26 Countries Call for Lifting of Unilateral Coercive Measures

On Wednesday, Dai Bing, the charge d'affaires at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, made a joint statement at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), on behalf of 25 countries, calling for the immediate and complete lifting of unilateral coercive measures.

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"The world is facing interlocking global challenges with developing countries disproportionately affected. A true, effective and functional multilateral system based on international solidarity, unity and cooperation is urgently needed more than ever, he said.

And yet, despite the grave hardships and challenges, developing countries and their populations continue to fall victim to unilateral coercive measures, which run counter to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, Dai added. 

Regrettably, despite the global call to urgently lift unilateral coercive measures, the imposition of these illegal measures continues to cause devastating, sometimes even life-threatening consequences, to targeted countries and their peoples.

Unilateral coercive measures exacerbate existing humanitarian and economic challenges, result in lack of access to essential goods and services such as food, medicine, safe drinking water, fuel and electricity, and negatively affect the enjoyment of human rights, including the right to health and the right to life.

"We reaffirm our opposition to unilateral coercive measures and call on imposing states to immediately and completely cease such practice... Current circumstance calls for solidarity and unity rather than confrontation and division, to address global challenges and promote and protect human rights for all," Dai stressed.

The statement addressed to the UNGA was signed by Antigua & Barbuda, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, China, Cuba, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Laos, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.