Source: United Nations (video statements)
Healing the planet by helping forests tops the agenda at the UN
Please let me know if you create a link and I’ll send it to colleagues for posting on their Trello board plus of course put it in the notificator and send that Monday morning.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, explains why the NPT (Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference this year is critical for nuclear disarmament.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Edem Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, speaking to journalists fresh from her first-ever visit to the country, which “is determined to get itself out of crisis mode.”
“The country is fragile, but the country is hopeful,” she said, but warned that “if we don’t sustain the funding, we will see ourselves slipping back into crisis mode –a context, a situation, we can’t afford.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT/ KENYA AND ETHIOPIA
On Sunday evening, the Secretary-General will arrive in Nairobi, Kenya.
On Monday, he will hold a bilateral meeting with the President of Kenya, William Ruto, before joining him for the inauguration of new UN offices and the groundbreaking of a new conference facility at the UN Office at Nairobi.
During the ceremony, the Secretary-General will highlight the importance of the Kenyan capital as the only UN headquarters in Africa. He will add that the expansion of our campus in Nairobi also sends a clear message that the United Nations must be closer to the regions that it serves, connected to people’s realities and equipped to support solutions where they are being built.
Later on Monday, the Secretary-General will hold a press conference, a townhall meeting with our colleagues based in Kenya, and hold a number of bilateral meetings, before attending a state dinner hosted by the President of Kenya.
On Tuesday, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks during the Opening ceremony of the Africa Forward Summit. In his remarks, he is expected to renew his appeal for global reforms to ensure that Africa has the voice, representation and decision-making power it deserves.
Later in the day, Mr. Guterres will deliver remarks during a plenary session of the Africa Forward Summit focusing on peace and security on the African continent.
Both sessions can be seen live on UN WebTV.
On Tuesday evening, the Secretary-General will travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the 10th African Union-United Nations Annual Conference, which is scheduled on the following day.
Discussions this year will include topics such as the impact of the latest conflict in the Middle East on the African continent and the AU theme of the year: Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems.
Following the conclusion of the AU-UN annual conference on Wednesday afternoon, the Secretary-General will have a meeting with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the President of France.
In the evening, he will also attend a reception hosted by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations, which will include the launch of commemorative Ethiopian stamps.
The Secretary-General is expected back in New York on Thursday, 14 May.
UNIFIL
Yesterday, two humanitarian organizations successfully conducted missions to Tyre in Sector West, in Lebanon, following coordination with the UNIFIL–OCHA civil‑military coordination cell and deconfliction through the UNIFIL Liaison Branch.
UNIFIL continues to report extensive Israeli Defense Forces activity across its area of operations, including armoured movements, large‑scale engineering works, sustained logistical traffic, and significant air activity, mainly in Sector East. UNIFIL also observed drone activity in Sector West, reportedly conducted by Hizbullah.
Once again, IDF personnel temporarily blocked a UNIFIL convoy north of Al Naqoura yesterday. We underscore that UNIFIL must be able to carry out its mandate without obstruction, and that freedom of movement for peacekeepers must be fully respected at all times.
Yesterday, the IDF issued displacement orders for residents of Deir Zahrani, Bfarwe, and Habbouche, calling on civilians to evacuate at least 1,000 meters toward open areas. Since the ceasefire, such orders have doubled, now affecting at least dozens of towns and villages and forcing tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon to flee once again. We urge all parties to uphold international humanitarian law and to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
LEBANON
Also from Lebanon, OCHA reports that the humanitarian situation remains fragile as violence and displacement continue to affect civilians across the country.
Humanitarian needs remain severe, particularly in the health sector. Our health partners continue to support the Ministry of Public Health in maintaining essential services despite the insecurity and repeated attacks on healthcare facilities. To date, more than 58,000 health consultations have been provided, alongside medication for acute diseases.
According to the Ministry of Public Health, between Wednesday and yesterday evening, at least 12 people were killed and dozens of others were injured. We are deeply concerned by reports from the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health that an ambulance team was struck by an Israeli strike in Majdal Silim, resulting in the death of one paramedic and the injury of another. Attacks affecting medical crews are particularly alarming; international humanitarian law is clear that medical personnel, facilities, and vehicles must be protected at all times.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-05-08
Source: United Nations (video statements)
OCHA Official Returns from her First Visit to The Central African Republic
Source: United Nations (video statements)
As part of the annual UN remembrance days (8–9 May) dedicated to victims of World War II, this video features the personal testimony of a Roma survivor from Ukraine presented at the United Nations, recounting experiences of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Briefing via VTC, the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Guang Cong told the Council that “since the start of the war in Sudan in 2023, over 1.3 million Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees have fled to South Sudan,” and added that “this massive influx has compounded an already dire humanitarian situation.”
