Category: United Nations

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

-AU-UN Annual Conference
-Sudan
-Occupied Palestinian Territory
-Yemen
-Cambodia / Thailand
-Iraq
-Afghanistan
-Democratic Republic of the Congo
-Hunger
-Briefing / Tomorrow

AU-UN ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The 9th African Union–UN annual conference is taking place at the UN Headquarters.
The high-level discussions started earlier this morning and are co-chaired by the Secretary-General and Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
The annual meeting is focusing on progress in the implementation of the cooperation frameworks between the two organizations, but also on the joint action and challenges linked to peace, security, development and human rights.
Discussions include topics such as financing for development, climate action, as well as the implementation of the African strategy for women, peace and security agenda.

SUDAN
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, is in Sudan, to see firsthand the immense suffering and to help identify solutions to this deepening humanitarian crisis. Mr. Fletcher is currently traveling towards Darfur, where he is expected to meet families who fled the recent violence in El Fasher, a city he described as “already the scene of catastrophic levels of human suffering” that has now “descended into an even darker hell.’ Mr. Fletcher is expected to also meet with aid workers who are trying to help all those in need despite insecurity they are facing, access constraints and, as you heard, severe funding shortages. Mr. Fletcher, as you will recall, recently allocated $20 million from the OCHA-managed Central Emergency Response Fund to scale up life-saving aid in Tawila, Darfur and Kordofan.

And as I mentioned, we hope to have Mr. Fletcher brief you after he’s visited Darfur.
Yesterday, Mr. Fletcher was in Port Sudan where he met with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, President of the Transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan. Their discussions focused on improving humanitarian access across Sudan. Mr. Fletcher conveyed out appreciation for the Government’s stated commitment to facilitate the delivery of essential aid wherever it is needed.
While in Port Sudan, he also met with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who was also in Sudan. They discussed urgent steps to reach people in need across Sudan, from Darfur to the Kordofan. Mr. Fletcher expressed his gratitude for their partnership and commitment to facilitate neutral and impartial humanitarian access.
Mr. Fletcher, while in Port Sudan, also met with our UN and country team staff.

Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml___Oe0CZ8

Source: United Nations (video statements)

United Nations Human rights expert on Haiti, William O’Neill has described conditions of prisons in Haiti as inhuman and degrading. Speaking to UN News, the designated expert said, ‘the conditions are subhuman, frankly. Unbelievably crowded and hot. There’s not enough food. There’s very little access to medical care.’
Mr. O’Neil added that the country’s justice system has struggled to function effectively. Cases are not being tried quickly enough and 82 per cent of prisoners are being held in detention while they await their trial.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LhkvQkjbZQM

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Acute food insecurity is likely to worsen across 16 countries and territories in the coming months, UN agencies warn in a new report calling for urgent humanitarian action in response. Five facts about this dire situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJkAx0gXsSc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.

"Presidente Lula,
Excellencies,
It is an honour to join you for the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.

I thank President Lula and the Government and people of Brazil for their leadership – here in Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, and centre of climate action.

Tropical forests breathe life into our planet.
Yet they remain under relentless assault – treated as short-term profit, not long-term value.
Last year, the world lost the equivalent of 18 football fields of tropical primary forest – every minute.

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility is a bold mechanism to make standing forests more valuable than cleared land – aligning conservation with opportunity, and solidarity with shared prosperity.

Excellencies,
Tropical forests are vital to climate stability.
They protect water and soils, store and remove billions of tonnes of carbon, regulate rainfall, shape weather patterns across continents, and sustain millions of people.
Without tropical forests, there is no path to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
We are dangerously close to a tipping point that could push these ecosystems beyond recovery.

Crossing that line would unleash droughts, fires, and biodiversity loss on a scale humanity cannot control.
We have pledged to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030.
Now we must deliver.

That means supporting forest nations – not as a favour, but as a shared duty;
Cutting emissions from deforestation;
And preserving forests’ immense capacity to store carbon.
By rewarding countries for keeping forests standing, we boost resilience.

By supporting Indigenous Peoples and forest communities, we advance climate justice and safeguard cultures whose knowledge has stewarded nature for millennia.
And by mobilizing long-term, predictable, and affordable finance, we close one of the most persistent gaps in global climate action.
Fairness, inclusion and integrity must be front and centre.
Finance must reach the ground – those protecting forests with their hands, hearts, and heritage.

