Source: United Nations (video statements)
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is in London, where he is attending a series of events taking place during the London Climate Action Week. In his special address on climate and energy, Mr. Guterres launched a global Call to Action on Methane and also proposed an AI Environmental Transparency Initiative.
In a special medal ceremony in Kew Gardens, the Secretary-General received the Kew International Medal on behalf of the United Nations.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The UN Security Council meets for an open debate on strengthening protections for children caught in armed conflict. The Secretary-General’s latest report reveals that in 2025, soldiers and Government forces were responsible for more grave violations against children in armed conflict than non-State armed groups, marking a first in 30 years of UN monitoring.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
UN Special Representative for the Central African Republic Valentine Rugwabiza said that four years down the road, the country has made remarkable and tangible progress towards lasting peace and security, with the instrumental support of MINUSCA.
Addressing the Security Council about the Central African Republic, Rugwabiza said, “The progress made with the implementation of the political and peace processes, the effective extension of State authority and presence across the CAR territory, protection of civilians, the preparation and conduct of historic coupled elections of December 2025, is the result of sustained efforts by the Central African authorities and people, with the multidimensional support of MINUSCA. These gains must now be preserved and consolidated.”
She also noted, “While the security situation has generally improved across the country over the years, it remains fragile in several border areas. In the northeast, the impact of the conflict in Sudan is of particular concern with renewed armed activity along the border, including cross-border incursions targeting civilians, particularly in the Vakaga Prefecture. In the southeast, the attacks and abductions by the AAKG militia continue to be source of insecurity in the Haut-Mbomou and Mbomou Prefectures.”
She stressed, “There is a need for a comprehensive and detailed plan to address critical gaps in the capabilities of the security sector, a plan based on strong national ownership with the support of international partners. This is critical to ensuring that the mandated gradual transfer of MINUSCA security tasks to national defense and security forces will not risk strategic reversal of security achievements.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Briefing by Indrika Ratwatte, Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, on the situation in the Middle East.
Ratwatte said, “A better future for Syria remains within reach. After more than a decade of crisis, there is now a genuine opportunity to help Syrians move from survival towards recovery. There are clear signs of progress towards recovery, reconstruction and development. Yet, humanitarian needs remain acute, displacement persists, and conditions for sustainable returns are still uneven across the country. This moment requires ambition anchored in realism: sustained humanitarian action, political will and investment are essential to help Syrians move beyond emergency assistance and rebuild their lives.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Secretary-General António Guterres said, “The age of clean electrification is here. The question is whether we can build the grids and storage, mobilize the investment, and deliver the infrastructure at the speed and scale required.”
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, made the appeal in remarks to the inaugural Global Energy Transition and Electrification Summit, held in London alongside London Climate Action Week.
Guterres told the summit the world is facing two interconnected crises: accelerating climate chaos pushing the planet past the 1.5-degree Celsius limit, and the most severe energy upheaval in years, driving up prices and straining economies. Both crises, he said, share one cause – fossil fuels, which still account for around 80 per cent of global energy use.
Three-quarters of the world’s people live in countries dependent on imported fossil fuels, he added, leaving them reliant on energy “they do not control,” at prices “they cannot predict.”
Renewables, however, are now the cheapest, fastest and most scalable source of new electricity in most of the world, the Secretary-General noted. More than 90 per cent of new renewable power projects delivered electricity at a lower cost than fossil fuels last year, he said, and wind and solar are leading all new electricity demand growth worldwide.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel releases its report, describing the targeting and killing of Palestinian children.
The Commission’s comprehensive report is unique, being the first specialized report on crimes and violations against Palestinian children in Palestine by a UN investigative body.
OHCHR: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/06/israel-continues-commit-genocide-and-other-atrocity-crimes-deliberately
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/London
-Sudan
– UNIFIL
– Lebanon/Humanitarian
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Strait of Hormuz
– Central African Republic
– MONUSCO
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Peacekeeping
– Central Emergency Response Fund
– Ukraine
– International Widows’ Day
– UN Public Service Day
– Financial Contribution
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SECRETARY-GENERAL/LONDON
This morning, in London, the Secretary-General delivered a special address at London Climate Action Week. He said that our world is facing two crises: a climate crisis pushing us deeper toward higher temperatures and closer to catastrophic tipping points; and an energy crisis exposing the folly of a world hooked on hydrocarbons.
The Secretary-General said that these crises may seem separate, but they share the same destructive origin: Fossil fuels. He underscored that they demand the same answer – a fast, fair transition to clean energy, and a surge in adaptation, resilience and climate justice for those already facing climate harm.
The good news, the Secretary-General said, is that unlike every past energy crisis, we now have a clear way out, a clean way out. He said that renewables are the cheapest, fastest and most scalable source of new electricity in most of the world. There are no embargoes on sunlight and no blockades on the wind, he added.
During his address, the Secretary-General launched a global Call to Action on Methane and also proposed an AI Environmental Transparency Initiative.
Also today, the Secretary-General addressed the Local Climate Action Summit. He underscored that the climate fight will not be won in negotiating rooms, but through the actions we take in our communities. As we enter this era of implementation, he stressed that local leaders have an even greater responsibility to ensure the transition moves faster, becomes fairer, and delivers security, resilience and prosperity for all.
