Category: United Nations

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
Senior Personnel Appointment
Secretary-General/Cop30
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Lebanon/Israel
Security Council/Food Insecurity
Ukraine
Abyei
Hurricane Melissa
Srebrenica
Road Traffic Victims
Briefings Today and Tomorrow

SENIOR PERSONNEL APPOINTMENT
Today, the Secretary-General, following consultations with the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), wrote to the President of the General Assembly requesting the General Assembly to confirm Alexander De Croo of Belgium as the new Administrator of UNDP for a term of four years. The General Assembly confirmed the nomination today.

Mr. De Croo succeeds Achim Steiner of Germany to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his leadership and commitment to the Organization. He also wishes to express his appreciation to Haoliang Xu, Associate Administrator of UNDP, who has been handling the interim and will continue to do so until Mr. De Croo’s arrival.

Just as background. Mr. De Croo has dedicated much of his career to public service advancing global solidarity, combining political leadership, development cooperation, and innovation. As former Prime Minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2025, he worked closely with multilateral institutions to steer structural change for people in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions, having consistently supported UNDP as a key partner.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/COP30
The Secretary-General has arrived in Belém, in Brazil, a few hours ago, where, as you all know, COP30 is currently under way. As mentioned last week, during the next few days, he will be meeting with negotiating parties, including various regional groups and ministers. He will also engage with civil society representatives, indigenous peoples and youth.  

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that the humanitarian situation remains very difficult, with many people struggling to access the basics they need to survive.

Following heavy rains on Friday, humanitarian teams carried out rapid assessments of impacted areas over the weekend and provided some initial aid. More than 13,000 families are estimated to have been impacted by the flooding.

According to our partners working on shelter, over the weekend, they helped distribute at least 9,000 tents, 83,000 tarpaulins and 59,000 blankets, with thousands more planned in the coming days.

While we and our partners have moved swiftly to respond to rain-affected areas, our efforts remain constrained by inadequate volumes of shelter and other necessary supplies allowed to enter through the UN-coordinated mechanism.

With temperatures dropping and winter fast approaching, we must be allowed to expand the shelter response to meet the vast scale of needs across the Gaza Strip. We continue to call for unrestricted, for rapid and sustained access; the opening of additional crossings; facilitation of entry of tents that are currently restricted, as well as critical equipment to maintain storm drains and repair sanitation networks; permissions for NGOs to bring in supplies; and the safe movement of humanitarian convoys. Since 10 October, at least nine attempts by the United Nations and our partners to bring in tents have been rejected.

Our partners working on food security report that with the volume of food parcels entering Gaza having increased in recent days, they plan to resume the distribution of two food parcels and one bag of flour [per household] across the Strip.

Earlier last week, distributions in the north had to be limited to high-energy biscuits and one bag of flour because partners working to bring supplies were facing impediments, including the de-prioritization of humanitarian cargo at crossings, customs clearance delays, and lack of access to northern crossings.

Meanwhile, our colleagues working on efforts to remove rubble and debris from roads and communities tell us that they have cleared 100,000 tons of debris since the ceasefire came into effect. However, nearly 58 million tons of debris and rubble remain spread across the Gaza Strip – and only half of that amount is currently accessible.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBu-nlakC4M

Source: United Nations (video statements)

General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock visited a sustainable cacao production enterprise on the island of Combu on the banks of the Guamá River, just 30 minutes by boat from Belém, the host city of this year’s Climate Change Conference COP30 in Brazil.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QtmTpwykFBQ

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) opened Monday 10 November in Brazil with leaders urging faster action to keep 1.5°C within reach. UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell said global emissions are bending downward and set priorities: a just, orderly transition away from fossil fuels; tripling renewable energy; doubling energy efficiency; and mobilizing US$1.3 trillion annually for developing countries.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PDicog9PwaE

Source: United Nations (video statements)

At COP30, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on negotiators to make climate mobility a central pillar of global adaptation efforts. Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels stressed that communities must have the means to stay safely or move with dignity as climate impacts intensify.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P7_M3SbRNao

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

-Secretary-General/Trip Announcement

-Jesuit Refugee Service

-Ukraine

-Ukraine/Humanitarian

-Occupied Palestinian Territory

-Lebanon/Israel

-Syria

-Sudan

-Democratic Republic of the Congo

-Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security

-Department of Safety and Security

-International Days

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SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT

On Sunday, the Secretary-General will return to COP30 in Belém, Brazil. During his visit, he will meet with negotiating parties, including various regional groups and ministers. He will also engage with civil society representatives, indigenous peoples and youth.

The Secretary-General has called for COP30 to ignite a decade of acceleration and implementation, given the serious gaps in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. While in Belém, he will reiterate his call for parties to provide a clear plan for doing so. The Secretary-General is also expected to speak to journalists.

JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE

Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at an event marking the 45th Anniversary of the creation of the Jesuit Refugee Service. He said that since its creation, the Jesuit Refugee Service has been coming to the aid of people uprooted by conflict and persecution, accompanying them in their suffering and providing them with vital services.

The Secretary-General said that our world keeps turning its back on those in distress but he added that giving refuge to people in peril is more than a tradition, it’s a moral and practical necessity. He called on all to work together to uphold the right to seek asylum, a pillar of international law, insist on the shared responsibility to provide international protection, and summon the political will to resolve conflicts. His full remarks have been shared with you.

