Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United Nations (video statements)

“In the past week alone, three massive waves of Russian aerial strikes targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, further raising the alarming civilian death toll and widening the destruction,” UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council.

Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs DiCarlo briefed the Security Council (9 Jul) on the situation in Ukraine, warning that recent attacks had left a “devastating” toll on civilians.

“These attacks show a clear pattern. They targeted urban centers with large civilian populations and destroyed or severely damaged residential buildings, with devastating consequences for the people living there. We condemn these attacks in the strongest terms,” she said.

DiCarlo noted that Ukraine had also continued drone attacks inside the Russian Federation, targeting oil, industrial and military infrastructure. “Some of these attacks have reportedly resulted in civilian casualties and damage to civilian, including residential, infrastructure,” she said.

She told Council members that since the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UN Human Rights Office had verified that at least 16,402 civilians, including 802 children, had been killed in Ukraine, while 548,428 civilians, including 2,948 children, had been injured.

“Russian authorities have reported that 250 civilians were killed and 1,596 injured in the Russian Federation in the first six months of 2026. The United Nations is not in a position to verify these reports,” she added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF6jQWQcKK0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
– Commemoration of Genocide in Srebrenica
– Civil Society Special Event on UN80 Initiative
– DOS
– Lebanon/Israel
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Sudan/Personal Envoy
– Ebola
– Uganda
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Venezuela
– Security Council
– Haiti

COMMEMORATION OF GENOCIDE IN SREBRENICA

This morning in the General Assembly, Courteney Rattray, the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet, delivered an address on behalf of the Secretary-General at the observance of the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

The day, as you know, honours the over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, many who had sought refuge in a UN compound, who were killed during the genocide in 1995, as well as the thousands of women, children and older persons who were forcibly displaced.

The Secretary-General called on Member States to pursue accountability for the atrocities in Srebrenica and to take action against genocide and its warning signs, including the rise in hate speech that is fuelling discrimination, division and extremism globally.

And as a reminder, the International Day itself is marked on 11 July, which is Saturday. Our UN team in Bosnia and Herzegovina will participate in those events.

CIVIL SOCIETY SPECIAL EVENT ON UN80 INITIATIVE

This afternoon, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at a civil society special event on the UN80 initiative.

In his remarks, he is expected to tell participants that UN80 is vital to our ability to succeed in an age of profound instability. The challenges we face are complex, but they point to a simple truth: and that is that the United Nations can only deliver on its promise if we dare to evolve.

The Secretary-General will also highlight that UN80 will only succeed if it strengthens our ability to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, implement the Pact for the Future and work in partnership with civil society.

DOS

The Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Atul Khare, will be heading to Tokyo from 13 to 17 July, then Seoul from 20 to 21 July, and Beijing from 22 to 24 July. During the visit, he will meet with senior government officials to discuss operational support priorities for United Nations field missions, including capacity-building for troop- and police-contributing countries through the Triangular Partnership Programme, support for uniformed peacekeepers, mission transitions and UN80-related reforms and initiatives.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-07-09

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rdzdNhFXVI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

They survived the Srebrenica genocide. Today, they keep its memory – working as curators and archivists at the memorial built on the site of the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.

In July 1995, over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered by Bosnian Serb forces at Srebrenica, in a town the UN Security Council had declared a safe area. International courts have ruled it a genocide.

Three decades on, "The Memory Keepers of Srebrenica" follows three survivors who returned to work at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center, built on the grounds of the former UN base where thousands once sought refuge.

Their work of remembrance now confronts a rising tide of denial – described as the final stage of genocide itself. Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, reflects on why justice is a precondition for reconciliation, and why the facts, once proven, must be kept.

The film was produced with the The Srebrenica Genocide and the United Nations Outreach Programme, which works to preserve the judicially established facts of the genocide, counter denial, and support remembrance and education for new generations.

Released for the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, 11 July:

https://www.un.org/en/observances/srebrenica-genocide-commemoration-day

00:00 Surviving the genocide
01:00 Working at the Memorial
02:51 The checkpoint at Potočari
03:12 Coming back to stay close to the dead
04:07 Judge Gatti Santana on justice and truth
05:12 The belongings from the mass graves
05:56 Denial — and what comes after it
06:54 Teaching the warning signs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK060SfOAC4

Source: United Nations (video statements)

They survived the Srebrenica genocide. Today, they keep its memory – working as curators and archivists at the memorial built on the site of the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.

In July 1995, over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered by Bosnian Serb forces at Srebrenica, in an town the UN Security Council had declared a safe area. International courts have ruled it a genocide.

Three decades on, "The Memory Keepers of Srebrenica" follows three survivors who returned to work at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center, built on the grounds of the former UN base where thousands once sought refuge.

Their work of remembrance now confronts a rising tide of denial – described as the final stage of genocide itself. Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, reflects on why justice is a precondition for reconciliation, and why the facts, once proven, must be kept.

The film was produced with the The Srebrenica Genocide and the United Nations Outreach Programme, which works to preserve the judicially established facts of the genocide, counter denial, and support remembrance and education for new generations.

Released for the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, 11 July:

https://www.un.org/en/observances/srebrenica-genocide-commemoration-day

00:00 Surviving the genocide
01:00 Working at the Memorial
02:51 The checkpoint at Potočari
03:12 Coming back to stay close to the dead
04:07 Judge Gatti Santana on justice and truth
05:12 The belongings from the mass graves
05:56 Denial — and what comes after it
06:54 Teaching the warning signs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK060SfOAC4

Source: United Nations (video statements)

“Instead of defending lifesaving progress, we are defunding lifesaving programmes. Instead of punishing these crimes, we see increased persecution of those who dare to denounce them,” the UN’s envoy on sexual violence in conflict told the Security Council.

Briefing the Council today, Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, said the annual report before the Council “holds a mirror up to the changing face of war.”

“The promise of international law has never been more relevant – or more severely tested,” she said.

Patten’s remarks drew on the Secretary-General’s latest annual report on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2026/321), which was made public on 29 May.

According to the report, the UN verified 9,788 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025, “more than double the number recorded last year,” Patten said, adding that the true toll is far higher, with humanitarians in the field estimating that for every case reaching a clinic, 10 to 20 go unreported.

“The highest number of UN-verified cases were recorded in the DRC, Haiti and Sudan,” she noted. The report also names the Central African Republic among the worst-affected situations, out of 21 contexts covered overall.

Patten pointed to two new state listings in the annex to the report. “New listings this cycle include non-State actors in the DRC and Haiti, and two State actors in Israel and the Russian Federation. At this time last year, both State parties were put on notice due to protection concerns, including patterns of sexual violence and systematic denials of access to independent UN monitors,” she said.

The Secretary-General formally communicated required measures to both parties on 11 August 2025, she added, but “neither the violations nor the conflicts have ceased.”

“We do not compile these reports simply to count the victims; we compile them because the victims are counting on us. They are counting on this Council to turn documentation into accountability, rights into protection, and atrocities into assistance – to chart a path to peace out of the wreckage of war,” Patten said.

She warned against a broader erosion of the international system. “Eighty years ago, this Organization was founded to replace the law of force with the force of law. We cannot afford to allow an inversion of these hard-won values, whereby human rights, equality, and respect for diversity are disparaged, and institutions built over decades are dismantled overnight,” she said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3YHB-X7reQ