Source: United Nations (video statements)
Briefing by Kayoko Gotoh, Officer-in-Charge of Europe, Central Asia and Americas Division, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, on threats to International Peace and Security
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Press conference by Ambassador Leonor Zalabata, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations, and President of the Security Council for the month of June,on the programme of work of the Security Council in June 2026.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Informal comments to the media by Oana-Silvia Țoiu, Foreign Minister of Romania, after of a Security Council meeting on Threats to international peace and security.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Remarks to the media by Oana-Silvia Țoiu, Foreign Minister of Romania, ahead of a Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Remarks to the media by Ms. Oana-Silvia Țoiu, Foreign Minister of Romania ahead of a Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– World Food Programme
– Secretary-General/Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review
– Deputy Secretary-General/Report on Development Coordination
– Biennial Meeting of States on the Programme of Action on Small Arms & Light Weapons
– Lebanon/Israel
– Lebanon/Humanitarian
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Haití
– Nicaragua
– Security Council/Afternoon
– New Resident Coordinators – Brazil, Malaysia, Mauritania and Zimbabwe
– Global Day of Parents
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WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
Today in Rome at the World Food Programme, it is transition day, as Cindy McCain takes leave of her post as Executive Director and Carl Skau will take over as the acting Executive Director.
On this day, I just want to, on behalf of the Secretary-General, express his deep appreciation to Ms. Cindy McCain for her dedicated service as she steps down from her role as Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
Under her leadership, WFP became leaner, became faster, and became more agile in responding to global crises. She strengthened accountability, fostered innovation, and advanced humanitarian diplomacy, while sustaining life-saving operations reaching nearly 100 million people each year. Her tenure also helped secure new sources of funding, expand critical partnerships, and prioritize the safety and wellbeing of staff and beneficiaries worldwide.
The Secretary-General is grateful for her steadfast commitment to the fight against global hunger and malnutrition. He wishes her all the very best in the future.
The Secretary-General welcomes Carl Skau as Acting Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
Mr. Skau has served as WFP’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer since May 2023. He assumes his responsibilities at a critical moment, when more than 360 million people worldwide face acute food insecurity.
The process of identifying a new WFP Executive Director, a process that is run jointly by the Secretary-General and the Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization, will now get underway.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/QUADRENNIAL COMPREHENSIVE POLICY REVIEW
This morning, the Secretary-General presented his report on the implementation of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review to ECOSOC’s Operational Activities for the Development Segment.
The Secretary-General noted that the report reflects a shared journey over nearly a decade. Together, with the strong support and guidance of Member States and colleagues across the system, he said we have reshaped how we operate.
The Secretary-General pointed out that the UN development system today is more coherent, it is more accountable and it is more closely aligned with national priorities than it has ever been before. But with less than 1,700 days until the 2030 deadline of the Sustainable development goals, the Secretary-General warned that many countries face growing pressures and that this is a defining moment.
His full remarks were shared with you, and the full report on the QCPR [Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review] is available on the ECOSOC website.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL/REPORT ON DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION
And this afternoon, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, in her role as Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), will present her report on development coordination to ECOSOC’s Operational Activities Development Segment, complementing the Secretary-General’s landmark report delivered this morning.
Together, these reports tell a story of transformation. Since 2019, the reinvigorated Resident Coordinator system has made the UN more coherent, more efficient and more aligned with national priorities. Recognition of the Resident Coordinators as effective entry points to the UN system has surged from 62 per cent to 90 per cent since the reform launched.
The UN development system delivered in 2025: 121 million people were reached with food assistance; 191 million children were vaccinated against measles, often in war-like conditions; social protection was extended to 84 million people; and over half a billion more people were covered by essential health services since 2018.
The Deputy Secretary-General’s full report, including an interactive version, is also available on the Development Coordination Office website.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-01
Source: United Nations (video statements)
As States prepare for the Ninth Biennial Meeting on the implementation of the Programme of Action to Combat Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu highlights the major challenges these weapons continue to pose around the world.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Press conference by Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Patten presented the Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence, and said cases of conflict-related sexual violence verified by the United Nations in 2025 rose sharply from 2024, “marked by extreme brutality, and overwhelmingly targeted women and girls.”
The report says that in 2025, documented cases of sexual violence as a tactic of war, torture, terrorism, and political repression surged, while “multiple and overlapping political, security and humanitarian crises worsened.”
A total of 77 parties, including state and non-state actors, are listed this year for cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including parties added to the list in previous years.
New listings, Patten said, include three non-state actors operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, namely Wazalendo armed elements; Forces Nationales de Libération; and Mai Mai du groupe armé de l’Union des Patriotes pour la Libération du Congo.
Two new state actors are also listed, she said, “the Israel Armed and Security Forces; namely the Israel Defence Forces, Israel Prison Service, including the Keter Special Forces, and the Police Counter-terrorism Unit, Yamam, are listed on the basis of credible information indicating continued patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence, with an increase in the number of verified cases this year.”
In 2025, Patten said, “the UN was able to verify 31 cases, primarily in detention settings, but also at checkpoints and during military operations against 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, adding that this was “a pattern of sexual violence against Palestinians, including as a form of torture.”
