Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Press Conference by Vanessa Frazier, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, on her recent mission to Haiti.

Frazier said, “children in Haiti are facing levels of violence that no children anywhere should ever endure. Armed gangs terrorise communities and children are paying the highest price.”

She said, “I witnessed profound suffering for many children,” which left her “deeply concerned, but also profoundly moved by the resilience and courage of Haiti’s youngest generation.”

She said, “growing up means a daily struggle to survive, live in constant fear and be subject to intimidation, violence, family separation, displacement, and trauma, as gangs take advantage of the vulnerability of these children.

In 2025 alone, the Special Representative said, “the recruitment and use of children nearly tripled compared to previous years” and added that “it is estimated that more than half of gang members are children.”

Frazier said that in her meetings with Haitian government officials and its partners, she was reassured “that the protection of children is at the centre of their agenda,” and welcomed the government’s efforts “in taking concrete steps to protect children, including through the implementation of the handover protocol signed with the United Nations in 2024 to facilitate the transfer of children associated with gangs to child protection services.”

She said she had stressed “that children encountered during security operations must be treated first and foremost as victims.”

The Special Representative emphasised that “there is a window of opportunity now to do the right thing” as the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) deploys, and said, “security and child protection cannot be separated. Without protecting these children and supporting all children affected by violence, lasting stability in Haiti will not be possible.”

She said the special representative of the GSF had assured her that “protocols and systems were being put in place to protect children during operations and trained contingents pre and during deployment on child protection.”

Stressing the importance of economic activity for the implementation of training and reintegration programs, Frazier said, “you’re going to give vocational training. But then they come out of the reintegration program, and they don’t have anywhere where they can use this vocational training you gave them. What’s the point? Right. So, we need to work hand-in-hand with many agencies, in order to ensure child protection, fully.”

She said, “the economic part of it is very important. We need to create jobs”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di0KL14yAHM

Source: United Nations (video statements)

After the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, known as the NPT, failed today (22 May) to agree on a final document, the President of the Conference, Do Hung Viet expressed concerned for the future health of the Treaty, and said he was “disappointed” it was unable to “really seize this critical opportunity to make our world a safer place.”

It was the third failure in a row at a conference reviewing the NPT, considered the cornerstone of global non-proliferation and disarmament.

Talking to reporters Friday evening, after negotiations came to an end, Do said, “a substantive outcome would have strengthened the Treaty and advanced its objectives, but in absence of such an outcome, I am concerned for the future health of the Treaty.”

The Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, for her part said, “we all need to remember that legal commitments or legal obligations under this Treaty, remain. So, we need to make sure that all states, especially nuclear weapon states, really understand it and then maintain their commitment and then really move to implement their commitments.”

As a member of the Secretariat, Nakamitsu said, “we don’t criticise member states or states parties in their deliberations,” but going forward, she added, “they need to actually take this third time failure very seriously.”

Explaining the deliberations, Do said, “I can present a text that country A I know will block consensus. I can also present a text that is slightly tweaked but will make a country B block the adoption. And of course, there are other ways as well. So, I had to make the difficult decision not to present that document.”
He lamented that “we will need to wait at least five more years to see if we are able to, you know, reaffirm that commitment or take any further action, to strengthen the regime,” while in the meantime, “we are seeing the modernisation of nuclear arsenals. We are seeing the quantitative increase in some nuclear arsenals as well. So, and then, you know, the level of nuclear rhetorics, the tense international situation, are all extremely worrying of a risk of the use of nuclear weapons. So, I am concerned.”

Asked about the United States and Iran’s dispute over paragraph 15 of the document, Do said, “I cannot really say, that, you know, apart from one paragraph, everything else was agreed, that I don’t think is it would be accurate to say.”

He said, “I did try to produce some textual changes to the draft outcome document. You know, it ranges from changing the text to the placement of some of the paragraphs, to be more amenable to both sides. But I think at about 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m. I felt that we were not able to find that consensus.”

Nakamitsu said, “we need to utilise all other available processes. To, to make sure that we will be able to reconstruct, our efforts. And maybe we should be creating, something else.”

She noted that the General Assembly’s First Committee “is able to create mandates. So, we need to actually think about those or available means, and then we will not give up.”

Earlier in the GA, when he realized consensus was not going to be achieved, Do said, “as I said at the start of this conference, my goal was to make everyone equally unhappy. In that I think we can all agree that I had made some progress towards that goal. I have now put forward four versions of the draft outcome document, all of which have been painstakingly revised in line with States Parties wishes. Despite our best efforts, however, it is my understanding that the Conference is not in a position to achieve agreement on its substantive work. Given that this is now apparent, I do not intend to put the document forward for adoption, as the Conference is not in a position to achieve agreement. “

The NPT entered into force in 1970 and was extended indefinitely in 1995. The Treaty is regarded as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and an essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament. It was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, to further the goals of nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, and to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Under the Treaty, the nuclear-weapon States are obliged not to transfer possession or control to any recipient nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, and not in any way to assist, encourage or induce non-nuclear-weapon States to manufacture, acquire, or control over such weapons or devices.

The Treaty guarantees the right of all States parties develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with their basic non-proliferation obligations.

Conferences to review the operation of the Treaty have been held at five-year intervals since the Treaty went into effect in 1970.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dpzNxsA2Rc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

This World Football Day, the UN Football for the Goals initiative launches the inaugural group of FFTG Champions, a global team of players and coaches using the power of football to support the Sustainable Development Goals.

From equality and inclusion to climate action, health and human rights, FFTG Champions will use their platforms to raise awareness and inspire action on the issues shaping our shared future.

Learn more about the Champions at the Football for the Goals website.

https://www.un.org/en/football-goals/football-goals-champions

Meet the inaugural FFTG Champions:

Eni Aluko (England)
Brena Bonta (Brazil)
Deyna Castellanos (Venezuela)
Moya Dodd (Australia)
Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa)
Khalida Popal (Afghanistan)
María Sánchez (Mexico)
Daniel Amokachi (Nigeria)
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy)
Borja Iglesias (Spain)
Ji-Sung Park (South Korea)
Jason Roberts (Grenada)
Alexei Rojas (Colombia)
Mikaël Silvestre (France)
Javier Zanetti (Argentina)
Zico (Brazil)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nE_new7s8-0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

At the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, urban development and climate experts examine how informal settlements and slums have become some of the places most exposed to the impacts of climate change. David Dodman (IHS, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Sarah Sabry (Save the Children), Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (UNEP), and Jose Antonio Puppim De Oliveira (FGV) discuss how flooding, extreme heat, inadequate infrastructure, and uneven access to urban services are affecting vulnerable communities, particularly children and families living in informal settlements. They reflect on the interconnected nature of urban systems and the need for faster, more inclusive, and climate-resilient approaches that strengthen informal settlements and support safer, more sustainable cities.

Video Producer Rosalie Boyle
Videographer Andres Felipe Carvajal Gomez

For more information about WUF13, please visit: https://enb.iisd.org/world-urban-forum-wuf13

#WUF13 #HousingTheWorld #Baku2026 #RoadtoBaku

The music we used is called "Euphoria Art" by Cody Martin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObB8xvCFoyw

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Ambassador Lewis Garseedah Brown II, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Liberia to the United Nations, on behalf of the ICC Caucus (Colombia, Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Panama, UK), spoke to reporters, following the ICC Deputy Prosecutor’s briefing to the Security Council on Libya.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MDxnRvVI9E