Excellencies,
Today’s launch is a statement of solidarity and hope.
It shows that developing countries – while bearing the heaviest impacts of the climate crisis – are leading with solutions for all.
From the Amazon to the Congo Basin to Southeast Asia, forest nations prove that protecting nature can drive growth, stability, and dignity.
Now the world must respond with matching ambition.

Governments, development banks, and the private sector must join forces to close the finance gap, unlock investment for sustainable forest economies and scale up monitoring and restoration.
Together, we can ensure tropical forests stand forever – as living pillars of climate stability, biodiversity, resilience, and peace.

Thank you."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgCVbP2UMMs

Source: United Nations (video statements)

“In this fragile environment, withdrawal of resources and capacity is imprudent at best, catastrophic at worst,” UN Women chief Sima Sami Bahous told the Security Council, stressing that South Sudan’s gender-based violence crisis – threatening 2.7 million people -makes continued peacekeeping support essential.

Bahous said UN Mission in South Sudan documented 260 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, including “rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced abortion and forced marriage, with the highest number recorded in Western Equatoria State.”

She described a recent incident in Warrap State in which armed youth surrounded a girls’ boarding school seeking revenge for a cattle raid. “100 schoolgirls were trapped inside. They feared abduction or worse,” she said. “Fortunately, UN peacekeepers intervened. They de-escalated the situation. They freed the girls.”

“For those 100 girls, those peacekeepers could not have been more essential, nor their courage and skill more life changing,” she added, cautioning that any reduction of mandates or resources would be “imprudent at best, catastrophic at worst.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OualQ3VRHQ

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the Belém Climate Summit – 10 years of the Paris Agreement NDCs and financing.

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Marking the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, Secretary-General António Guterres said, “we need an acceleration plan to close the gaps” in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ambition and implementation, “and that acceleration must start here in Belém.”

Addressing the event, on the sidelines of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit in Belém, Brazil, the Secretary-General said, “since the Paris Agreement was adopted ten years ago, Nationally Determined Contributions have been a barometer of countries’ climate ambitions. The latest NDCs represent some progress. But we must be honest in the Summit of truth. The plans and policies on the table are still far from enough.”

He said, “at COP30, let’s renew the great promise the world made a decade ago in Paris – by kickstarting a new decade of implementation and acceleration.”

NDCs are commitments made by countries under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts.

The Belém Climate Summit took place 6 and 7 November, and brought together heads of state and government, ministers, and leaders of international organizations to discuss pressing climate change challenges and commitments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su2iNmfoTm0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the security situation has deteriorated sharply. “Over the past three months, the developments in South Sudan continued to move in a negative and possibly dangerous direction. Ceasefire violations are on the increase — including widespread aerial bombardments and clashes between the signatories of the peace agreement.”

Lacroix stressed that “the Revitalized Peace Agreement remains the only viable framework for long term peace and stability in South Sudan,” but warned that preparations for the December 2026 elections lack urgency. “With time running out for credible planning, key electoral decisions must be made now, not later,” he said.

He also described a worsening humanitarian emergency. “More than 7.5 million people face acute food insecurity; 28,000 are at risk of famine,” he said. “Flooding has displaced over a million. Over 1.2 million returnees and refugees from Sudan have crossed into a country already struggling to feed its own.”

“Human suffering during this volatile situation continues to mount,” he added. “Conflict-related sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, and extrajudicial killings persist, with limited accountability. I urge all parties to immediately cease hostilities and recommit to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnio6RJ2Cg0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the thematic session on climate and nature forests and oceans.

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Secretary-General António Guterres said, “protecting forests and oceans is not charity. It is a legal and moral responsibility and smart economics” and called for “safeguarding these foundations of life; investing in nature’s recovery; And ensuring that people and planet thrive together, now and for generations to come.”

Addressing a thematic session on “climate and nature: forests and oceans” on the sidelines of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit ahead of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, Guterres said, “vital forests stretch beyond the tropics – across boreal and temperate regions. They store carbon and regulate rainfall – shielding us from floods, droughts, and deadly heat.”

He said, “we must halt deforestation by 2030 to keep 1.5-degrees within reach – protecting intact tropical and boreal forests, conserving peatlands, ending illegal logging, and eliminating deforestation from supply chains. We must also restore degraded land, with nature-based solutions that protect watersheds, reduce disaster risk, and create green jobs.”

Oceans, the Secretary-General continued, “absorb a quarter of human CO2 emissions and most of the excess heat trapped in our atmosphere. They cool the planet, underpin food security, livelihoods, and coastal protection. Yet they are warming, acidifying, and rising – threatening lives, economies, and the very existence of entire communities.”

