A rare opportunity has emerged for Syria—but lasting recovery will depend on more than rebuilding what was lost.
At the UN Security Council, senior UN officials outline why this moment matters, what has changed on the ground, and why recovery must create the conditions for Syrians not only to return home—but to stay, rebuild, and thrive.
Speakers:
• Claudio Cordone, Deputy Special Envoy for Syria
• Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy Division, OCHA
Open debate of the Security Council under the agenda item "Maintenance of international peace and security" .
Natural resource governance lies today at the heart of the challenges of peace, security and prosperity. The central question is whether minerals intensify conflicts or, conversely, can become instruments for ending them when they are effectively governed.
Objectives of the debate:
– To recognize the link between natural resource governance, conflict prevention and sustainable peace, and to affirm the relevance of a more coherent and universal approach.
– Mapping the volume and types of conflict-affected natural resources.
– Formulating conclusions and recommendations on the prevention and management of natural resource-related conflicts.
– To move beyond the fragmented and largely national responses currently in place by laying the foundations for a common framework of resource governance and traceability as instruments for conflict prevention and resolution.
– To mobilize the United Nations system, regional organizations and relevant partners around a shared vision in which natural resources and ecological capital become drivers of peace and shared prosperity.
– The meeting will be presided over by the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Secretary-General will arrive in Syria later this week at the invitation of the Government of Syria. In Damascus, he is scheduled to meet with President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, as well as other government officials including the Foreign Minister, Asaad Al-Shaibani.
This will be António Guterres’ first visit to Syria as Secretary-General of the United Nations. Throughout his stay in Syria, he will reaffirm the United Nations’ commitment to supporting the Syrian Government and the Syrian people at this defining period in the country’s history. He will also underscore the importance of respecting Syria’s sovereignty, its unity, and its territorial integrity.
The visit will offer the Secretary-General an opportunity to witness both the hope and the challenges of the political transition and recovery, as well as the impact of the enduring of years of conflict. During the visit, he will hear first-hand from representatives of Syrian civil society, women’s organizations and diverse communities.
While in Syria, the Secretary-General also plans to visit our colleagues from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, otherwise known as UNDOF.
We will continue to keep you informed with details of the visit as it happens.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council also met to discuss Syria. Claudio Cordone, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, briefed from Damascus and told council members that despite the challenges, the opportunities for Syria are indeed real.
He said the past month has demonstrated both the opportunities and the fragility of Syria’s transition. He told council members that important institutional milestones have been reached, but building confidence will require an effective and balanced system of governance, with the meaningful participation by women and all components of Syrian society, continued progress on accountability and transitional justice, and tangible improvements in the daily lives of the Syrian people.
Mr. Cordone also reiterated our support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, adding that sustained commitment from the international community, including the Security Council, remains critical.
Also briefing was our colleague Edem Wosornu, who, as you know, is OCHA’s Director of the Crisis Response Division. She also briefed on the humanitarian situation in the country.
Since December 2024, she said, some 1.7 million refugees and 1.9 million internally displaced people have returned to their communities, but recovery is not measured only by how many people return. It is measured by whether they can stay, whether they can rebuild and whether they can survive.
For many families in the country, she said daily life continues to be defined by difficult choices and uncertainty.
She asked council members for sustained and predictable humanitarian funding, investments in the foundations of recovery and finally, she called on them to prevent further instability, protect civilians and preserve humanitarian access.
Those remarks have been shared with you.
SYRIA/TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE
Also staying on Syria, there will be an Arria-formula meeting of the Security Council on transitional justice and the issue of missing people in Syria. Our friend the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, will be briefing.
He will stress that justice and inclusivity, centred on victims, survivors, and the families of the missing, are essential to rebuilding trust and securing a more peaceful future for all Syrians.
His remarks will be shared with you and posted online.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-07-21
Open debate of the Security Council under the agenda item "Maintenance of international peace and security" .
Natural resource governance lies today at the heart of the challenges of peace, security and prosperity. The central question is whether minerals intensify conflicts or, conversely, can become instruments for ending them when they are effectively governed.
Objectives of the debate
To recognize the link between natural resource governance, conflict prevention and sustainable peace, and to affirm the relevance of a more coherent and universal approach.
Mapping the volume and types of conflict-affected natural resources.
Formulating conclusions and recommendations on the prevention and management of natural resource-related conflicts.
To move beyond the fragmented and largely national responses currently in place by laying the foundations for a common framework of resource governance and traceability as instruments for conflict prevention and resolution.
To mobilize the United Nations system, regional organizations and relevant partners around a shared vision in which natural resources and ecological capital become drivers of peace and shared prosperity.
The meeting will be presided over by the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Following an open briefing of the Security Council on the situation in Haiti, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, Carlos Ruiz Massieu told reporters in New York that the political process and security improvements need to move “simultaneously, so we can have further stability in the country on the security front, on the humanitarian side, but also on the political side.”
Ruiz Massieu said it was “still early in terms of coming back to democratic rule” in Haiti because of the transition nature of the government but added that “we have a chance to contribute to the improvements and the discussions that are taking place these days” so as “to make those gains more sustainable so we don’t go back after getting some positive results.”
He said some of the gangs in Haiti are listed in the Secretary General’s Report on Children in Armed Conflict “as utilizing children, recruiting children” and stressed that “we need to establish now a system by which there will be engagement with those gangs in order to request and to demand the release of the children.”
Born to Italian parents in Venezuela, Allegra Baiocchi has been on the move ever since and has lived in more than 25 countries around the world. Now UN Resident Coordinator in Mexico, she believes in the power of the United Nations to improve the well-being of all people, wherever they are.
