Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
– Humanitarian Contribution by the United States
– Yemen
– Trip Announcement
– Deputy Secretary-General
– UNIFIL
– Lebanon
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Ukraine
– Cuba
– Haiti
– Children and Armed Conflict
– ECOSOC

HUMANITARIAN CONTRIBUTION BY THE UNITED STATES

The Secretary-General welcomes today’s announcement by the United States of an additional $1.8 billion for the life-saving humanitarian work of the United Nations and our humanitarian partners around the world.

This commitment will allow humanitarians to reach millions of people in the most urgent crises with lifesaving support.

YEMEN

Turning to Yemen, we welcome a major breakthrough in efforts to secure the release of conflict-related detainees. The parties to the conflict in Yemen agreed to release more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees – the largest such release deal since the start of the conflict. This outcome is the result of 14 weeks of intensive negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations in Amman, Jordan.

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said that this is a moment of profound relief for thousands of Yemenis who have endured long and painful waits for the return of their family members.

Today’s agreement builds on an earlier round of negotiations in December 2025 in Muscat, Oman. As next steps, the parties have also agreed to reconvene to negotiate further releases, to conduct joint visits to one another’s detention facilities, and to ensure access to all detainees. We thank Jordan for hosting and supporting this round of negotiations, and the Sultanate of Oman and Switzerland for hosting the earlier rounds of talks.

We continue to call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, including personnel from the UN, NGOs, civil society and diplomatic missions, as well as their families.

We expect a more official statement later today.

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT

The Secretary-General will travel to Tokyo, Japan this weekend, where he will chair the biannual session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, also known as the CEB, which brings together the heads of the UN system’s organizations.  

While in Japan, the Secretary-General will have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. He is also scheduled to meet with senior officials, including the Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, as well as with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Motegi Toshimitsu.

Also in Tokyo, the Secretary-General will participate in a high-level symposium entitled “Celebrating 70: Japan-UN Cooperation, EXPO 2025, and the Future of Multilateralism,” which will highlight Japan’s continued partnership with the United Nations and its commitment to multilateralism.

The symposium, hosted jointly by the United Nations University and the UN Information Centre, Tokyo, will bring together senior UN officials, representatives of the Government of Japan, and Japanese youth leaders for an open exchange on today’s challenges and the path ahead.

The Secretary-General is expected to hold a press conference on 20 May, and we will share additional information closer to that date. He is expected to be back in New York on Wednesday.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-05-14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVB1xWAm-pw

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The United States today (14 May) announced a contribution of an additional $1.8 billion for the life-saving humanitarian work of the United Nations and humanitarian partners around the world.

At a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, US Ambassador Mike Waltz said, “our partnership, our burden sharing, has increased, but duplication and inefficiencies have decreased that cost time, taxpayer money and, frankly, lives,” adding that this collaboration on reform “reflects President Trump’s priorities for the UN and helping it reach its potential.”

Waltz said, “we found that when the UN does what it does best, delivering humanitarian aid in remote, difficult locations at scale with a reliable and affordable supply chain, it can and does succeed. It’s only then, when the organization strays from its core mission, that it tends to not perform nearly as well as it should.”

The Ambassador said this 1.8 billion in humanitarian funding “will save more lives around the world but also drive forward the reforms that we’ve put in place for efficiency, accountability and lasting impact.”

For his part, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, said, “we are facing rising needs. Over 300 million people need our support. And we’re facing declining global funding. And we are, as a result, overstretched, under-resourced and literally under attack.”

Fletcher said the humanitarian response plan he presented last December, aimed at raising 23 billion dollars to save 87 million lives, “against the odds is working.”

He said, “we are fundraising for that 23 billion dollars, and up to this point in advance of the announcement that you’ve just heard, we’ve raised 7.38 billion dollars from 65 member states, plus other public and private sources of funding.”

Fletcher stressed that “the most important number that I have for you today on the delivery of that plan is that we have already reached in the first four months of the year, 14.4 million people with life-saving support.”

With this fresh funding, he said, “we will save millions of lives.”

Also briefing, the US Senior Official for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom, Jeremy P. Lewin said, “the way we were funding this system before did not work for the United States and our taxpayers.”

Lewin said, “we’re not responsible to the United Nations,” and pointing to Waltz added, “we work for, I work for the American people. He works for the American people, no one else.”

Responding to a journalist question on past comments he had made, Fletcher said, “I wish there was more money being spent on humanitarian action and less money in the world being spent on war. I would love much more of that funding to be going to the plan to help us raise that 23 billion. You can do the maths. I’ve told you I need 23 billion to save 87 million lives. And I’m sad that a lot of money at the moment is being spent on drones. We’re seeing it in all of the crisis areas where we’re working. The arms dealers are getting richer at the moment at the expense of the people who I serve. And it’s driving up humanitarian needs. But, you know, we’re here with a piece of good news today about a very significant chunk of US funding that they have chosen to spend on humanitarian action.”

Lewin for his part said, “there are a lot of countries that are sitting on the sidelines and making criticisms of the United States and talking about humanitarian impacts. Many of them are wealthy. Many of them have not shown up for this plan or any other plan. All of the other developed countries have cut many by much more than us. And they are putting their money towards things that are less hyper prioritized towards light saving aid. They’re saving social programs at the expense of life saving aid. And so there are a lot of countries that criticize the actions of President Trump. But when it comes to humanitarian lifesaving aid and, you know, you can do all the math, it’s visible. And Thomas said it, we are still here as the most generous country in the world.”

Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed today’s announcement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN9X_NSAtys

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Hybrid press briefing by Ambassador Mike Waltz, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Jeremy P. Lewin, Senior Official for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State, and UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher on funding to the humanitarian system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqIjhhVF7n0