Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
Secretary-General/Travels
Secretary-General/Washington
Lebanon
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Ukraine
Sudan
Abyei
MONUSCO

SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS

This morning, the Secretary-General arrived in The Hague to participate in the commemoration of the eightieth anniversary of the International Court of Justice, which will take place tomorrow at the Peace Palace.

This afternoon, the Secretary-General met with the Mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen.

Afterward, the Secretary-General said that he couldn’t be in The Hague in a better moment, as we mark the 80th anniversary of the International Court of Justice that is the fundamental pillar of the international justice system.

He added that “this is a difficult moment, a moment in which international law has been putting into question by many.” He said that lawlessness brings chaos and destruction, and so it is very important to reaffirm the primacy of international law, and to reaffirm that the force of the law must prevail over the law of the force.

Tomorrow, apart from addressing a Solemn Sitting of the ICJ, the Secretary-General is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister and Minister for General Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten, and with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Tom Berendsen. He will also meet the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands and with Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/WASHINGTON

Yesterday afternoon in Washington, the Secretary-General joined World Bank President Ajay Banga at the closing of the Bank’s Water Forward Initiative. He told participants that the UN fully supports the Bank’s initiative and added that no strategy for development is sustainable if water is not an essential part of that strategy. It is totally unacceptable, he said, that access to water is not considered a basic human right. 

Mr. Guterres called on governments to show the political will to engage in bilateral or multilateral dialogue to manage water crises, which can, all too often, be drivers of conflict.  

The Secretary-General then helped launch the Borrowers’ Platform, which he called a historic breakthrough to address deep inequities in the global financial and debt architecture. He said borrower countries have long lacked a space comparable to creditor coordination forums.

The Platform will allow borrowing countries to sit together, share experience, build technical capacity and speak with a collective voice. The Secretary-General stressed that changing power relations is essential to achieving a fairer, more inclusive international financial system, noting the central role of UNCTAD as its secretariat.

While in Washington, the Secretary-General met with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, and also with the Finance Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Aurangzeb. The Secretary-General and the Finance Minister discussed the recently-launched platform. The Secretary-General took the opportunity to once again thank Pakistan for its effort in helping to resolve the current conflict in the Middle East. 

Full Highlight: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-04-16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPJWL-KoSAs

Source: United Nations (video statements)

For 80 years, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has served as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, helping to settle legal disputes between States in accordance with international law.

The Court has addressed issues including territorial disputes, the use of force, and the interpretation of international conventions, including cases involving allegations of genocide.

Today, the Court is also being asked to clarify legal obligations related to global challenges such as climate change.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KUzC0xOxtQs

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Briefing by Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), on the situation in the Great Lakes Region.

Bahous said that peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will only be secured when women are treated not as “spoils of war” but as empowered agents of stability, accountability and peace.

She also asked the Council to protect the peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, and “its critical mandate in the DRC. And recall the hundreds of trials against perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence. Recall the women activists and human rights defenders who have enjoyed MONUSCO’s protection.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ore2vy2vdKU

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Peacekeeping Chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix**UN Peacekeeping Chief Warns Budget Cuts Threaten Missions and Personnel Safety** told the Security Council that Peacekeeping “must remain adaptable and accountable,” and stressed that budgetary cuts are creating “major constraints on the ability of the missions to implement their political and protection of civilian mandates, as well as to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel.”

Lacroix, addressing the annual briefing from the heads of military components of UN peacekeeping operations, said UN peacekeeping “is and remains a useful political tool, used by the international community to help parties to put an end to armed conflict and move towards lasting peace.”

He said, “prioritized and focused mandates from this Council that are adequately resourced and can be recalibrated to evolving needs and situations should be the starting point,” and pointed out that troop and police contributing countries “are the backbone of our missions.”

Lacroix said, “their perspectives must be regularly included in mandate design and implementation.”

He noted that peacekeeping operations “have faced significant financial challenges of the past year, necessitating the implementation of stringent contingency measures,” and said, “this impact will be felt over an extended period of time.”

For instance, Lacroix said the closure of bases has reduced the United Nations in South Sudan’s (UNMISS’) “situational awareness, early warning capabilities, and community reassurance, creating blind spots, limiting proactive intervention and timely deployment to hotspots.”

“Now, more than ever,” he said, “it is essential that the Council provides strong, coherent and consistent support not only to peacekeeping operations themselves, but also to the political efforts that there are designed to enable and sustain.”

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic
(MINUSCA) Force Commander, Lieutenant General Humphrey Nyone, said the mission has “played a critical role in supporting the Central African Republic’s general elections on 28th December 2025 by working alongside the National Defence and Security Forces to maintain security, protect civilians and electoral staff and ensure safe polling conditions through joint patrols. “

Despite “limited troop numbers and the challenging environment,” Nyone said, “most polling stations operated smoothly” during the general elections, and the force “is now preparing to provide similar support for the second round of local elections on 26th April 2026.”

For his part, the Force Commander and Acting Head of Misson at the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), Major General Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, said, “Abyei today is not at war, but neither is it at peace. With the rapidly increasing presence of unauthorized armed actors exerting pressure on mandate implementation within the Abyei box and in JBVMM areas. Continued political engagement by the parties backed by the Council’s support for UNISFA remains critical to preserving stability and advancing a durable solution.”

The 2026 Heads of Military Components Conference (HoMCC) is taking place from 13 to 17 April at UN Headquarters in New York, focusing on the theme: “Future-Ready Peacekeeping: Reshaping to Achieve Mission Impact.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f7Ld6QWZ4E