US ambassador to UN agencies

The US ambassador to the UN agencies based in Rome, Cindy McCain, begins her visit to Honduras on Wednesday, as part of a tour that included Guatemala and is focused on migration issues, among others.

On his way through Guatemala on Tuesday, McCain visited communities in the dry corridor of that nation, located in the departments of Chiquimula and Jalapa, where he was able to learn about the situation in the Central American country and the operation of the programs supported by the Organization of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Program (WFP)

The United States is one of the main donors of the programs implemented by United Nations agencies, which in addition to community development, seek to reduce irregular migration.

“One of the benefits, as a result of these programs, is the reduction of migration. When people are having access to food, education, development, they don’t see as much need to migrate,” McCain said, assuring that economic support from the United States will continue so that people don’t want to leave their homes and look for another country.

“My duty is to report everything I have seen and reach conclusions that allow us to improve some things, continue doing what we are doing and implement new actions,” the American diplomat told the Voice of America.

Resilience projects such as community gardens, machines to process and use rainwater, women’s businesses, as well as advice on school meals, training mothers about healthy eating and support for small farmers, were part of the activities that the ambassador McCain was able to verify and consult with the beneficiaries in the department of Chiquimula.

In the department of Jalapa, McCain accompanied one of the beneficiaries of the cash transfer program to buy in the local market, to understand the needs faced by the most vulnerable people and how the rise in prices in recent months has affected them.

“Guatemala is clearly a beautiful country and it is evident that it is quite rich in land as well as in people, but due to the increase in climate change and the increase in the prices of food and supplies, the people are suffering right now,” he said. McCain, after the experience. In addition, he lamented that the poorest people are the ones who are affected by the political circumstances of the world.

“We have to remember that the reason we’re in this situation is because the Russians launched an unnecessary war and now there are shortages of grain, fertilizer, oil supplies and that makes the situation more expensive,” McCain said.

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