Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
Treasury will hold the first session of its inquiry into the 2025 Budget. Officials from the Office for Budget Responsibility will answer questions on their economic and fiscal forecasts, as well as the premature upload of Budget documents to their website.
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
The Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, accompanied by the Deputy Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Ms Pinky Kekana, host a media briefing to outline key reforms aimed at strengthening integrity, accountability, and ethical governance across the public service.
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
SAPS Media Briefing
Source: United Nations (video statements)
“Well, this exhibition—this UNIDO exhibition—has been conceptualized as an immersive journey where participants can learn about UNIDO’s work and global impact. We showcase, for example, where we are present worldwide, and we focus on our priorities and global impact. For example, we want to showcase our work on three thematic priorities, from building sustainable supply chains to ending hunger and expanding clean energy and climate action.
You can see here three alcoves where we feature several impactful projects from the organization. Here during the conference, we have launched the Fair Share programme, which is a very important initiative, but we also feature many other products that are very successful and can also be scaled up.
The next alcove shows our work on ending hunger, which is a very important topic, and the next one is about clean energy access and climate action, which is of course extremely relevant, especially when we talk about industrialization. There is also a very important section in this exhibition dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment, an important area of work for UNIDO.
Women contribute to industry, they need to be part of the economy, and they are crucial in sustainable development. What you see here is just a sample of 60 women among the many women UNIDO is empowering. These 60 women are part of a campaign we are placing in communications. In total, we have 130 stories. For example, here we have Sonia Yanahi. She is an entrepreneur— a very successful one. She benefited from the EDIP programme, which is run by ITPO-Bahrain. Her dream was always to have a business in chocolate, and she established the first chocolate franchise in Bahrain. With UNIDO’s support, she is now getting a business plan approved.
We are also supporting the investment approach for her to acquire a cocoa plant in Côte d’Ivoire, where she wants to employ local communities and ensure fair trade—fair share—and standards applied to the process of chocolate export.
What you see here with a round shape—if you had a drone right now, you would see from above that it resembles the logo of the conference. It shows circularity; it shows three segments because this conference discusses mainly three topics: investment and partnerships, women’s empowerment, and youth as the generation of the future, and this resembles the logo of the conference.
And maybe I can show you as well the area of funding partners, which is of course one of the most important areas of work for our organization. We see here China, Austria, Germany, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, but we also have important non-governmental donors, such as the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
“Overall for the regular budget, I am proposing to bring the resource requirements for 2026 down to 3.238 billion US dollars,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced, unveiling a sweeping revision to next year’s spending plan amid deepening financial strains across the organization.
Addressing Member States in New York City today (01 Dec), Guterres said the updated proposal marks a significant shift from the version drafted earlier this year. “A few weeks ago, I introduced the proposed programme budget for 2026 which had been for the most part prepared before the launch of the UN80 Initiative,” he said, noting that the original document “did not yet reflect the first outcomes of the Secretariat’s comprehensive review of its resource requirements for 2026.”
The revised estimates now incorporate early results from the UN80 reform effort, which he said underscores “both the urgency and the ambition” driving the Secretariat’s modernization. The report contains two linked components: “initial measures to improve the management and operations of the Secretariat” and “targeted efficiencies and cost reductions to the proposed programme budget for 2026 and the support account budget for 2025/26.”
Under the proposal, the UN’s regular budget would fall by $577 million, or 15.1 percent, compared with 2025. The staffing table would shrink to 11,594 posts, including Special Political Missions, a reduction of 2,681 positions, or 18.8 percent.
But Guterres emphasized that budget tightening alone cannot resolve the UN’s widening liquidity crisis. “We ended 2024 with $760 million in arrears, of which $709 million is still outstanding… We have also not received $877 million of 2025 dues,” he said. “Thus, arrears now stand at $1,586 million.”
He again urged Member States to meet their assessed contributions “in full and on time,” warning that persistent shortfalls are forcing the organization to manage cash “well below budget levels.”
Guterres reiterated his proposal to temporarily suspend the return of credits, saying, “It is difficult for us to give back money that we have not – because we didn’t receive it,” and called for a temporary account to safeguard Member States’ rights until liquidity improves.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has declared the end of its latest Ebola outbreak in Kasai Province. With national leadership, WHO support, and a new innovative treatment facility designed to protect health workers and improve patient care, the outbreak was contained within months. Strengthened preparedness and better tools are helping save lives.
Source: International Criminal Court (video statements)
ASP24: Third plenary meeting – General debate, 2 December 2025
Source: International Criminal Court (video statements)
On 1 December 2025, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) launched its Annual Report 2025: “Resilient Justice in Every Step” on the margins of the Assembly of States Parties in The Hague #ASP24.
Highlights:
– Increased output in investigations and prosecutions
– Operational resilience in challenging contexts
– Strengthened systems, innovation, and partnerships
Read the report here: https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/office-prosecutor-annual-report-2025
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Middle East
– Ukraine
– Sudan
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-12-01
Source: United Nations (video statements)
UN Revised Budget Update: Shrinking Resources and Targeted Reductions
