Category: United Nations

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The HLPF will be held from Monday, 14 July, to Wednesday, 23 July 2025, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council.

Opening
Unlocking means of implementation: Mobilizing financing and STI for the SDGs (Townhall meeting)

-How can countries and stakeholders advance a coherent framework for financing the SDGs? 
-What are the key outcomes from the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) which can be addressed in the short-term?
-How can promising science and technology solutions for the SDGs be scaled up? 
-What innovative examples were highlighted at the 10th Multi-Stakeholder Forum on STI for the SDGs?

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The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held from Monday, 14 July, to Wednesday, 23 July 2025, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Monday, 21 July, to Wednesday, 23 July 2025, as part of the High-level Segment of ECOSOC.

The theme of the HLPF will be "Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind"

Five Sustainable Development Goals would be the focus of HLPF 2025 

SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being
SDG 5 – Gender Equality
SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 14 – Life Below Water
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals

The 2025 HLPF is expected to bring together ministerial and high-level representatives of governments, as well as a wide range of expertise and stakeholders, including heads of UN entities, academics and other experts, and representatives of major groups and other stakeholders. 

37 countries will present a Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) at the 2025 HLPF: Angola, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, Micronesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Thailand.  

Watch in 6 UN official languages: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1f/k1fv876o81

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FEcMRkKdGw

Source: United Nations (video statements)

World Food Programme (WFP) deputy chief Carl Skau said, “one in three people in Gaza goes for days without eating.” He once again called for a ceasefire and the access for humanitarian aid, the Programme has "enough food on the borders to be delivered to the entire population for some two months," he said.

The Deputy Executive Director briefed reporters today (11 Jul) in New York on his recent visit to Gaza.

“Starvation is spreading,” Skau said, referring to the recent IPC report a few weeks ago pointing to the entire population being acutely food insecure and 500,000 people in starvation, he added, “it’s much worse now. Malnutrition is surging.”

The senior WFP official also highlighted the displacement in the Strip. He said, “I’ve met families who have moved maybe two or three times. Now it’s a situation where I meet families who have moved two or three times in the past ten days. They have moved 20 or 30 times, and obviously every time they are able to bring less and the margins to survive become slimmer

Skau also said that the Programme’s ability to response and assist as humanitarians “have never been more constrained.”

“The first issue is obviously the amount that we are able to bring in. It’s just a fraction of what’s needed,” he explained, adding that the price of a kilo of wheat flour was over $25 during his visit last week.

Skau described the operating environment for his team as “impossible.”

He said, “Some 85 percent now of the territory, there are active military operations. Our teams get stuck in waiting for clearances and at checkpoints, often spending between 15 to 20 hours straight in the armored vehicles trying to escort our convoys.”

“There’s not enough fuel. There are not enough spare parts to our vehicles. Most of the windows in our armored vehicles have been damaged, and we don’t have basic communication. Radio, antennas from our cars have been ripped off. And so, if you are more than 20 metres away from each other, we don’t have proper communication. And that, it is really an issue when you are in this kind of environment, he added.

The Deputy Executive Director also informed the reporters that WFP has been “actively engaging with Israeli authorities over the past few weeks.”

He noted that there were some agreements in terms of improving the conditions, but the implementation of the agreements is not yet enough.

Skau reiterated that WFP has enough food on the borders to deliver to the entire population for some two months, “but obviously we need that ceasefire and we need conditions within that ceasefire.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFmi37nXRCk

Source: United Nations (video statements)

“Since the spring of this year, first Pakistan, then Iran and now possibly others, such as Tajikistan, are fomenting the mass return of Afghan refugees,” a UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan, addressed the press virtually from Kabul today (11 Jul), in New York on the country’s humanitarian situation, notably on the increase of Afghan returns in adverse circumstances

He reported, “Since the spring of this year, first Pakistan, then Iran and now possibly others, such as Tajikistan, are fomenting the mass return of Afghan refugees. Some people are moving in a voluntary fashion, but others are not.”

He said, “Of concern to us is the scale, the intensity and the manner in which returns are occurring. In terms of the scale, over 1.6 million Afghans have returned from both Pakistan and Iran this year alone, including 1.3 million from Iran.”

