Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
– Strait of Hormuz
– Security Council
– Lebanon
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Myanmar
– Earth Hour

STRAIT OF HORMUZ

The conflict in the Middle East unfolds and threatens to intensify, disruptions in the maritime trade through the Strait of Hormuz risk creating a ripple effect impacting humanitarian needs and agricultural production in the coming months. While the Secretary-General is committed to making every effort to achieve a comprehensive and durable settlement of the conflict, immediate action is essential to mitigate these consequences.

To address these challenges, the Secretary-General has established a dedicated Task Force, led by Under Secretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva, the Executive Director of UNOPS, the UN Office of Project Services. This Task Force will also include representatives from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the International Chamber of Commerce.

Additional entities may be invited to participate as needed. The primary focus of this Task Force is to develop and propose technical mechanisms specifically designed to meet humanitarian needs in the Strait of Hormuz.

Drawing inspiration from relevant UN initiatives, including the UN Verification, Inspection and Monitoring Mechanism for Yemen, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and the existing UN2720 Mechanism for Gaza, this new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz aims to facilitate fertilizer trade, including the movement of related raw materials. The mechanism’s operationalization will be done in close consultation with relevant Member States, with full respect for national sovereignty and established international legal frameworks.

If successful, it would also create confidence among Member States on the diplomatic approach to the conflict and constitute a valuable step towards a wider political settlement.

As part of his broader peacemaking mandate, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Jean Arnault, will lead the political engagement with relevant Member States, supported by members of the Task Force.

SECURITY COUNCIL

The Security Council held this morning held closed consultations concerning the ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran, including educational and health facilities. Our Assistant Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Khaled Khiari, briefed, as well as Gemma Connell, on behalf of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

LEBANON

Turning to Lebanon, I want to reiterate our deep concern about the escalating rhetoric, the escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon must be respected. The Lebanese Government’s authority to have the monopoly on the use of force and the use of arms throughout its territory must also be respected.

Hezbollah must stop launching attacks into Israel.

And Israel must stop its military operations and strikes in Lebanon, which are hitting civilians the hardest.

As the Secretary-General has said, the Gaza model must not be replicated in Lebanon.

More than 1 million people are on the move in the country, that is one in five people in the Lebanon.

According to UNICEF, on average, 19,000 children are displaced every single day.

Israeli civilians on the southern side of the Blue Line have also been impacted.

There is simply no military solution to this conflict.

We urge all sides to avail themselves of diplomatic channels available to them and to recommit to the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, which is the agreed roadmap toward a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution.

Yesterday, our peacekeepers from UNIFIL reported over two hundred rockets and artillery shells fired from the area of operations towards Israel. The Mission detected 1,325 trajectories from the south to the north of the Blue Line. That is the highest number since 2 March.

Peacekeepers recorded a high volume of artillery exchanges in the area of operations and observed 16 airstrikes, including in Sector East and in Sector West.

Amid the exchanges of fire yesterday, a bullet also shattered a window in the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura.

An artillery shell impacting the vicinity of a UN position Al Qantarah in Sector West also caused damage to buildings on the base. No injuries thankfully were reported.

Once again, we reiterate that all sides must abide by their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and respect for the inviolability of UN personnel and premises.

For their part, our humanitarian colleagues are continuing to scale up assistance in the country, in close coordination with the Government of Lebanon.

Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-03-27

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Chief Economist Maximo Torero briefed reporters on the conflict in the Middle East and the implications for food security.

Speaking to reporters via video link, Torero said that the escalating conflict and the closure of the Hormuz translate directly into higher costs for farmers, adding that fertilizer prices have already risen sharply.

He took Middle East granular urea as example which climbed 19 percent in the first week of March, reach 590 US dollars per ton. Egyptian urea for example, is by 28 percent, he said.

The FAO economist continued, “because natural gas is a primary element to provide nitrogen fertilizers, this could also lead to a significant increase between 50 to 20 percent higher in the first half of 2026,” adding that this mean the farmers are facing “double choke.” He explained, “they have more expensive fertilizers alongside rising fuel costs, which are being used across the value chain to be able to produce the commodity that you eat in the market around.”

Torero also said, “now, what will happen? Of course, this will be affecting mostly the next season if this continues. And it will affect the yields, of course. And the effect of the yields is non-linear. If you use little the impacts are higher because the soils don’t contain the micronutrients. If you use a lot, the impacts will be lower.”

The chief economist said, “the medium-term scenario of a three-month blockade will affect all farmers globally, and then we will have different elements that could impact mostly in the next season. This is reduced yields.”

“And this will happen for the bigger exporters like the US, like Brazil, Argentina, Australia. But also it opens a new competition of demand, which will be the biofuel competition as they all go over $100,” he added.

Torero cautioned that this will activate competition of the month from the biofuel sector, though it will be good news for farmers, it will “be bad for consumers because prices will increase.”

The chief economist also said, “in the short term, in this month period, we need to focus on where priorities are and the priorities are defined by when the crop calendar touches and when you need to apply those fertilizers in soils.”

He further explained, “In this respect, the priority countries right now are Sri Lanka. Because this maha rice harvest is happening right now, Bangladesh, the boro rice season is also happening right now. India, luckily, the domestic fertilizer plant, which was operating at 60 percent has reopened two days ago. Egypt is a great consumer of wheat, so it’s a huge importer. And also it’s vulnerable in the short term. Sudan is also vulnerable and is facing a significant level of acute food insecurity today. In sub-Saharan Africa, the countries like Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania and Mozambique, they depend between 22 to 31 percent of fertilizer inputs. And in the case of the big exporters like Brazil, Argentina and the US, around one fifth or less of their imports of fertilizers comes from this region. But that means that this will be affecting the next planting season. But remember, these are the key exporters in the world.”

Torero also said, “we need to look at the other side of the story, which is the impacts of the countries in the region, which is Iran, where prices were already going up before the conflict. Now they are being exacerbated.”

He continued, “although Iran is not a food import dependent country, they produce 70 or a little bit more of what they consume, but they import the difference. But the costs and the prices are already skyrocketing because of the problems.”

The chief economist added, “the countries in the Gulf, Qatar, Dubai, etcetera are huge importers of food. And those are countries are which will be facing challenges because there is no vessels going into the location.”

“Remittances also will be impacted in the Gulf economies are a host of millions of migrant workers from South Asia and East Africa,” Torero said, adding that if this conflict continues to reduce their capacity to send money to their home countries, “this will affect significant amount of countries, which in some cases big number have significant share of the GDP is because of remittances.”

The chief economist advised that in the very short term – this month before things change substantially – “we need to find any other alternative of corridors, and we are working together with the UN on trying to do that.”

He continued, “we need to provide emergency balance of payments support to import dependent nations before planting windows. So these priority nations and we need to be very selective by avoiding distortion,” adding that “finance farmers to avoid liquidity constraints that will compromise planting these issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNZdXxmnK8Q

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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AI offers unprecedented opportunities to accelerate progress, but, without urgent action, disparities in connectivity, compute infrastructure, digital skills, and local innovation ecosystems could leave too many behind.

This Goals Lounge discussion explores how governments, international organizations, and the private sector can work together to ensure AI becomes a force for inclusive and sustainable development. Our intention is to move beyond warning and into action, exploring concrete steps to bridge the rapidly growing divide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Fl8Ct6060