Message by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for the entry into force of the agreement on marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
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Today marks a watershed moment for the ocean.
The Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, the BBNJ Agreement, is now in force.
This is a historic achievement – for people and planet; for international cooperation and the United Nations.
This treaty establishes the first legal framework for conserving and sustainably using marine biodiversity in the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond national borders.
We now have binding global rules to share fairly the benefits from marine genetic resources;
And provide capacity and technology to those that need it most.
In a world of accelerating crises – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – the Agreement fills a critical governance gap to secure a resilient and productive ocean for all.
I commend the Parties to the Agreement and urge all States to join.
Let us now move swiftly to universal and full implementation, and honour the promises of the Agreement for people everywhere.
Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Nazhat Shameem Khan said, “Darfuris, as we speak, are being subjected to collective torture.”
Addressing the Security Council virtually today (19 Jan) Khan reported that the situation in Darfur “has darkened even further.”
She said, “The fall of El Fasher to the RSF has been accompanied by an organized, calculated campaign of the most profound suffering, targeting non-Arab communities in particular.”
She continued, “Rape, arbitrary detention, executions, mass graves, all perpetrated on a massive scale. Many of these crimes have been filmed and celebrated by those committing them. This dreadful situation is still ongoing.”
She highlighted, “War crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in El Fasher, including in particular in late October as a culmination of the siege of the city by the Rapid Support Forces.”
She stressed, “This criminality is being repeated in town after town in Darfur. It will continue until this conflict, and the sense of impunity that fuels it, are stopped.”
She said, “If we are to ensure that the conviction of Ali Kushayb sets the basis for further accountability, the expanded and active cooperation of our partners will be essential. The scale of suffering and criminality in Darfur at present can only be addressed if we work together.”
She added, “The Government of Sudan must work with us seriously, with focus, to secure the arrest of those individuals subject to ICC arrest warrants presently in Sudan: Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, Ahmad Harun and Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein. I underline again that Mr. Harun in particular must be given priority.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk briefed journalists in Nairobi following a five-day mission to Sudan where “a chronicle of cruelty is unfolding before our very eyes."
Mr. Türk visited the Al Afad IDP camp in Northern State of Sudan, as the situation in the country has triggered the world’s largest displacement of populations.
The UN Human Rights Chief heard accounts of sexual violence being used as a weapon of war.
He called on ‘all those who have any influence, including regional actors and notably those who supply the arms and benefit economically from this war’ to act urgently to bring it to an end.
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Secretary-General Travel
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Syria
Ukraine
South Sudan / Peacekeeping
South Sudan/ Humanitarian
Mozambique
Capital Punishment Trends
Contingent-Owned Equipment Working Group
Honour Roll
SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVEL
The Secretary-General is currently near Geneva, Switzerland, where he is meeting with his Special and Personal Representatives and Envoys. Following these meetings, he will return to New York and has cancelled his planned trip to Davos due to a bad cold.
On Saturday, the Secretary-General was in London, where he addressed a special commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the first meeting of the General Assembly. The event, organized by the UN Association of the UK, took place in Methodist Central Hall, the very place where the first meeting was held.
In his remarks, he said that we must ensure full respect for international law and defend multilateralism and strengthen it for our times. Mr. Guterres pushed for reform of the UN system to reflect the world of 2026 and not 1946. He said, “As global centres of power shift, we have the potential to build a future that is either more fair — or more unstable.” He added that it is manifestly in the interests of those who hold the most power to be on the frontlines of reform. He warned that those trying to cling to privileges today risk paying the price tomorrow.
As we move forward in a moment when the values of multilateralism are being chipped away, he said, it is up to us, in our capacity as professionals, as voters, and as members of civil society, to take a stand.
Later that day, the Secretary-General was hosted by the UK Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, for a working lunch, during which they discussed a wide range of issues, including Ukraine, Sudan and UN reform.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the Gaza Strip, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the ceasefire agreement – which has crossed the 100-day mark – must hold so that more civilian lives can be saved. As we have been telling you, the scale-up of humanitarian work continues to be held back by restrictions and impediments, with recent harsh weather also setting back some of the progress.
In a statement issued today, the World Food Programme warned of how fragile the situation remains, even as the agency reaches more than one million people every month through food parcels, bread bundles, hot meals and school meals – making real progress in pushing back famine. WFP called for additional safe humanitarian corridors from Egypt and Jordan, and along the Salah Ad Din Road inside Gaza, to increase volumes and reduce insecurity.
Yesterday, our colleagues from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) launched the second round of a routine immunization catch-up campaign, together with our partners and in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. This round will run until next Thursday and aims to further protect children under three from vaccine-preventable diseases. The campaign is being delivered by 170 teams at nearly 130 health facilities, with seven mobile teams deployed to hard-to-reach areas. A third and final round is planned for April 2026.
Turning to the West Bank, OCHA says Israeli forces have placed an estimated 25,000 Palestinians under curfew in parts of the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city, as they launched a large-scale operation today. Initial reports point to a heavy deployment of military vehicles and snipers on rooftops, as well as the closure of six internal roads.
As a result, four bakeries have been forced to suspend their operations, and two shops where about 4,000 people regularly obtain essential supplies through UN-issued vouchers remain closed. Education in more than a dozen schools has also been suspended, affecting thousands of students.