Later on, the Secretary-General addressed the Global Energy Transition and Electrification Summit, where he said that the age of clean electrification is here. The question, he said, is whether we can build the grids and storage, mobilize the investment, and deliver the infrastructure at the speed and scale required.
The Secretary-General will soon meet the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Yvette Cooper.
SUDAN
Turning to Sudan. Our Human Rights colleagues issued a report today verifying 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence in 16 of Sudan’s 18 states from the beginning of the conflict through mid-April this year, affecting at least 838 women, men and children. The findings underscore the devastating human toll the conflict continues to exact on civilians across the country.
These figures represent only the tip of the iceberg of the true scale of the abuse, the report says, as persistent underreporting has obscured the full extent of conflict-related sexual violence. The report also documents the deaths of at least 13 victims, many of whom died after being subjected to brutal gang rapes.
Meanwhile, we and our partners continue to provide crucial assistance to people affected by conflict in El Obeid in North Kordofan state.
The World Food Programme and its partners plan to provide food assistance to more than 72,000 displaced people this month and the next one, with some 12,600 people having been reached so far.
UNICEF and its partners reached more than 95,000 children under the age of five between last Friday and Sunday as part of a nutrition campaign. Our health partners have also pre-positioned cholera supplies and essential medicines to strengthen outbreak preparedness.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-23
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Joint statement by Leonor Zalabata Torres, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of June, on behalf of the Security Council members signatories of the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security (Colombia, Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Panama, and the United Kingdom), on the situation in the Central African Republic.
To watch the bilingual (ES/EN) full version, please visit: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1t/k1tkrr9jwd
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Former Ghanian Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh knows first hand the responsibility that comes from being an elected politician. Now head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, she draws on that experience as she works to get the nation onto a peaceful and democratic footing.
“I have to be optimistic. Otherwise I’ll stop. And I think that when you’re doing this kind of job, you have to keep yourself optimistic. You always have to find openings and entry points and try to see what you can work with and where you can create some opportunity to have a conversation that results in some concrete outcome.”
Politics was always present in Hanna Tetteh’s house growing up. Inspired by a dual heritage rooted in Hungary and Ghana, she became a passionate advocate of inclusive dialogue. In this episode, she reflects on her journey into politics, on bringing women and youth on board for Libya’s future, and shares why, when it comes to peace-building, patience is the biggest virtue.
Listen to more Awake at Night episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDFQJEq_0b6hu1e8oxsch9W0D7vkNqt
#podcast #UnitedNations #AwakeAtNight #Peacekeeping #Libya
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Kicking off the first-ever Peacebuilding Week, UN senior official for peacebuilding Elizabeth Spehar said, “investing in prevention is cost effective.”
Mandated by the 2025 General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on the Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR), the inaugural Peacebuilding Week provides a dedicated platform to advance dialogue, share experiences and strengthen partnerships across the peacebuilding community.
The Week also marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund.
Speaking to reporters, Assistant Secretary-General Elizabeth Spehar said that Peacebuilding Week provides the international community with a number of opportunities. “It provides us an opportunity to convene governments and all partners around a shared agenda for peace. It allows us to reflect on 20 years of peacebuilding and learn from good practices,” she added.
Spehar continued, “it helps us to focus and to look ahead and build on the momentum that we have created over the years and hopefully focus in areas such as innovation, inclusion and impact.”
The Assistant Secretary-General also reiterated that the annual Peacebuilding Week is an opportunity – at least once a year – to focus on the fact that “we are not investing enough in prevention. We are not investing enough in peacebuilding. There’s a lot more money going to war.”
She continued, “There’s a lot more money going to deterrence without deterrence being undergirded by a more comprehensive approach to building and sustaining peace. I think that’s the more dangerous way forward. And each and every year we can reflect on that.”
Spehar added, “during Peacebuilding Week, we can look at our strategies, we can look at the challenges, we can look at what we’ve achieved, and we can get real about matching our action to the rhetoric.”
As the Chair of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, Moroccan Ambassador Omar Hilale said, “a single thread runs through these days from risk to resilience, from fragility to stability, from fine words to firm needs. It is the conviction that peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of opportunity, of justice and of hope.”
He continued, “the commission you will see at work this week is resolved to honor the promise of the review. Greater national ownership, closer partnership with international financial institutions, financing, financing that is more predictable and above all, results that reach the women, the men and the young people still waiting for the dividend of peace.”
Egypt and Slovenia are the co-facilitators for Member States organizing side events and implementing the recent Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR) resolutions.
Ambassador of Egypt Ihab Moustafa Awad Moustafa said, “our common objective, Slovenia and Egypt during this week will be to support a presentation of how nationally identified priorities can deliver impact on the ground.”
He said, “for Africa, these principles are particularly relevant. Egypt has advocated for strengthening national capacities for conflict prevention and peacebuilding, supporting African led solutions, and enhancing cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union.”
Slovenian Ambassador Samuel Žbogar highlighted that the Peacebuilding Week is making the Peacebuilding Architecture Review a process instead of a one-off event every five years,
He said, “the topics that were raised discussed is the most important for Member States are then continue to be discussed throughout the year, but then in concentrated form during the Peacebuilding Week. And I believe that this Peacebuilding week are guarantee that the next piece, PBAR in five years will have so much more elements for discussion.”
