Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Priorities
Secretary-General/Trip Announcement
Deputy Secretary-General Travel
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Syria
Sudan
Security Council
Honour Roll
PRIORITIES
António Guterres this morning presented to the General Assembly his priorities during his last year as UN Secretary-General, and he assured the Member States that he will make every day of 2026 count. He said that he is fully committed and fully determined to keep working, to keep fighting and to keep pushing for the better world that we know is possible.
The Secretary-General said that we are a world brimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability. But even in this turbulence, he added, we have succeeded in claiming space for the United Nations where it was not a given, including in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to financing for development and climate change.
He noted that the UN80 Initiative he has presented is about building a UN system that delivers more effectively, more coherently and with greater impact, amid the reality of shrinking resources and rising needs. But he warned that today’s situation is totally unsustainable. Either all countries, without exception, honour their financial obligations under the Charter, which no longer seems to be the case. Or Member States must overhaul our financial rules to prevent a budget breakdown.
The Secretary-General outlined three basic priorities for the year ahead. First, he said, we must adhere to the UN Charter, fully and faithfully. He reiterated that the Charter is not an à la carte menu, it is prix fixe.
Second, he said, we must be relentless in our work for peace with justice, peace between nations and peace with nature. He noted, among others, the efforts to push forward with peace processes in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.
And last, he said, our priority must be to build unity in an age of division. Our challenge, and our priority, must be to build welcoming societies, not walled-off citadels. Instead of marginalizing migrants and other groups, we must build united societies in a world of united nations, the Secretary-General said.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
This evening, the Secretary-General will travel to London, where he will take part in a special event, organized by UNA-UK, the UN Association in the United Kingdom, to mark the 80th anniversary of the first meeting of the General Assembly.
On Saturday, the programme will begin with a civic service by Methodist Central Hall Westminster. Shortly after, Mr. Guterres will deliver the keynote address at the UNA-UK conference, entitled, “UNGA at 80: From 1946 to Our Future”. You will recall that Central Hall is where the first meeting of the General Assembly took place in 1946. In his remarks, he will say that the General Assembly is the parliament of the family of nations. But it is also a mirror of our world, its divisions and its hopes.
Mr. Guterres is expected to add that as we face challenges that are ever more borderless and interconnected, the only way to address them is together. And that requires a robust, responsive and well-resourced multilateral system.
The Secretary-General will express his gratitude to the United Kingdom for being such a strong pillar of multilateralism, and his appreciation to UNA-UK and to civil society for honouring history with their eyes firmly fixed on the future.
While in London, the Secretary-General will hold a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer. That meeting will take place tomorrow, and you can expect a readout. He is also scheduled to meet the Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, on Saturday.
After London, the Secretary-General will arrive in Switzerland on Sunday for two main engagements. He will attend the annual retreat with his Special and Personal Representatives and Envoys.
He will then travel to Davos to participate in the World Economic Forum, where on Wednesday, 21 January, the Secretary-General will deliver a special address focusing on “Dialogue,” as the Forum’s 56th Annual Meeting takes place under the theme A Spirit of Dialogue. He is expected to outline four priorities: investing in peace amid record global conflicts; advancing justice and opportunity by tackling extreme inequality and reforming the global financial system; securing a livable planet through accelerated climate action; and ensuring that technology, particularly AI, serves humanity through global governance and capacity-building.
While in Davos, Mr. Guterres is also scheduled to have bilateral meetings with leaders attending the Forum.
He will be back in the office on Thursday morning.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-01-15