Comments to the media by Walid Obeidat, Permanent Representative of Jordan to United Nations, along the six founding states of the Global Initiative to Galvanize Political Commitment to International Humanitarian Law: Jordan, Brazil, China, France, Kazakhstan, and South Africa, joined by other states that have officially joined the Global IHL Initiative as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (total of 83 Member States), prior to the annual open debate on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in the Security Council.
Speaking to reporters, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the deadly Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the situation was ‘not a pandemic emergency’. He added that ‘the Emergency Committee which met yesterday agreed that the situation is a public health emergency of international concern, but is not a pandemic emergency.’
Briefing by Edem Wosornu, Director, Crisis Response Division, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.
Wosornu said, “Humanitarian workers in Ukraine came under repeated attack last week. As mentioned by my DPPA colleague, two separate convoys, clearly marked as being part of the United Nations, were hit while carrying life-saving assistance to civilians in need. Both missions had been notified well in advance through established channels.”
She stressed, “These attacks are intensifying, making the delivery of humanitarian assistance increasingly difficult, if not impossible in some areas. Humanitarian workers in Ukraine are taking immense risks to save lives. However, the weapons being deployed – cheap and deadly – are rapidly changing what it means to deliver life-saving assistance. Humanitarian workers and assets must be respected. This entails taking active steps to spare them.”
She said, “I remain deeply concerned about the situation for civilians in and around front-line communities. Whatever side of the line they may be, every day is a matter of life and death. Over a single weekend this month, 930 civilians – including more than 180 children – were evacuated from front-line areas in Donetsk with humanitarian support.”
She concluded, “Civilians across Ukraine cannot wait for a political breakthrough to be protected and have their basic needs met. Protection, humanitarian access and funding remain essential while efforts toward a just and lasting peace continue.”
Briefing by Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on the situation in the Middle East, during the Security Council, 10153rd meeting.
Briefing by Kayoko Gotoh, Director and Officer-in-Charge for Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, on Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.
Gotoh reported, “In the last week alone, we witnessed one of the largest aerial bombardments of Ukraine since the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Between 13 and 14 May, the Russian Federation reportedly launched more than 1,500 drones and dozens of missiles targeting Ukrainian cities across the country.”
She added, “Last month alone, at least 238 civilians were killed and 1,404 injured in Ukraine. This represents the highest monthly number of civilian casualties recorded since July 2025. It also reflects a continuing pattern of rising civilian harm.”
“Inside the Russian Federation, reported Ukrainian strikes have also led to increasing civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including to residential buildings.”
She concluded, “Although direct talks, which are currently paused, have yet to result in a breakthrough, diplomacy has made it possible for thousands of prisoners of war to return home, and for remains of fallen soldiers to be laid to rest. Negotiations should resume without further delays to prevent further escalation and to make meaningful progress towards a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
A new report said that the crisis in the Middle East has delivered another major shock to the world economy, heightening uncertainty, stoking inflationary pressures and testing the resilience of global growth.
Countries face varying degrees of exposure to the shock and also differ in their capacities to cope, leading to uneven impacts.
For many developing economies, intensifying cost-of-living pressures, limited policy space, and slowing growth prospects risk further setbacks in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, while entrenching inequalities across and within countries.
Published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2026 updates the global and regional economic outlook for the year ahead.
Launching the report today (19 May) Shantanu Mukherjee, Economic Analysis and Policy Division’s Director of UN DESA, said that global growth is projected to slow to 2.5 percent in 2026 before edging up to 2.8 percent in 2027—a downgrade from January forecasts and well below pre-pandemic norms.
The Middle East conflict weighs heavily on the outlook, and with its duration and the pace of any recovery in energy flows highly uncertain, risks are tilted to the downside. Solid labour markets, resilient consumer demand, and AI-driven trade and investment in select economies provide only partial countervailing support.
Shantanu said, “Global inflation is projected to rise to 3.9 percent this year, which is 0.8 percentage points higher than we had anticipated in January. Increased energy prices are a potent factor, as are the prices of refinery products that are crucial to industrial production and commercial transport.”
He also said, “Though prospects are somber, there are concrete areas where international cooperation makes a difference: countries face a renewed impetus for establishing resilience, whether these be through investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, diversifying their economies, making targeted sectoral interventions are improving mobilization and use of resources. All of these are shared priorities that the international system and the UN can help support.”
The energy shock has halted the global disinflation trend, with higher energy prices feeding through to broader costs across the economy. In developing economies, inflation is projected to rise from 4.2 percent in 2025 to 5.2 percent in 2026.
In developed economies, inflation is forecast to increase from 2.6 per cent in 2025 to 2.9 per cent in 2026, edging further above central bank targets in most countries.
Ingo Pitterle, Officer-in-charge at the Global Economic Monitoring Branch, Economic Analysis and Policy Division at UN DESA, said, “If the growth picture is concerning, the inflation picture is in some ways even more immediately pressing. We have to understand that the price shock is landing much faster than the output shock and for many households is already being felt. As the figure shows, we have revised our 2026 inflation forecast up moderately for developed economies but more significantly for economies in transition and developing economies.”
He continued, “Worldwide, we have lifted our inflation projections for 2026 in nine out of ten countries. The global disinflation trend we had welcomed at the start of the year has not just stalled; it has gone into reverse.”