“I am truly an optimist. I do think we can turn this around, but it does need a lot of people taking action, and so I stay awake at night trying to figure out how to get people to act.”
Formerly the UN’s chief humanitarian coordinator for western and central Africa, Allegra Baiocchi faced down overlapping deadly crises, from Ebola and war, to drought, famine and displacement. In this episode, she reflects on the highs and lows of her long and varied career, and shares how she brought up children who are as much citizens of the globe as she is.
Briefing by Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), on the question concerning the country.
Remarks by Earle Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet, on behalf of António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General on the Observance of the annual Nelson Mandela International Day.
Marking the Nelson Mandela International Day, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that ending poverty and inequality requires re-wiring economies and societies to focus on people.
Rattray said, “Madiba was blessed with a rare kind of double vision. He saw the world both for what it was — and what it could be.”
The Chef de Cabinet continued, “he also recognized that progress is never automatic. Progress is the result of action. It’s up to all of us to come together to make that progress real — and through our actions, our advocacy, and our voice, to defeat poverty and inequality. Not as an act of charity, but as an act of justice.”
Rattray also said, “as we mark Mandela Day, let’s re-commit to the timeless principles that defined his life. Freedom. Justice. Equality. Solidarity. Reconciliation. Compassion. Peace.”
“Let’s carry forward Mandela’s vision of a just, inclusive, equal and peaceful world,” he concluded.
President of the General Assembly Annalena Baerbock said, “Nelson Mandela reminded this Assembly, us, of the same principles that guided the founding of this organization. That peace requires more than the absence of conflict. That requires human dignity, justice and equality for all.”
She said, “as we mark the Nelson Mandela International Day, we honor not only that vision. We acknowledge our own responsibility to carry this work, this spirit, forward, as reflected in this year’s theme. It is still in our hands to combat poverty inequality.”
For his part, New York City Mayor’s Office official Shaffiou Assoumanou said, “we need government that commit to the tasks of delivering a life of dignity by putting in place policies that make food, housing and care affordable and available to everyone. Policies that demonstrate our commitment to universal human rights, regardless of where people were born, their gender identity or sexual orientation, their nationality or their immigration status.”
Assoumanou highlighted, “our commitment to this Mandela Day is to nourish the brilliance of people who do small acts of courage and care, and to demand the same kind of brilliance from all of us in government and from our institution.”
International Broadcaster Redi Tlhabi also addressed the General Assembly.
She said, “Mandela understood something that remains profoundly relevant today. Peace without justice is not peace at all. It is only a pause — one that delays the hard work of crafting our shared humanity.”
Tlhabi added that peace without justice is “a fragile truce.”
She also reiterated that the world needs the courage that made Mandela “so deeply inconvenient.” She said, “it needs leaders willing to disturb comfortable injustice before history rewards them for doing so. It needs nations prepared to defend international law, even when it inconveniences powerful allies. It needs institutions that are willing to reform themselves before the world loses faith in them. It needs us to reject forever the seductive argument that the might makes right because it never has and it never will.”
In recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom, UN General Assembly declared 18 July "Nelson Mandela International Day".
Four senior international officials address the UN Security Council with one shared message: Haiti’s future depends on protecting its people—especially its children.
Haiti’s future depends on protecting its people—especially its children, according to senior officials involved in supporting the Caribbean island nation to restore security and hold elections.
Featured voices include representatives from the United Nations, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), and the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), the multinational security mission authorized by the UN Security Council to support Haitian authorities in addressing gang violence.
Their message is clear: lasting peace requires security, justice, opportunity, and hope.
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– World Cup
– Secretary-General/Travels
– Nelson Mandela International Day
– Iran
– Yemen
– UNIFIL
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Security Council
– Sudan
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Burundi
– Ukraine
– Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator – Burkina Faso
– World Heritage Committee
– World Chess Day
– International Moon Day
– Guests Today and Tomorrow
WORLD CUP
Huge congratulations to the men’s Spanish team on its World Cup victory yesterday. They now join the Spanish Women’s team in being the reigning football world champions. It’s the first time one country has held both men’s and women’s teams championships at the same time.
By every account, it was a very impressive run by La Roja during the championship, during the games.
And well played to all of the other teams, as well, who, during the five weeks, provided the world with a lot of emotion … passion, joyfulness and a little bit of heartbreak for some of us. But congratulations to La Roja.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVELS
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General is on his way back to New York from China. He will arrive late tonight. Following his attendance at the opening ceremony of the World AI Conference in Shanghai, he travelled to the Yunnan Province.
This morning, in Kunming, the Secretary-General interacted with beneficiaries and local counterparts of UN programmes from agencies such as UNDP, FAO, IFAD and UN Women, supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in China. He heard first-hand accounts from beneficiaries of projects on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration, promoting nature-based solutions, the sustainable use of medicinal plants and community-based conservation efforts linked to local livelihoods.
The Secretary-General will be back in the office tomorrow.
NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY
Courtenay Rattray, the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet delivered remarks on behalf of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly in observance of Nelson Mandela International Day, which was observed on Saturday.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General paid tribute to the life and legacy of Madiba. He highlighted that Mandela Day reflects a defining challenge of our time, poverty and inequality, and celebrated Madiba’s ability to see the world both for what it was and what it could be, having recognized that progress is never automatic; it is the result of action.
To honour that legacy, the Secretary-General encouraged all of us to carry forward Mandela’s vision of a just, inclusive, equal and peaceful world.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-07-20