He said, “we must enhance coastal protection and early warning systems; Restore coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves; Tackle plastic and nutrient pollution; Expand effectively managed marine protected areas – including by rapidly implementing the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction; And deliver “30 by 30” – protecting 30 percent of land and ocean by 2030.”

The World Leaders Climate Action Summit, taking place 6 and 7 November, brings together heads of state and government, ministers, and leaders of international organizations to discuss pressing climate change challenges and commitments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzDuzhm1ti4

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the Belém Climate Summit – Energy Transition Roundtable.

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Speaking at an Energy Transition Roundtable on the sidelines of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit in Belém, Brazil, Secretary-General António Guterres said, “renewables are now the cheapest source of new electricity,” but stressed that “we must go much faster – and ensure all nations share the benefits.”

Guterres said, renewables “are powering prosperity and empowering communities long left in the dark,” and noted that “every dollar invested in renewables creates three times more jobs than a dollar invested in fossil fuels – and clean energy jobs now outnumber fossil fuel jobs worldwide.”

He said, “the renewables revolution is here.”

The Secretary-General said, “scientists tell us that overshooting 1.5 degrees is now inevitable, starting, at the latest, in the early 2030s. But how high and how long that overshoot lasts depends on the speed and scale of our actions today.”

To return below 1.5 degrees by century’s end, he said, “global emissions must fall by almost half by 2030, reach net zero by 2050, and go net negative afterwards.”

Guterres called for eliminating fossil fuel subsidies; supporting workers and communities whose livelihoods still depend on coal, oil and gas; investment in infrastructure, including grids, storage, and efficiency, meeting all new electricity demand with clean power, including from the data centres powering artificial intelligence; and unlocking finance at scale for developing countries.

He said, “the pathways for each country may look different, but the destination must be the same: A net-zero world, followed consistently by a net negative world – powered by renewables.”

The Secretary-General said, “we must support developing countries to implement their commitment to transition away from fossil fuels through stronger cooperation, investment and technology transfer – and calibrated to different capacities and dependencies.”

At COP28 in 2023 in Dubai countries had agreed to transition away from fossil fuels and to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030.

The Belém Climate Summit, taking place 6 and 7 November, brings together heads of state and government, ministers, and leaders of international organizations to discuss pressing climate change challenges and commitments.

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

-AU-UN Annual Conference
-Sudan
-South Sudan / Security Council
-Occupied Palestinian Territory
-Lebanon / Israel
-Hurricane Melissa
-Shipwreck off the Coast of Malaysia and Thailand
-Senior Personnel Appointment
-Resident Coordinator – Bhutan
-Refugees / Global Winter Fundraising Campaign
-Global Cooling Watch 2025
-Briefing Tomorrow

AU-UN ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Tomorrow, the 9th African Union–United Nations annual conference will take place here at UN headquarters.
The high-level discussions will be co-chaired by Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, along with the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
The meeting will focus on progress in the implementation of cooperation frameworks between the two organizations, but also on the joint action and challenges linked to peace, security, development, human rights and climate action.
The annual conference will conclude with a joint press conference by the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. This will take place here, in this room, at 3:00 pm.

SUDAN
Today, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, arrived in Sudan. In Port Sudan, he met with authorities, humanitarian partners and the diplomatic community. We’ll share more details on those meetings as soon as we can.
Mr. Fletcher continues to call for an end to the atrocities in Sudan and to support efforts toward peace. He is also working to ensure that humanitarian teams receive the access and funding they need to deliver life-saving assistance across conflict lines.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that the situation in North Darfur State remains volatile following the Rapid Support Forces’ takeover of El Fasher on October 26th. While large-scale clashes have subsided, sporadic fighting and drone activity persist, leaving civilians at risk of looting, forced recruitment and gender-based violence.
In South Kordofan State, a drone strike reportedly hit the town of Um Barmbeeta yesterday, destroying a school and injuring several displaced people. The state capital Kadugli and the nearby town of Dilling remain under siege, with widespread insecurity restricting access to thousands of families in need of urgent aid.
Our humanitarian partners report that more than 12,000 people fleeing violence in the Kordofan and Darfur regions have sought refuge in White Nile State since late October – an average of 700 each day. Displaced families face severe shortages of food, shelter and water, while host communities are overstretched.
Civilians must be protected, and aid workers must be granted safe and sustained access to deliver assistance across the front lines.

Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZsX444JTM