Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
UN80
Gaza
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Yemen
South Sudan
Sudan
Mozambique
Ukraine
Haiti
Carbon Dioxide Levels
International Day of Rural Women
UN80
This morning, the Secretary-General briefed the General Assembly on the progress of the three workstreams of his UN80 initiative. Taken together, he told the Member States, the measures of the three workstreams will produce a much more coherent, impactful, and cost-effective UN system as a whole.
The Secretary-General focused on the third workstream on structural changes, which was detailed in his recent report, “Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver.”
He said that his vision for the United Nations system is clear: Entities that work together as one to deliver better, overcoming fragmentation, eliminating duplication, improving funding models and maximizing synergies.
Regarding peace and security work, he said he proposes to consolidate and reconfigure teams at Headquarters, as well as special political missions in Yemen, Cyprus and Central Africa, to eliminate duplication and increase coherence in our support to Member States.
He warned that humanitarian action is on the brink of collapse.
To respond to challenges, he said that we have established a New Humanitarian Compact between UN humanitarian agencies, which is a six-point blueprint to deliver better, restore trust in multilateral action and maximize the impact of every dollar that is given to the UN.
He said we will cut coordination bureaucracy, integrate the supply chains of the principal humanitarian agencies, propose to scale up the use of common services, strengthen our joint capacities to leverage data and align responsibilities to reduce programmatic overlaps in the fields of food, mobility, beneficiary data, health and nutrition.
On development work, Mr. Guterres said that we propose to conduct a thorough assessment of the potential benefits of a merger between United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), to create a stronger engine for sustainable development, with greater reach and scale. Similarly, we will conduct a thorough assessment on the benefits of a merger of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Women and their respective mandates and capacities.
GAZA
In a statement issued today, Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that earlier this week, the UN was able to kick off our humanitarian scale-up after months of frustration and blockages, but yesterday, the UN has faced further setbacks to that implementation, adding that the UN is now tested to see whether it can ensure that these do not prevent the progress on which President Trump, the UN Secretary-General and so many leaders have insisted.
As Hamas have agreed, they must make strenuous efforts to return the bodies of all deceased hostages. The UN is gravely concerned by the evidence of violence against civilians in Gaza that we are witnessing since the ceasefire took effect.
As Israel has agreed, Mr. Fletcher added, they must allow the massive surge of humanitarian aid, thousands of trucks a week, on which so many lives depend, and on which the world has insisted. We need more crossings to be open and a genuine, practical, problem-solving approach to removing the remaining roadblocks, being physical or bureaucratic. Throughout this crisis, he said, the UN has insisted that withholding aid from civilians can never be a bargaining chip.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that they are trucking water and supporting wells and desalination to reach 1.5 million people in Gaza, noting that the needs remain immense. UN partners are also supporting the production or delivery of hundreds of thousands of meals and bread bundles every day.
Full Highlights
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=15%20October%202025