He stated, “The broader lesson is clear: reducing reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets through investment in renewables and diversification is now more urgent than ever.”
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
WHO’s representative in DRC, Dr Anne Ancia, told reporters in Geneva that there are more than 500 suspected cases including 130 suspected deaths, but that only 30 cases have been confirmed in the country so far.
The agency is working closely with the authorities and rushing more testing kits to eastern DRC to identify cases of infection of Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics.
Logistic inter-agency coordination allowed urgent critical medical supplies to be sent from Nairobi, Kenya to Kinshasa and Bunia in the DRC.
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Friends of Football
– Football
– SG Travels
– Mosque Attack
– Ebola
– Uganda
– Security Council – Ukraine
– Security Council – Middle East
– UNIFIL
– Lebanon
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– South Sudan
– Haiti
– Science Forward Podcast
– Financial Contribution
—-
FRIENDS OF FOOTBALL
There will be an event in the General Assembly hall this afternoon from 3 p.m. Representatives from Member States, permanent observers, particularly ambassadors, as well as high-ranking guests from the Secretariat and top soccer players, will participate in the marking of World Football Day. The event this year focuses on “Refugees and Soccer.”
This event is being co-hosted by Bahrain and Tajikistan, who are the co-chairs of the UN Friends of Football.
And starting at 5 p.m., there will be a soccer tournament taking place on the North lawn with permanent representatives, more junior diplomats, and a number of former professional soccer players as well as the President of the General Assembly herself. They will be competing against each other in regional groups, using a knockout system.
5 pm, North lawn. Be there. Wear your jerseys.
FOOTBALL
The UN Refugee Agency today announced its “Game-changing Team”, a symbolic team comprised of soccer players who have backgrounds as refugees or displaced people.
The team embodies hope, courage, resilience and the power of what is possible when people displaced by war and persecution are met with safety, opportunity and welcome. And it highlights the power of football to be more than a game; for young refugees it can be healing, it can bring hope, belonging. It also has the power to change lives.
This team is captained by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Alphonso Davies, who was born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled war in Liberia. You all know that he is the current of the Canadian national football team.
SG TRAVELS
The Secretary-General is in Tokyo today. This morning, he chaired the biannual session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, known as the CEB, which brings together the heads of all UN agencies, for better coordination across the UN system.
During these sessions, the CEB members reflect on current world affairs as they affect and relate to the UN system, while engaging in deliberations on “Megatrends Transforming the World”, as well as the UN80 Initiative.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will have an audience with His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.
He will also meet with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Motegi Toshimitsu. Before leaving Japan, he will also hold a press conference at the National Press club in Tokyo, and we will of course share those remarks with you.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-05-19
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Friends of Football
– Football
– SG Travels
– Mosque Attack
– Ebola
– Uganda
– Security Council – Ukraine
– Security Council – Middle East
– UNIFIL
– Lebanon
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– South Sudan
– Haiti
– Science Forward Podcast
– Financial Contribution
—-
FRIENDS OF FOOTBALL
There will be an event in the General Assembly hall this afternoon from 3 p.m. Representatives from Member States, permanent observers, particularly ambassadors, as well as high-ranking guests from the Secretariat and top soccer players, will participate in the marking of World Football Day. The event this year focuses on “Refugees and Soccer.”
This event is being co-hosted by Bahrain and Tajikistan, who are the co-chairs of the UN Friends of Football.
And starting at 5 p.m., there will be a soccer tournament taking place on the North lawn with permanent representatives, more junior diplomats, and a number of former professional soccer players as well as the President of the General Assembly herself. They will be competing against each other in regional groups, using a knockout system.
5 pm, North lawn. Be there. Wear your jerseys.
FOOTBALL
The UN Refugee Agency today announced its “Game-changing Team”, a symbolic team comprised of soccer players who have backgrounds as refugees or displaced people.
The team embodies hope, courage, resilience and the power of what is possible when people displaced by war and persecution are met with safety, opportunity and welcome. And it highlights the power of football to be more than a game; for young refugees it can be healing, it can bring hope, belonging. It also has the power to change lives.
This team is captained by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Alphonso Davies, who was born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled war in Liberia. You all know that he is the current of the Canadian national football team.
SG TRAVELS
The Secretary-General is in Tokyo today. This morning, he chaired the biannual session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, known as the CEB, which brings together the heads of all UN agencies, for better coordination across the UN system.
During these sessions, the CEB members reflect on current world affairs as they affect and relate to the UN system, while engaging in deliberations on “Megatrends Transforming the World”, as well as the UN80 Initiative.
Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will have an audience with His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.
He will also meet with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Motegi Toshimitsu. Before leaving Japan, he will also hold a press conference at the National Press club in Tokyo, and we will of course share those remarks with you.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-05-19
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo# (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
WHO’s representative in DRC, Dr Anne Ancia, told reporters in Geneva that there are more than 500 suspected cases including 130 suspected deaths, but that only 30 cases have been confirmed in the country so far.
The agency is working closely with the authorities and rushing more testing kits to eastern DRC to identify cases of infection of Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics.
Logistic inter-agency coordination allowed urgent critical medical supplies to be sent from Nairobi, Kenya to Kinshasa and Bunia in the DRC.
