In July 1995, over 8000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were murdered in Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces in a killing recognized by international courts as genocide.
Today, three survivors work at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial — keeping the record against those who deny it happened.
This is the opening of The Memory Keepers of Srebrenica, a short documentary produced by the United Nations to mark the commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide.
Full film on the United Nations YouTube channel on 9 July.
1,000 days into the war in Gaza, children continue to pay the highest price. ‘Children in Gaza have taken their first steps through rubble, spoken their first words against the deafening sounds of bombs’, UNICEF spokesperson, Louise Wateridge reminds us.
UN Controller Chandramouli Ramanathan told reporters that on Tuesday (30 Jun), the Member States approved a budget of $5.1 billion for peacekeeping, “which is about $550 million less than last year, which is a 9.7 percent reduction.”
“About 1,100 civilian posts also being reduced,” he added.
Asked about the two biggest financial contributors of the UN, Ramanathan said that on the regular budget, “China owes us another US dollars 428 million, which we expect them to pay maybe in September and December into installments.”
“The US also was assessed US dollars 767 million. They paid 160. We’ve been told that they were planning to make a payment in April and July. The April payment didn’t happen, so they are still telling us that the payment is on its way and we are expecting a payment.”
The Controller also said, “our assumptions are based on collections from both of them, if either of them doesn’t pay in time, we have a little bit of a crisis in September, but if they don’t pay at all or pay a less than their original amount, then we have a little bit of a challenge at the end of the year. But even if both of them pay, we’re going to end the year with pretty much our cash gone.”
Ramanathan also emphasized that the new methodology “prevents a crash” but “it does not do away with all the problems.”
He said, “the expectation should not be that suddenly we are in a great shape and we’re going. No, we have prevented a crash. We ensure that the boat can get to the coast. It does not mean that it’s strong enough now to keep sailing because it still has problems. It is still vulnerable to any nonpayment.”
The UN ended 2025 with a record high of $1.6 billion in unpaid assessments, according to the Secretary-General latest report on the Organization’s financial status, issued in May.
Overall arrears across the regular budget, peacekeeping and two international tribunals exceed $6.5 billion.
At the beginning of this year, the UN implemented strict cash conservation measures to both reduce and slow expenditures.
Until Tuesday night (30 Jun), the financial rules, established 80 years ago, required the UN to give back any unspent funds to Member States as credits against future assessments.
This applied even when underspending results from late contributions or from funds that were never received.
Addressing a Security Council emergency session as a fragile US-Iran ceasefire came under renewed strain following fresh military exchanges, Assistant Secretary-General Elizabeth Spehar said, “residential areas, ports, energy facilities, commercial vessels and maritime personnel must be protected” and “merchant shipping should not be used as a tool of pressure.”
The military exchanges have reportedly included in recent days attacks by Iran on Bahrain and Kuwait.
Informal comments to the media by Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the situation in the Middle East – Security Council Media Stakeout.
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Bahrain’s Foreign Minister told reporters outside the Council that “Iran has once again launched ballistic missiles and armed drones against my country, striking civilian areas in direct breach of its commitment under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding of the 17th of June to permanently cease military operations.”
He said, “these attacks must stop. Council resolutions must be implemented, and international commitments must be honoured. The credibility of this Council rests on not on adopting resolutions, but on seeing them upheld. “
Fighting for and believing in change is in Jorge Moreira da Silva’s blood. Now executive director of UNOPS, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the former Portuguese minister is helping to improve lives. From restoring roads and repairing power plants to running health centres and constructing renewable energy mini-grids, UNOPS implements projects in more than 130 countries – often in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
“It’s about providing social basic human needs. We have found a way to provide livelihoods to 15 million people in Afghanistan…rehabilitating roads, streets, water canals, paying men and women to do the job.”
In this episode, Jorge Moreira da Silva reflects on the practical and political challenges of delivering projects in complex environments – from funding gaps to lack of political will. He also shares how releasing an Iberian lynx and earning his pilot’s license have to do with keeping hope alive through dark times.
Since this interview was recorded, the UN Secretary-General has appointed Jorge Moreira da Silva to lead the UN task force for the Strait of Hormuz. The Initiative aims to facilitate the delivery and movement of much needed fertilisers and related raw materials to Asia and the African continent. The urgent delivery of these fertilisers is crucial to avert more hunger and food insecurity. He has been engaged in extensive consultations with all parties involved to drive this initiative.