Cong said his Office continues to engage with the Abyei High-Level Committee and other stakeholders to support preparations for renewed bilateral talks, while urging progress on benchmarks tied to the mission’s mandate renewal and broader concerns.
He said, “I will continue to support efforts to resolve outstanding issues from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Sudan and South Sudan, and will continue to provide support to the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan, the African Union and IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) as well as other partners in the ongoing efforts to end the war in Sudan and to initiate a political process that should also include South Kordofan and the Blue Nile states.”
Cong said he will also “continue to engage with the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to restart dialogue on the final status of Abyei.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee told the Security Council that the political environment in Abyei has remained “constrained by the conflicts in the Sudan and instability in South Sudan,” limiting progress by the two countries “towards resolving their disputes over the management of the Abyei territory and its final status.”
Pobee noted that the security environment “deteriorated over the past six months, mostly due to criminality, weapons proliferation and the presence of unauthorised armed actors, which have combined to create a complex and volatile threat environment.”
The Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), she said, “recorded 196 security incidents, with 58 fatalities and 69 injuries, marking a significant increase from the previous reporting period.”
Pobee noted that the mission continues to conduct robust patrols and rapid response operations, while also supporting weapons disposal, mine action and humanitarian access, adding that sustained engagement by the Council will remain essential to uphold the demilitarized status of Abyei and advance a durable political solution.
She said, “the immediate withdrawal of all unauthorised forces, including the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces and the Rapid Support Forces from the Abyei area, remains essential.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Iranian Ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani told reporters in New York that “the only viable solution in the Strait of Hormuz is a permanent end to the war, the lifting of maritime blockade, and the restoration of normal passage,” and said a Security Council draft resolution tabled by the United States and Bahrain is “flawed, politically motivated” and drafted “under the pretext of freedom of navigation to advance its political agenda and legitimize unlawful actions, not to resolve the crisis.”
Iravani said, “the draft falsely accused Iran of violating the ceasefire of 8th April, while deliberately concealing material facts. It also attributes serious violations to Iran, including attacks on vessels and placement of sea mines without presenting credible and verified evidence.”
He said the text “ignores the unlawful maritime blockade imposed by the United States, as well as attacks on the seizure of Iranian vessels,” constituting “a material breach of the ceasefire, violation of the prohibition on the sea of force, and serious infringement of freedom of navigation.”
The Iranian Ambassador said, “the claim that the current situation constitutes a threat to international peace and security has no objective or credible basis” and the invocation of chapter seven of the UN Charter “is wholly unjustified, disproportionate and based on politically motivated allegation and it serves further military objectives.”
If adopted, he said, the resolution would “seriously damage the credibility and impartiality of the Security Council, it would politicize the Council’s enforcement power and establish a dangerous precedent for legitimizing unilateral coercive measures and unlawful action by the United States against the sovereignty and sovereign rights of coastal states.”
Iravani stressed that “Iran remains fully prepared to resolve normal maritime traffic and ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, provided that the war is permanently ended, and the unlawful blockade is lifted.”
The question today before the Council members, he said, was, “why should a member state located thousands of miles away from the Persian Gulf and acting in a destabilizing manner, be permitted to use the Security Council to advance its political agenda in the Persian Gulf? while Iran, as a coastal state of the Strait of Hormuz, is denied its lawful rights to defend its security and sovereignty and is instead threatened with enforcement action on the chapter seven of the Charter.”
Iravani said, “the United States has neither the legal, political, nor moral standing to portray itself as a defender of freedom of navigation or maritime security” adding that it has “continued its internationally wrongful act by imposing a so-called maritime blockade, unlawfully seizing Iranian commercial vessels like pirates, and taking their crews hostage.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
A deadly #hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean poses a low global public health risk according to World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Eight cases have been reported so far, including five laboratory-confirmed infections and three suspected cases linked to the rare Andes strain of hantavirus.