He also said, “At the Iran Afghanistan border, where I just was a few days ago, and to which I’m heading again tomorrow, we are seeing peaks of over 40,000 people a day. And on the fourth of July, we actually saw 50,000 people coming across that border. Many of these returnees are arriving having been abruptly uprooted and having undergone arduous, exhausting and degrading journeys.”

He highlighted, “And while they are from Afghanistan, they often appear to be not of Afghanistan. Often born abroad, with better education and different cultural norms. Their outlook is different from and often at all with present day in Afghanistan. We are particularly concerned about the fate of women and girls in a country in which their most basic human rights are at risk and not respected.”

He continued, “What we are seeing with these returns is precarity layered upon poverty, on drought, human rights abuses and an instable region. In other words, we are having a deeply impoverished people coming to a country that is itself, while welcoming wholly unprepared to receive them.”

He stressed, “Many will be left with a desperate choice: Do they flee, or do they fight? Do they do they come home find nothing to do and simply bounce back to Iran, to Turkey and on to Europe? Or if they are, particularly if they are working age men, are they going to be victims of those groups that are prowling the countryside looking for recruits for their various causes.”

He concluded, “We are calling for restraint, for resources, for dialog and for international cooperation to stem an evolving chaotic situation and to foster a more stable outcome for all of us.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-mb6ZnlqMU

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Deputy International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan today (10 Jul) told the Security Council that the Office of the Prosecutor has “reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are continuing to be committed in Darfur.”

Khan described a series of ongoing violations, including hospitals, humanitarian convoys, and other civilian objects apparently being targeted; famine escalating and humanitarian aid not reaching those in need; people being deprived of water and food; rape and sexual violence being weaponized; and abductions for ransom or to bolster the ranks of armed groups becoming common practice.

She said, “we come together at a time when it can seem difficult to find appropriate words to describe the depth of suffering in Darfur. The humanitarian position has reached an intolerable state.”

The Deputy Prosecutor noted the Office’s conclusions are grounded on the activities it has been undertaking in the last six months and in earlier reporting periods, relying on documentary, testimonial, and digital evidence, collected and analysed by the Office.

She said, “drawing on the over 7,000 evidence items collected to date, the Office of the Prosecutor remains focused on delivering concrete landmarks, so as to respond to the legitimate and impassioned calls for justice heard from victims and survivors.”

Khan said, “to those on the ground in Darfur now; to those inflicting unimaginable atrocities on its population; they may feel a sense of impunity at this moment, as Ali Kushayb may have in the past. But we are working intensively to ensure that the Ali Kushayb trial represents only the first of many in relation to this situation at the International Criminal Court.”

On 9 July 2021, Pre-Trial Chamber II confirmed all the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought by the Prosecutor against Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman – commonly known as Ali Kushayb – and committed him to trial. The trial ended on 13 December 2024

Khan said, “there is an inescapable pattern of offending, targeting gender and ethnicity through rape and sexual violence which must be translated into evidence for the Court and the world to hear,” and stressed that “these alleged crimes are being given particular priority by our Office as we proceed with focus in our investigative work.”

Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, for his part told the Council that “militia of the Rapid Support are launching an all-out destruction war against the state without the main parameters of a regular army.”

Al-Harith Mohamed, said, “they lack unity of control and command or even knowledge of the rules of engagement. They are established based on communal bases. The recruitment is based on ethnicity. They have been designated as a terrorist group.

On the other hand, he continued, “the soldiers of the Sudanese Armed Forces are coming from all strata of the Sudanese society they have been trained on IHL (International Humanitarian Law); they follow a strict code of conduct. They also apply the principles of precaution and distinction. We’ve also, through our spokesperson, have issued a number of statements warning citizens from any potential areas that might be turned into a theatre of war. “

Outside the Council, Ambassadors Michael Imran Kanu of Sierra Leone and Sandra Jensen Landi of Denmark issued a statement joined by Representatives from France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

Kanu said, “we express, position to the office for their continued dedication to their mandate under exceptional, challenging circumstances. We welcome the ongoing intensive activities with respect to the situation in Darfur, reflected in the report. Based on extensive testimonial, digital and documentary evidence collected, the office has confirmed it has reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Darfur.’

