among small and mid-sized nations regarding the perceived inability of larger powers to respond decisively to both regional and global crises.
“Humanitarian security requires shared responsibility and coordinated action to preserve the stability our peoples deserve,” André said.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