These violations, she said, “consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breast and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity, and threats of rape.”
The Russian Armed and Security Forces, the Special Representative said, “have also been listed by the Secretary-General this year based on UN verified information indicating continued patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated primarily against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees.”
She said, “in 2025, the UN was able to verify 310 cases of conflict related sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings to the genitals, affecting 280 men, 26 women and four girls perpetrated by the Russian Armed and Security forces, including the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Russian Armed Forces and the Federal Security Service.”
Patten stressed that her mandate “isa Security Council mandate, and this is how countries fall within the purview of the mandate.”
She said it was “based on whether it is – and this is spelt out in Security Council Resolution 1960. And even the Secretary-General can only list parties, credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of sexual violence for countries that are on the agenda of the Security Council.”
The report indicates that sexual violence was perpetrated in detention in multiple settings, such as in Israel and the State of Palestine, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. In Myanmar, patterns of sexual violence continued to be used in detention settings as part of the repertoire of political violence to intimidate and punish opponents.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
"When I had an accident in Africa, a wild elephant became my guardian angel."
For journalist, artist and animal advocate Alessandra Mattanza, animals are more than subjects of admiration—they are companions, protectors and fellow beings.
Inspired by a remarkable encounter with a wild elephant, this short film explores the bond between humans and animals and the belief that protecting them ultimately means protecting ourselves.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Sexual violence
– Lebanon
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Romania
– South Sudan
– Ebola
– Passing of Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor
– International Days
– Financial contribution
SEXUAL VIOLENCE
The Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence was issued today, and it said that cases of conflict-related sexual violence verified by the United Nations in 2025 rose sharply from 2024, marked by extreme brutality, and overwhelmingly targeted women and girls. A total of 77 parties, including state and non-state actors, are listed this year for cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including parties added to the list in previous years.
The report says that in 2025, documented cases of sexual violence as a tactic of war, torture, terrorism and political repression surged, while multiple and overlapping political, security and humanitarian crises worsened.
Abduction and sexual violence formed part of a broader pattern of attacks by armed groups in remote areas in Burkina Faso, Mali and northern Mozambique, with girls as young as 11 being forced into sexual slavery and repeated rapes in captivity, leading to unwanted pregnancies.
The Secretary-General said that sexual violence was perpetrated in detention in multiple settings, such as in Israel and the State of Palestine, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. In Myanmar, patterns of sexual violence continued to be used in detention settings as part of the repertoire of political violence to intimidate and punish opponents.
The full report is online, and, as I mentioned, you just heard from Pramila Patten.
LEBANON
Moving to Lebanon, our peacekeeping mission there in southern Lebanon continues to observe intensive Israel Defense Forces (IDF) air and ground activity across the UNIFIL area of operations.
IDF activity was also reported north of the Litani River. Yesterday UNIFIL reported 350 firing incidents attributed to the IDF and 25 to Hizbullah.
Also yesterday, a UNIFIL convoy carrying an injured peacekeeper was stopped by the IDF and delayed for about an hour before being able to proceed. As a reminder, all parties have to ensure UNIFIL has unrestricted access and freedom of movement in the conduct of its activities mandated by the Security Council.
On the occasion of the International Day of the Peacekeepers, which, as you know is marked today, but ceremonies will take place next week on Friday. In Lebanon, UNIFIL held a solemn ceremony at its Naqoura headquarters, which included a tribute to fallen peacekeepers. As you will recall, six UNIFIL peacekeepers have been tragically killed in the hostilities in southern Lebanon since 2 March, with several more wounded. In his remarks at the ceremony, the General heading UNIFIL, General Diodato Abagnara stressed that a political and diplomatic path remains the only viable solution to the conflict, adding that UNIFIL remains committed to supporting the parties in restoring the cessation of hostilities and creating the conditions for a permanent ceasefire.
On the humanitarian front, our OCHA colleagues report that humanitarian access and emergency response capacity continue to face severe constraints.
In Nabatieh, strikes reportedly impacted a key road in Marjayoun. That took place yesterday. That road is critical for emergency medical evacuations, also for aid and humanitarian workers to move about, and for people’s access to essential goods and services.
Elsewhere in Lebanon, local authorities tell us that repeated evacuation orders forcing families to flee repeatedly and then return to their homes as security conditions shift.
The Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, said today that he is deeply alarmed by the intensification of hostilities and the impact the evacuation orders have on communities across the country.
In a statement, he referred to reports that airstrikes have harmed civilians as they attempted to leave areas under displacement orders, stressing that international humanitarian law clearly states that civilians, including health workers and first responders, must be protected.
Meanwhile, we and our humanitarian partners continue to provide critical assistance across the country. Since March 2nd, the World Food Programme and its partners have distributed more than 11 million hot and cold meals to people affected by this conflict in Lebanon.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, our OCHA colleagues tell us that last night, an Israeli air strike hit a residential area less than 600 feet – that is about 200 metres – from five humanitarian facilities in Deir al Balah. Luckily, no casualties were reported.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-05-29