OCHA adds that the area has been affected by a major electricity cut since the weekend, following damage to a local power station. With a curfew now in place, efforts are underway to allow technicians into the area to restore electricity. Steps are also being taken to facilitate emergency medical evacuations and for students to attend school online where possible. Meanwhile, families are confined to their homes, making it difficult for them to obtain food, medicine and other essential supplies.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-01-19
Informal comments to the media by ICC Caucus on behalf of the members of the Security Council that are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC): Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Greece, Latvia, Panama, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Liberia, on the situation in Darfur.
Press conference by Jorge Moreira da Silva, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), virtually from Jerusalem, on his ongoing trip to the region.
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UNOPS Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva visited the Gaza Strip and met with UNMAS teams at a site in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, alongside the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ramiz Alakbarov.
Da Silva also visited the headquarters of Gaza’s main and only power generation company, inspecting the plant that has been out of service since the outbreak of the war in October 2023. The visit comes as part of UN efforts to support the restoration of critical energy infrastructure in the Strip.
Da Silva stated that energy is a key enabler for all vital sectors, including health and education, and that rehabilitating the power plant is an urgent priority.
He added that immediate support to repair the plant, its fuel tanks, and the electricity grid could be provided with a sum not exceeding $10 million, emphasizing the need to allow all necessary spare parts to be brought in to ensure a sustainable return of electricity to Gaza’s residents.
The President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, said, “we meet in challenging times, but if our predecessors could emerge from devastation with the resolve to chart a better path forward, how can we credibly argue that we are incapable of doing the same?”
Baerbock said, “we need to summon the same resolve found by the delegates in this Hall eighty years ago, to form a cross-regional alliance to defend our international rules-based order and the Charter every single day.”
She said, “how many blows can an international order, can our United Nations endure? Or can any country truly sleep in peace if we simply accept that more and more Member States, including some Permanent Members of the Security Council, violate the Charter’s core principles? When compromise shifts from mutual accommodation to the slow erosion, or the deliberate dismantling of the very foundations of this institution, it is no longer a compromise but compromising.”
At the beginning of 2026, the PGA said, “we are not only standing at a crossroads, but history will show whether we find the same courage and determination as our founding fathers and our founding mothers did 80 years ago.”
Organised by the United Nations Association-UK, Saturday’s anniversary event gathered over 1,000 delegates from across the world. The event also marks the 80th anniversary of the first UN Security Council, which took place on 17 January 1946 at nearby Church House.
Addressing a landmark event in London today (17 Jan) commemorating the 80th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres said the multilateral system “is under threat” and called on civil society “to take a stand.”
Speaking at Methodist Central Hall, the very same venue where the first-ever UN General Assembly was held on 10 January 1946, Guterres said, “for eight decades, the General Assembly has been the place the world comes together to help advance peace, promote sustainable development, and safeguard human rights,” and is “the stage on which our shared story plays out.”
He said, “today, we are entering a new chapter of that story.”
The Secretary-General said, “if this period has taught us anything, it is that our challenges are ever more borderless, and ever more interconnected. And the only way to address them is together. And that requires a robust, responsive and well-resourced multilateral system. Yet as we speak, that system is under threat.”
He highlighted the “quiet victories of international cooperation” such as “the wars prevented, the famine averted, the vital treaties secured,” stressing that “if we wish to secure more such victories, we must ensure the full respect of international law and defend multilateralism, strengthening it for our times.”
Guterres said, “the world of 2026 is not the world of 1946. As global centres of power shift, we have the potential to build a future that is either more fair — or more unstable.”
He said, “in this moment when the values of multilateralism are being chipped away, it is up to us — in our capacity as professionals, as voters, and as members of organizations like the UNA-UK — to take a stand. More than ever, the world needs civil society movements that are fearless and persistent — that make it impossible for leaders to look away.”
To conclude, the Secretary-General said, “the General Assembly which we celebrate today exists because of a simple truth — humanity is strongest when we stand as one.”
Addressing a landmark event in London today (17 Jan) commemorating the 80th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres said the multilateral system “is under threat” and called on civil society “to take a stand.”
Speaking at Methodist Central Hall, the very same venue where the first-ever UN General Assembly was held on 10 January 1946, Guterres said, “for eight decades, the General Assembly has been the place the world comes together to help advance peace, promote sustainable development, and safeguard human rights,” and is “the stage on which our shared story plays out.”
He said, “today, we are entering a new chapter of that story.”
The Secretary-General said, “if this period has taught us anything, it is that our challenges are ever more borderless, and ever more interconnected. And the only way to address them is together. And that requires a robust, responsive and well-resourced multilateral system. Yet as we speak, that system is under threat.”
He highlighted the “quiet victories of international cooperation” such as “the wars prevented, the famine averted, the vital treaties secured,” stressing that “if we wish to secure more such victories, we must ensure the full respect of international law and defend multilateralism, strengthening it for our times.”
Guterres said, “the world of 2026 is not the world of 1946. As global centres of power shift, we have the potential to build a future that is either more fair — or more unstable.”
He said, “in this moment when the values of multilateralism are being chipped away, it is up to us — in our capacity as professionals, as voters, and as members of organizations like the UNA-UK — to take a stand. More than ever, the world needs civil society movements that are fearless and persistent — that make it impossible for leaders to look away.”
To conclude, the Secretary-General said, “the General Assembly which we celebrate today exists because of a simple truth — humanity is strongest when we stand as one.”
Speaking at Methodist Central Hall, the very same venue where the first-ever UN General Assembly was held on 10 January 1946, Secretary-General António Guterres reflected on the symbolic location of the commemoration. The first General Assembly took place within the same walls four months after the end of the Second World War, in a heavily bombed London where tens of thousands had been killed, a powerful reminder as to why the UN had been created
