Source: United Nations (video statements)
Today marks a historical milestone for the United Nations Security Council – 10,000 meetings since the Council’s inception in 1946. Find out more about this UN organ, tasked with maintaining international peace and security
Source: United Nations (video statements)
“Better Together” theme will guide the work of the United Nations General Assembly’s 80th session, its President Annalena Baerbock told reporters. “No single nation, regardless of its size, might, or wealth, can confront the challenges that we face all alone,” she said.
Briefing journalists today (17 Sep) Baerbock said the year’s priorities include advancing the UN80 reform agenda, strengthening the organization’s effectiveness, and guiding the selection of the next Secretary-General. She also highlighted the need to build on the Pact for the Future and “regain momentum on the SDGs.”
“Yes, we are at a crossroads – a make-or-break moment,” Baerbock said. “Our forebearers had the humility and grace to put aside their differences and work together in 1945; we need that same principled conviction today.”
She stressed that governments must back up their speeches with tangible commitments. “If we want to make our United Nations stronger, then we would need commitments from all the governments around the world,” Baerbock said, urging parliaments to consider UN funding alongside global priorities such as peace and security, climate action, human rights, and sustainable development.
Baerbock said these issues would guide her bilateral meetings with heads of state during the high-level week.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva today (17 Sep) told the Security Council that as United Nations agencies “were ramping up their support for earthquake victims,” Taliban authorities “have blocked access for female national staff to UN field office premises around the country,” and said “this serious restriction hinders the UN’s ability to help the Afghan people at their moment of great need.”
Otunbayeva welcomed support from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, but said, “IFI-funded projects must be implemented through UN agencies, and their impact has been reduced by the enforcement of bans against female national staff, and the wider ban on women working, which has created unacceptable discrimination.”
She said, “we have issued a statement calling for the lifting of this ban and its enforcement, and I urge the Security Council to echo our call.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Annalena Baerbock, President of the eightieth session of the United Nations General Assembly, briefed reporters ahead of the start of the UNGA debate.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Colombia
Occupied Palestinian Territory
UNIFIL
Sudan
Central African Republic
Afghanistan/Humanitarian
Security Council
Ukraine
World Patient Safety Day
Financial Contribution
Guest Tomorrow and Security Briefing
COLOMBIA
The Secretary-General welcomed the issuance by Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace of its first restorative sentences, which is a historic milestone in the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement of 2016. The Secretary-General took note of the court’s announcement that these sentences, for former commanders of the FARC-EP, will be followed later this week by the first sentences for former members of the public security forces.
The Secretary-General noted that this is the first sentences of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and it marks a key step forward for the innovative mechanisms of transitional justice in the Agreement, which seek to foster truth, ensure accountability for the most serious crimes committed during Colombia’s armed conflict, as well as to provide redress to the victims.
The Secretary-General stresses that these decisions should be implemented in full and translate into actions of reparation on behalf of the victims. He called on all sentenced individuals to maintain their commitment to peace by fully complying with their sentences, and for the Colombian governmental and state authorities to ensure that all conditions are in place for the sentences to be carried out.
The United Nations, including through our Verification Mission on the ground is mandated to verify compliance with and implementation of the sentences, remains firmly committed to supporting Colombia in its pursuit of lasting peace, justice and reconciliation.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, which is worsening by the hour, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continues to call for the immediate protection of civilians. Issuing displacement orders does not absolve the parties to a conflict from their responsibilities to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities.
Today, the Israeli army once again ordered people to leave Gaza City within the next 48 hours and move south along a temporary passageway on the Salah ad Din road, which is the one that runs through the center of the Gaza strip.
Thousands of people continue to flee, amid active hostilities. Roads, as you can well imagine and as you have see, are congested, people are hungry, and children are traumatized.
Between Monday and yesterday, our partners monitoring the movement of people in Gaza recorded nearly 40,000 displacements to the south.
Since mid-August – and as of yesterday – some 200,000 movements have been recorded, with many women, children and older people walking for hours.
