Briefing by Sheema Sen Gupta, Director of Child Protection and Migration, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), on children and armed conflict.
UNICEF’s Director of Child Protection, Sheema Sen Gupta, said, “we are witnessing a breakdown in the basic protections each of these children is owed — not just as a legal matter, but as a matter of human decency.”
Gupta said, “children are not collateral damage. They are not soldiers. They are not bargaining chips. They are children. They deserve to be safe. They deserve justice. They deserve a future. This Council has a unique role to play in making that future possible. We cannot allow these grave violations against children to continue unchecked.”
Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity at the 80th plenary meeting of the General Assembly.
Delivering remarks to the General Assembly on the 20th anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is facing “the highest number of armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War.”
Guterres added that these crises are “marked by rising identity-based violence, widespread violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and deepening impunity.”
Guterres stressed that the principle of the Responsibility to Protect – commonly referred to as R2P – remains central to the UN’s mission. “On this anniversary, we must recognize that the Responsibility to Protect is more than a principle – it is a moral imperative, rooted in our shared humanity and the UN Charter,” he said.
The Secretary-General presented his seventeenth report on the Responsibility to Protect, which reviews two decades of international efforts and outlines the need for renewed action. “We found that the principle holds strong support among Member States. Communities affected by violence see it as offering a ray of hope. But they also call for effective implementation at all levels,” Guterres said.
The UN chief also reiterated that the world still falls short of delivering on the promise of protecting populations from atrocity crimes. “Twenty years on, the Responsibility to Protect remains an urgent necessity, a moral imperative, and an unfulfilled promise,” Guterres declared. “Let us keep that promise. Let us deepen our commitment. Let us strengthen our cooperation. And let us make the prevention of atrocities and the protection of populations a permanent and universal practice.”
The Responsibility to Protect, endorsed by UN Member States in 2005, affirms that governments have an obligation to shield populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. It also tasks the international community with taking collective action when states fail to do so.
The communities who are served by UN Peacekeeping are at the heart of its efforts to build lasting peace. But for peacekeepers to continue to do their vital work, we need to ensure peacekeeping is fit for the future and that local and global partnerships remain strong.
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, accompanied by Ambassador Héctor Gómez Hernández, the Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations, and Ambassador Chola Milambo, the Permanent Representative of Zambia to the United Nations, briefed reporters today to preview the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, which will be taking place in Sevilla, Spain.
Ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), UN deputy chief Amina J. Mohammed said that the Conference offers a chance to "change course, to catalyze investment, to address debt and sustainable development, to reform the rules of the system and to put people’s needs at the center.”
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The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), to take place in Sevilla, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July 2025, will bring together world leaders to advance solutions to financing challenges threatening the achievement of sustainable development. Governments, international organizations, financial institutions, businesses and civil society will come together to commit to financing our future through a renewed global framework for financing for development.
Rising debt burdens, falling investment, and shrinking aid are among the financing challenges confronting the world today. With progress on the Sustainable Development Goals off track and rising systemic risks, including due to climate change and conflicts, the Conference provides a once-in-a-decade opportunity to mobilize finance at scale and reform the rules of the system to put people’s needs at the center.
The Conference is expected to adopt the Compromiso de Sevilla, an intergovernmentally negotiated outcome, which was approved for adoption by consensus at the Fourth Preparatory Committee Meeting for FFD4 on 17 June.
The Conference will mark the beginning of implementation of the outcome document, signaling a new phase of collective action on financing for development. Coalitions of countries and diverse stakeholders will announce ambitious commitments and concrete solutions under the Sevilla Platform for Action that will boost the renewed financing framework and setting out a turning point from dialogue to delivery.
Related Link:
4th International Conference on Financing for Development (30 June – 3 July 2025) – Website
https://financing.desa.un.org/ffd4
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Secretary-General/Responsibility to Protect
Security Council
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Democratic Republic of the Congo
SALIENT 2.0
Day of the Seafarer
**Guests
SECRETARY-GENERAL/RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT
This morning, the Secretary-General was at the General Assembly, where he delivered remarks on the Responsibility to Protect.
Mr. Guterres warned that we are witnessing the highest number of armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War. These are marked by rising identity-based violence, widespread violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, as well as deepening impunity.
