Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Guests Today and Tomorrow
Hate Speech
Peacekeeping
Syria/Security Council
Lebanon
Yemen
Djibouti
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Ukraine
Abyei
South Africa
Reprisals
Water Resources
World Patient Safety Day
Nicholas Haysom Memorial
Financial Contribution
GUESTS TODAY AND TOMORROW
Sarah Hendricks, Director of Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division at UN Women, and Shantanu Mukherjee, the Acting Director of the Statistics Division in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, will be briefing on the launch of the Gender Snapshot Report 2026.
Tomorrow, David Nanopoulos, Head of the Treaty Section of the Office of Legal Affairs, will brief on the annual Treaty Event. This year’s event, entitled "Promoting Multilateral Treaties, Safeguarding Humanity," will take place during the high-level week, from 22 to 25 September.
HATE SPEECH
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at an event at the Global Conference on Countering Hate Speech, saying that the toxic message of hate speech is spreading fast and striking deep. It is taking on new forms, finding new pathways, and weaponizing new technologies. And this is from digital platforms to algorithms to artificial intelligence.
The Secretary-General said we must raise our collective voice and reject hatred, and we must redouble our efforts to tackle hate speech online and offline. Reining in hate speech does not mean extinguishing freedom of expression, he said, but freedom of expression must never be an excuse for causing and compounding harm. The Secretary-General noted that the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech is grounded in international human rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
This afternoon at 4:30 p.m., the Secretary-General will speak at the launch of the UN System Data Commons, which creates a one-stop shop enabling easier public access to data and statistics from throughout the UN system. Twenty-six UN entities are joining forces to create a single gateway to their public data and statistics.
Almost 44 million data points are to be made available on the new platform today.
USG LACROIX TRAVEL
Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, has concluded his latest travel, which included visits to the Kyrgyz Republic and China. In the Kyrgyz Republic, he discussed peacekeeping issues with governmental authorities ahead of the country’s upcoming membership in the Security Council. The Kyrgyz Republic has long been a contributor to peacekeeping, dating back shortly after its independence, which was 35 years ago.
Then he traveled to Beijing, where he participated in the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, focused on international security and security governance. China is the second largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping and supports the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund and currently deploys more than 1,600 peacekeepers throughout UN missions. Mr. Lacroix is now safely back in New York.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-09-17