OCHA was informed by the Ministry of Health in Gaza that the Rantissi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City was damaged after being struck multiple times overnight. There were 80 patients at the facility, including 12 children and babies in intensive care. Half of the patients and their caregivers were forced to flee, under fire, in search of elusive safety.
Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund warns that Israel’s offensive in Gaza is forcing women to give birth in the streets, without hospitals, without doctors or clean water. UNFPA says that 23,000 women are going without care, and about 15 babies are born each week without any medical help.
Our humanitarian partners tell us that since the collapse of the ceasefire in March, 80 medical points and primary healthcare centres providing sexual and reproductive health outpatient services have been affected, with 65 of those out of service.
Today, the Palestine Telecommunications Company reported a complete internet outage across Gaza City and the north. This is preventing people and humanitarians from receiving critical information.
Our partners have set up three support points in areas receiving displaced people in southern Gaza to assist separated, orphaned and injured children.
They report that heavy bombardment in Gaza City is further fueling people’s distress, especially among children.
Yesterday, two humanitarian movements to collect food cargo from the crossings into Gaza were either cancelled or denied. Other missions were facilitated but faced impediments on the ground. The Zikim crossing remains closed for a fifth consecutive day.
Full Highlights
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=17%20September%202025
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Joint Media Stakeout by UN Security Council Signatories of the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), delivered by Sangjin Kim, Charge d’affaires, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly – under the theme Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights – comes at a pivotal moment to renew global commitment to multilateralism, solidarity and shared action for people and planet.
This year’s high-level week (22-30 September) highlights the urgency of delivering on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals and reinvigorating global cooperation.
Visit UN News for a front-row seat to the 80th UN General Assembly! Follow world leaders as they debate the globe’s most pressing challenges and chart the next chapter for peace, development, and human rights — all live, on your phone or computer.
https://news.un.org/en/events/unga80 and https://news.un.org
Source: United Nations (video statements)
According to a new report, the world is retreating from gender equality — and the cost is counted in lives, rights, and opportunities.
Today (15 Sep), at the launch of the 2025 SDG Gender Snapshot report, UN Women and the UN Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said that 5 years from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline, none of the gender equality targets are on track, but this does not have to be a reality for women and girls of today or tomorrow.
Bjørg Sandkjær, UN-DESA Assistant Secretary-General, said, “Profound gaps persist. At current trends, more than 350 million women and girls could still be living in extreme poverty by the year 2030. Last year, in 2024, nearly 64 million more women than men experienced food insecurity. Again, talking about leadership, women hold only 27 per cent of parliamentary seats globally, while more than 100 countries have never had a woman Head of State or Government.”
She stressed, “Under a worst-case scenario, climate change could push up to 158.3 million more women and girls into extreme poverty by 2050.”
She also warned that “Without accurate, timely gender data, we cannot measure progress or design effective interventions and we are receiving reports that close to 70 percent of national statistical offices reported reduced funding since the start of this year.”
She concluded, “We need renewed political will and reinvigorated international cooperation to accelerate progress toward gender equality. This is not only just—it is also sound economics and smart policy.”
The report shows that the world is at a crossroads.
Some key data from the report: The world is retreating from gender equality — and the cost is counted in lives, rights, and opportunities.
Sarah Hendriks, director of UN Women’s Policy Division, said, “In essence, this year’s Gender Snapshot sounds a very clear and urgent alarm: Not a single one of the SDG 5 indicators have been met, and none are actually on track, not one. And the truth is quite stark, and what we see from this data is that the world is actually backsliding when it comes to gender equality. It is taking quite significant steps back, and the cost is measured in lives, but also in rights and lost opportunities.”
She highlighted, “The outcomes of this are not inevitable. They are actually the result of deliberate choices. They are, in fact, the result of disinvestment, the result of institutional erosion and the result of systems that prioritize war over rights, war over equality. We live now in a world that spends $2.7 trillion a year on weapons and yet fall short on the $420 billion price tag to advance and achieve gender equality and women’s rights.”