Landi, for her part said, “we remain steadfast in upholding the principles enshrined in the Rome Statute and defending the court’s integrity against any threats or actions targeting the institution, its officials, or cooperating partners. Such actions are counterproductive to our shared goal of ensuring accountability for the most serious crimes, promoting the rule of law, and fostering lasting respect for international law, including human rights.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtVhuTh5Dnc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Countries must urgently step up to transform their HIV responses amid an international funding crisis that risks millions of lives, a new UN report said.

UNAIDS today launched its 2025 Global AIDS Update, AIDS, Crisis and the Power to Transform, which shows that a historic funding crisis is threatening to unravel decades of progress unless countries can make radical shifts to HIV programming and funding.

Angeli Achrekar, UNAIDS Assistant Secretary-General, addressed virtually the press today (10 Jul) in New York about the report and said, “The report details one of the most successful public health responses in history, saving nearly 27 million lives, and showing what’s possible when the world comes together in solidarity. Right now, we show that 31 point 6 million people living with HIV, or 77 percent of all people living with HIV globally are on life saving treatment. This is extraordinary progress, and what we saw by the end of 2024 is that the end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 was indeed in sight.”

The report highlights the impact that the sudden, large-scale funding cuts from international donors are having on countries most affected by HIV.

Achrekar said, “There has been a sudden, abrupt, wave of massive cuts and weakening of aid consensus from the single largest HIV donor, but also other governments all over the world since January 2025, and onwards. And what’s happening is that it’s putting the entire global HIV response in peril.”

Yet it also showcases some inspiring examples of resilience, with countries and communities stepping up in the face of adversity to protect the gains made and drive the HIV response forward.

Some 25 of the 60 low and middle-income countries included in the report have indicated increases in domestic budgets for their HIV responses in 2026.

The estimated collective rise among the 25 countries amounts to 8 percent above current levels, translating to approximately USD 180 million in additional domestic resources.

Achrekar said, “We’re seeing phenomenal new tools, a suite of long-acting HIV prevention medicines that are already coming to market with injections just twice a year, that are nearly 100 percent effective at preventing and stopping HIV transmission from occurring.”

This is promising, but not sufficient to replace the scale of international funding in countries that are heavily reliant.

Achrekar explained, “We have modeled in this report and show that if the world does not act to mitigate and really ensure that there is continuity of support and resources for HIV prevention and treatment efforts, an additional 6 million HIV infections and an additional 4 million AIDS deaths will occur by 2029. What this means is that we will return to the late 1990s and early 2000s when the epidemic would it was at its deadliest peak.”

She continued, “The number of countries criminalizing key populations had increased. Bans on same sex relations are now in 64 countries, and sex work in 168 countries. This dangerous trend limits access to HIV prevention and treatment services, and again, makes the progress of getting to end AIDS and get that response back on track even harder.”

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Beginning in late October 2012 in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Sandy grew into what some media reports described as a “once in a generation” storm, causing death and destruction across the Caribbean region and the eastern seaboard of the United States.
In the Caribbean, five million people were affected and 72 people died. In Haiti, 54 people died, and hundreds of thousands of people were hit by floods and heavy winds. In Cuba, 20 per cent of the country’s population was affected. Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas also suffered significantly.
Sandy’s arrival, and its effects, in New York City, where the United Nations is headquartered, led to the UN offices being closed for an unprecedented three days straight, with most meetings cancelled, before re-opening on Thursday, 1 November 2012.
The UN complex sustained damage due to high wind and flooding, which affected communications and other infrastructure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEj9bc2bH3E

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
– 30th Anniversary of the Genocide in Srebrenica
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Syria
– Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and the Russian Federation
– Haiti
– Attacks in the Red Sea
– Sudan
– Central African Republic
– World Population Day
– International Days
– Briefings