[00:00] Introduction
[00:43] UNOPS: Fit for Service
[02:55] Infrastructure as a lifeline
[05:30] Highlighting impactful climate and energy projects
[07:34] Providing livelihoods for 15 million people in Afghanistan
[09:30] Delivering aid under political constraints
[11:03] Witnessing the devastation in Gaza
[18:51] Restoring human dignity through infrastructure
[21:00] The risks humanitarians take
[23:57] War’s impact on children in Ukraine
[25:54] Confronting global injustice
[27:35] Path to the United Nations
[31:21] Family, sacrifice, and service
[34:13] Personal time and balance
[36:11] A vision for a better world
[38:34] Closing remarks
Listen to more Awake at Night episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDFQJEq_0b6hu1e8oxsch9W0D7vkNqt
#podcast #UnitedNations #AwakeAtNight #UNOPS #Infrastructure
About Awake at Night
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the podcast ‘Awake at Night’ is an in-depth interview series focusing on remarkable United Nations staff members who dedicate their career to helping people in parts of the world where they have the hardest lives – from war zones and displacement camps to areas hit by disasters and the devastation of climate change.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemns overnight missile and drone attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, reiterating his appeal for urgent de-escalation, leading to a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Programming Note
– Trip Announcement
– Digital Week in Geneva
– Ukraine
– Uganda
– Syria
– Lebanon/Israel
– Lebanon/Humanitarian
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Security Council
– Ebola
– Uganda/WHO
– Nigeria
– International Day of Cooperatives
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PROGRAMMING NOTE
A programming note, as a reminder, tomorrow the UN Headquarters will be closed given that it’s an official holiday in our host country for their Independence Day.
On Monday, UN Development Programme Administrator, Alexander De Croo, and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, who will join us from Kabul to brief on their joint mission to Afghanistan.
Then, at 1:15 p.m., Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and UN Police Adviser, Faisal Shahkar, will be here to brief ahead of the fifth United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS 2026).
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The Secretary-General will arrive in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday 5 July to take part in the inaugural session of the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance.
You will recall that the Global Digital Compact, adopted at the Summit of the Future in 2024, included among its commitments the creation of a Global Dialogue on AI Governance, to serve as an inclusive space, within the UN, for governments, civil society and other stakeholders to deliberate on AI.
Last year, the Dialogue was established by the General Assembly to build common approaches to the governance of artificial intelligence. In the same resolution, the General Assembly also created the International Scientific Panel on AI, the first global scientific body on Artificial Intelligence.
In his remarks during the Dialogue’s opening session, the Secretary-General is expected to reiterate that as AI is already transforming our world, for the first time, the Global Dialogue on AI Governance is giving every country a seat at the table, something he has been advocating for since early on in his mandate.
Also on Monday, Yoshua Bengio and Maria Ressa, the Co-chairs of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, will present their preliminary report to Member States, and you heard from them yesterday.
Throughout the day, the Secretary-General will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders taking part in the Global Dialogue.
In the afternoon, at the Palais des Nations, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks during a meeting of the International Law Commission.
He will travel back to New York on Tuesday morning.
DIGITAL WEEK IN GENEVA
The Global Dialogue on AI governance – which takes place on Monday and Tuesday, kicks off what our colleagues have dubbed Geneva Digital Week.
Also happening next week, from 6 to 10 July, is the World Summit on the Information Society, organized by the International Telecommunication Union.
Finally, Geneva is also the host city of the AI for Good Global Summit, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with UN partners, and co-convened by Switzerland.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-07-02
Informal comments to the media by Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the situation in the Middle East – Security Council Media Stakeout.
Ahead of the first Global Dialogue on AI Governance (Geneva, 6–7 July 2026), Yoshua Bengio, Maria Ressa, and Ambassadors Egriselda López and Rein Tammsaar explain what the UN’s new AI bodies can actually do — and why no country can govern AI alone.
They discuss the accelerating capabilities of frontier AI, disinformation and the erosion of trust, the widening AI divide between countries, and why multilateral governance is the only viable path.
In August 2025, UN Member States established two new mechanisms for global cooperation on artificial intelligence: the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, the first UN platform where all countries discuss AI governance together, and the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which provides evidence-based assessments independent of any government or company.
The first session of the Global Dialogue takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 6–7 July 2026.