Papa Alioune Seck, chief of UN Women’s Research and Data, noted, “Nearly 1 in 3 women will experience physical and or sexual violence in her lifetime. This is a crisis of pandemic proportions. Yet, we also know how to change this: Financial inclusion is a powerful tool. For every 10 percent increase in women’s financial inclusion, violence decline by approximately 2 percent.”
The Gender Snapshot report is the world’s most authoritative source on gender and the Sustainable Development Goals, drawing on more than 100 data sources to track progress across all 17 Goals.
Female extreme poverty has hovered at 10 per cent since 2020. If current trends continue, the world will reach 2030 with 351 million women and girls still living in extreme poverty.
Conflict is getting deadlier for women and girls.
Already, 676 million women and girls live within reach of deadly conflict — the highest recorded since the 1990s.
But where gender equality has been prioritized, it has delivered.
Girls are now more likely to complete school than ever before, and maternal mortality has declined by nearly 40 per cent between 2000 and 2023.
Rates of intimate partner violence are 2.5 times lower in countries with comprehensive measures on violence compared to those with weak protections.
Closing the gender digital divide alone could benefit 343.5 million women and girls worldwide, lift 30 million out of poverty by 2050, and generate an estimated $1.5 trillion boost to global GDP by 2030.
Ahead of the UN high-level week, the Gender Snapshot report makes clear that the choice is urgent: invest in women and girls now, or risk losing another generation of progress.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Briefing by Hans Grundberg, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, on the situation in the Middle East.
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The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, told the Security Council that stability in Yemen cannot be separated from broader regional dynamics. He warned that Yemen’s unresolved conflict acts as a fault line, sending tremors across borders and amplifying existing regional rivalries, while broader Middle East instability continues to feed divisions within Yemen. “Yemen is both a mirror and a magnifier of the region’s volatility,” Grundberg said, stressing that peace in Yemen is contingent on progress across the region.
Grundberg expressed concern over recent escalations, including drone and missile attacks by Ansar Allah on Israel, as well as Israeli strikes in Sana’a and other areas controlled by Ansar Allah, which reportedly killed civilians and senior interlocutors. He emphasized that these cycles of retaliation must end to prevent a return to widespread conflict. At the same time, he warned that viewing Yemen solely through a regional lens risks sidelining the voices, needs, and aspirations of Yemenis themselves. “The current cycle of violence is dragging Yemen further away from a peace process that would bring sustainable, long-term peace and economic growth,” he said, calling for a renewed focus on internal challenges and unlocking Yemen’s potential.
The Special Envoy highlighted the ongoing humanitarian and operational challenges faced by the UN, including the arbitrary detention of over 40 UN staff in Sana’a and Hudaydah, the forced entry into UN premises, and the seizure of UN property. He condemned these actions as violations of international law that endanger the UN’s ability to advance peace and deliver humanitarian support. Grundberg expressed solidarity with detained colleagues, called for their immediate and unconditional release, and urged Ansar Allah to repatriate the surviving crew members of the Motor Vessel Eternity C.
Turning to the frontlines, Grundberg noted that while relative stability has been maintained, recent military activity in Al Dhale’, Ma’rib, and Ta’iz highlights the risk of miscalculations triggering renewed full-scale conflict. He underscored the importance of ongoing de-escalation efforts and meaningful security dialogue, noting the productive engagement of the Yemeni Government, regional actors, and the Military Coordination Committee, including the reopening of key roads as a demonstration of cooperation.
Grundberg also highlighted economic progress, including improvements to currency value and reductions in living costs, crediting dialogue with the Central Bank of Yemen, government ministers, and private sector representatives. He stressed that sustainable economic stabilization requires depoliticizing national institutions and taking a nationwide view.
Finally, Grundberg reiterated the urgent need for a nationwide ceasefire, inclusive political process, and country-wide economic reforms, emphasizing that dialogue and collaboration remain the only viable path to lasting stability. He reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to supporting a Yemeni-led peace process that is credible, regionally supported, and insulated from wider geopolitical shocks.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Press Conference by António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, following the start of the Eightieth Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