30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GENOCIDE IN SREBRENICA
Today is the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. In a message for the Day, the Secretary-General notes that as we mark this anniversary in Srebrenica – the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War. He stresses that this day is not only a moment of reflection, it is also a call to vigilance and action.
The Secretary-General points out that at a time when hate speech, denial and division are gaining ground, we must stand firm for truth and justice, adding that we must detect early warning signs and respond before violence takes hold, and that we must respect international law, we must defend human rights, and we must uphold the dignity of every individual, and also invest in reconciliation and peace.
And also to note that Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, represented the Secretary-General at the official ceremony that took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina today. In her remarks, she noted that the genocide in Srebrenica remains one of the darkest chapters in Europe’s recent history, a stark reminder of the consequences of hatred, division and the failure to protect civilians. She emphasized that the legacy of Srebrenica must be a world that never again turns away in the face of atrocity.
Also present from the UN side was Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that every day without a ceasefire brings more preventable deaths – children dying in pain, and hungry people shot while trying to reach the trickle of aid that is allowed in.
And today, once again, we’ve seen horrifying reports of casualties – dozens of them – among people in Rafah who were simply trying to get food and other basic supplies for their families.
Meanwhile, the fuel crisis remains acute.
Yesterday – for the second straight day – our colleagues were able to pick up 75,000 litres of fuel and bring them to the Gaza strip. This is of course a positive development. However, these amounts are a small portion of what is actually required to sustain lifesaving operations every day in Gaza.
To be clear: fuel is still running out in Gaza. More fuel is needed than what is actually brought in. If the current limits aren’t lifted immediately, so we can bring in greater volumes, more services will go dark
We also urgently need unimpeded, safe access inside Gaza. Yesterday, our teams could provide hospitals with some of the fuel that came in – but only in the south. That’s because Israeli authorities denied our attempt to bring fuel to the north.
Such denials are life-threatening.
We know that hospitals in the north are on the verge of shutting down. But it’s not just hospitals: Fuel is also running out for ambulances, it is running out for water treatment facilities and it is running out for many other essential services, all of which are at risk of collapsing.
Overall, out of the 15 humanitarian movements attempted yesterday where coordination was required with the Israeli authorities, five were denied outright, four were initially approved but then faced impediments on the ground, and only six were fully facilitated. Critical missions – such as the evacuation of vulnerable people from high-risk areas, the retrieval of vehicles and spare tires, and the assessment of medical equipment – could not be accomplished.
The facilitation of movements also needs to be timely. OCHA reports that on Wednesday, Israeli authorities denied a request to reach part of Gaza city where 18 injured people were trapped under the rubble. By the time the mission was finally allowed through yesterday, no one was found alive.
And another important reminder from OCHA is that much-needed operations, such as the distribution of tents, cannot even be attempted as stocks are fully depleted, and Israeli authorities are blocking the entry of any shelter materials – for over 130 days now.
Meanwhile, active hostilities and insecurity continue to put civilians – including aid workers – at risk.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=11%20July%202025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaRLMEnXA9A

Source: United Nations (video statements)

In 2024, with over 60 per cent of the global population connected to the internet, the digital sphere is expanding rapidly. This unprecedented digital expansion unlocks vast opportunities, yet it simultaneously unleashes escalating cybersecurity risks. As technology advances, so too do the sophisticated threats that jeopardize our digital safety.
To navigate this complex landscape and safeguard our connected world, John Brandolino, the Director for the Division for Treaty Affairs at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, explains why the new international UN Cybercrime Convention is vital for global peace and security.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2M_qLFLwjc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Joint Security Council Stakeout on Sudan and South Sudan by Ambassador Michael Imran Kanu, Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone and Ambassador Sandra Jensen Landi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Denmark, and accompanied by Representatives from France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, United Kingdom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_Vij3BwaE

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Launched in 2023, the Network for Uniformed Women Peacekeepers connects women from police, military, and justice & corrections serving in United Nations peace operations.

It promotes the creation of enabling work environments, learning, and leadership by linking women across missions, components, and nationalities, while also engaging them with experts, and amplify their voices with leaders.

The Network provides members with key information to improve their deployment experience and helps identify remaining barriers to their participation, ultimately supporting more effective peace operations.

More info: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/women-peacekeeping
More info on the Network: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/how-network-is-supporting-women-peacekeepers
#WomenPeaceSecurity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwLrnz-YQ7k