The United Nations was deeply involved in the search for peace in Central America, whose long and bitter armed conflicts were brought to end in the 1990s. U.N. observers monitored the landmark 1990 elections in Nicaragua. U.N. envoys helped forge landmark peace agreements in El Salvador and Guatemala, and in both countries U.N. field missions managed by the Department of Political Affairs verified the implementation of the accords.

The intensive political phase of U.N. involvement is now over. But the United Nations remains engaged in Central America, working with governments and civil society to ensure that peace is consolidated. DPA works with UNDP and U.N. Country Teams in Central America in ensuring that U.N. assistance programs support peace-building objectives.

With organized crime a mounting concern around the region, DPA coordinated U.N. efforts to establish the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), following the Guatemalan Government’s request for assistance. CICIG aims to investigate illegal security groups and clandestine security organizations in that country, (Click for the English or Spanish version of the agreement reached between the United Nations and the Government of Guatemala in December 2006).

Following the closure in 2004 of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) after ten years in the country, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights established a presence in Guatemala in July 2005. The office has a mandate to observe developments in human rights and to provide advice and training to Government bodies, other State institutions and civil society organizations.

Although Central America has taken great strides forward, the region is traversing a difficult period, compounded by external factors including natural disasters. (Click here for the last Secretary-General’s Report on the Situation in Central America). Central American Governments face the challenge of strengthening democratic institutions and consolidating human-rights gains; the United Nations will continue to accompany their efforts to fashion a region where democracy and sustainable development prevail.