Mr. Guterres said that we must recognize that the Responsibility to Protect is more than just a principle. It is a moral imperative, rooted in our shared humanity and the UN Charter.
He added that credibility as the guardian of peace and security, development, and human rights requires consistency with the [UN] Charter.
And tomorrow, at 10 a.m., in the General Assembly, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks to commemorate the Eightieth Anniversary of the Signing of the Charter of the United Nations.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council heard a briefing from Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for children and armed conflict, who was presenting the Secretary-General’s report. She said, and as you have seen in the report, that 2024 marked a devastating new record: the United Nations verified 41,370 grave violations against children—a staggering 25 per cent increase compared to 2023. She added that the report she is presenting also includes the highest number of children killed or maimed since the mandate was established by the Security Council. Cases of sexual violence, she added, also rose by 35 per cent with 1,982 verified cases.
The way forward is clear, she said, we must call on all parties to conflict, particularly the armed forces and groups listed in the annexes to the report, to engage with the United Nations to develop, to sign, and to fully implement action plans that end and prevent grave violations against children.
Also briefing from the UN side was Sheema Sen Gupta, UNICEF’s Director of Child Protection. She said that we cannot allow these grave violations against children to continue unchecked, and she called on council members to act with urgency, with courage and with the conviction that every child, no matter where they are, deserves to live in peace.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=25%20June%202025
In 1945, after the devastation of two World Wars, global leaders came together in San Francisco to sign a bold new document — the Charter of the United Nations. This video, featuring historian Stephen Schlesinger, marks the 80th anniversary of that historic moment and explores the origins, vision, and enduring relevance of the UN Charter.
Discover how this ground-breaking document set the foundation for global cooperation, peace and collective security — and why it remains a vital guide for humanity.
Learn about the events that led to the Charter and learn why the UN was and is still seen as a beacon of hope in these turbulent times.
00:00 History of the UN Charter – San Francisco Conference
01:19 The Spirit of the UN Charter
02:00 The UN Today
03:06 The Future of Collective Security
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
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Highlights:
Secretary-General/Responsibility to Protect
Security Council
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Democratic Republic of the Congo
SALIENT 2.0
Day of the Seafarer
**Guests
__________________________________________
SECRETARY-GENERAL/RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT
This morning, the Secretary-General was at the General Assembly, where he delivered remarks on the Responsibility to Protect.
Mr. Guterres warned that we are witnessing the highest number of armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War. These are marked by rising identity-based violence, widespread violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, as well as deepening impunity.
Mr. Guterres said that we must recognize that the Responsibility to Protect is more than just a principle. It is a moral imperative, rooted in our shared humanity and the UN Charter.
He added that credibility as the guardian of peace and security, development, and human rights requires consistency with the [UN] Charter.
And tomorrow, at 10 a.m., in the General Assembly, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks to commemorate the Eightieth Anniversary of the Signing of the Charter of the United Nations.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council heard a briefing from Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for children and armed conflict, who was presenting the Secretary-General’s report. She said, and as you have seen in the report, that 2024 marked a devastating new record: the United Nations verified 41,370 grave violations against children—a staggering 25 per cent increase compared to 2023. She added that the report she is presenting also includes the highest number of children killed or maimed since the mandate was established by the Security Council. Cases of sexual violence, she added, also rose by 35 per cent with 1,982 verified cases.
The way forward is clear, she said, we must call on all parties to conflict, particularly the armed forces and groups listed in the annexes to the report, to engage with the United Nations to develop, to sign, and to fully implement action plans that end and prevent grave violations against children.
Also briefing from the UN side was Sheema Sen Gupta, UNICEF’s Director of Child Protection. She said that we cannot allow these grave violations against children to continue unchecked, and she called on council members to act with urgency, with courage and with the conviction that every child, no matter where they are, deserves to live in peace.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=25%20June%202025
What are the best investments humanity can make? As delegates prepare to gather for the Fourth World Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, Spain, Mariangela Parra-Lancourt explains that what’s good for the individual can advance society as a whole. Drawing on her expertise as Chief of the UN’s Strategic Engagement and Policy Integration Branch in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, she shows how this works.
Joint Security Council Stakeout on Children and Armed conflict led by Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations, and accompanied by Security Council Members.
