Armenia’s Permanent Mission to UN urges international community to ensure fundamental human rights of Artsakh people

Araksya Babikyan, Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN, has addressed the problems of displaced Artsakh Armenians at the UN Sustainable Development Goals summit.

“The sustainable development is significantly impacted, when we face the socio-economic, humanitarian consequences of use of force, economic and other forms of coercion in the region. As a result of the latest military aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, more than 100.000 people have been ethnically cleansed were forced to leave their homes finding refuge in Armenia. Mass displacement of the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia necessitates imminent humanitarian response and resource mobilization. Threats to regional peace and security directly undermine the efforts to promote sustainable development and well-being for the people in the region.

The unfolding situation requires an immediate and practical action from the international community, relevant humanitarian organizations, the UN with its specialized agencies to alleviate the continuous hardships, deprivation and suffering of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The UN needs to mobilize the capacities of the international community to address the life-saving, protection and early recovery needs of the refugees and ensure their fundamental human rights, including the right of safe and dignified return to their ancestral homeland,” Babikyan has said.

In her speech, Araksya Babikyan has noted that many developing countries continue to bear the dire consequences of the climate change and the lack of the sufficient climate financing severely constrains the development aspirations of the vulnerable countries. She has stressed that “Armenia remains committed to Paris Agreement and has set the target of a 40% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030 and reach net zero goal by 2050.”

Babikyan has also assured that Armenia remains strongly committed to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda prioritizing the promotion of inclusive, equitable and quality education, ensuring a universal, affordable, accessible, and quality healthcare system resilient to pandemics, and strengthening the capacities of social protection service to address the needs of the most vulnerable, including children, elderly, women and persons with disabilities.