UKRAINE

The Secretary-General strongly condemns today’s large-scale missile and drone strikes by the Russian Federation on several Ukrainian regions, reportedly killing at least six people in the capital Kyiv and two people in the city of Chornomorsk. The attack is also reported to have caused many injuries among civilians and damage to residential and energy infrastructure, as well as damage to the embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Kyiv.

Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. They are unacceptable, wherever they occur, and must end immediately. The Secretary-General recalls the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic premises.

The Secretary-General reiterates his call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as a first step towards a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace in Ukraine, one that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, in line with the UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions. 

UKRAINE/HUMANITARIAN

From Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that a large-scale overnight attack on the capital and hostilities across the country has resulted in several civilians killed and injured. Multiple residential buildings and several health facilities were damaged, while parts of the city of Kyiv were left without heating. This is what local authorities are telling us.

The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, condemned the attack, noting the ongoing pattern of massive civilian harm caused by such strikes during the cold winter months. The attacks reflect an alarming increase in civilian casualties.

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, civilian casualties between January to October were nearly 30 per cent higher than during the same period last year, and the toll of casualties for the first ten months of 2025 has already exceeded the total for all of 2024.

Following the latest attacks, humanitarian organizations, including UN agencies and national and international NGOs, swiftly mobilized to assist people impacted in Kyiv and across the country. They are providing hot meals, emergency shelter materials, blankets and hygiene items, as well as psychosocial support. Humanitarians are also registering impacted families for cash assistance.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70L7fQ_paeY

Source: United Nations (video statements)

At COP30, ministers and stakeholders launched the Belém Health Action Plan, the first international climate adaptation framework dedicated entirely to the health sector. The plan sets out concrete actions to help countries prepare their health systems for the growing impacts of climate change, with a focus on protecting the most vulnerable communities.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/U1R_EWZGino

Source: United Nations (video statements)

UNRWA Commissioner-General briefed the press on UNRWA’s services and ongoing operations and said that his agency is “extraordinarily operational.”

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said, “There is a perception that the agency is not operational in Gaza or in the West Bank, and we even heard today at the 4th Committee, the representative of Israel saying that UNRWA has been fully replaced and other agencies have stepped in. And I think it’s important that we correct this perception.”

He continued, “It is true that there is today, 2 bills adopted by the Knesset – you are all very well aware -which started to be implemented as from the end of January. The impact was on the operational presence in East Jerusalem, primary our schools, and the second impact has been that we had to withdraw our international staff, both from the West Bank and Gaza.”

“But in reality,” he stressed, “we are extraordinarily operational. In Gaza, we still have 12,000 staff. They are primarily involved in providing, focusing in public health and in education. They have never ever stopped providing lifesaving assistance to the population, and since the ceasefire is in place, they have scaled up their activities across the Gaza Strip.”

He added, “Just to give you few examples, I shared, also examples this morning at the 4th committee. But we have currently, about 75,000 people were sheltered in hundreds of our premises across the Gaza Strip. We have, over the last two years, provided more than 15 million primary health consultations. Today, the average is about 14,000 a day.”

He said, “We have just started with UNICEF and WHO again, a vaccination campaign and I keep saying, you know that these are good examples of partnership on the ground. We have UNICEF bringing the supply to vaccine. We have WHO in charge of the cold chain, but the nurses, the staff providing to the children the vaccine, the health staff from UNRWA.”

He also said, “In the West Bank we are also very active. Our schools are open. We have about 50,000 children in our schools. By the way, the number of children has increased. We registered an increase of more than 3-4,000 kids coming from the PA schools back to UNRWA schools. And when it comes to primary health, we have also provided into 2025, more than 700,000 health consultations.”

He highlighted, “With 12,000 staff in Gaza, 4 to 5 into West Bank, – in West Bank, we are the second biggest employer of civil servant, and in Gaza, we are the main employer. So, we remain, despite, contrary to what it’s been conveyed, the main agency.”

He stated, “If you get rid of such expertise, such workforce, with an organization having very strong trust from the community, you can only weaken, in fact, any effort trying to promote stabilization.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1ZppI4z1cU

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

– Deputy Secretary-General
– Health/COP30
– Refugees/COP30
– Food Waste/COP30
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Somalia
– AU-UN Annual Conference
– Event to Mark 20 Years of UNDSS
——————————————————–

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL

The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is traveling to Kigali, Rwanda to participate in the Second Edition of the African Renaissance Retreat. This retreat will bring together some of Africa’s most prominent leaders from business, government and development to help shape and accelerate the continent’s transformation.

During her visit, the Deputy Secretary-General will be meeting with senior government officials to discuss advancing the implementation of Agenda 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The Deputy Secretary-General will also speak at the African School of Governance – a pan-African institution shaping the next generation of policymakers.  She is expected to return back to New York on Monday.

HEALTH/COP30

At COP30 today, it is Health Day. In his remarks at the Health and Climate Ministerial Meeting, Simon Stiell, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, noted that in a big city like Belém, in the Amazon, we are reminded of the deep connection between human health and the health of our planet, and of our shared responsibility to take care of both. Mr. Stiell underscored that today’s launch of the Belém Health Action Plan is a vital step forward. Led by the Government of Brazil and the World Health Organization, it integrates adaptation, equity, and climate justice, the three pillars of a resilient society.

As the world faces record-breaking temperatures, an Extreme Heat Risk Governance Framework and Toolkit was launched today at COP30, and that toolkit was launched to help countries strengthen governance, coordination, and investment in response to escalating heat risks. The new Framework and Toolkit were developed by an international collaboration of national and global experts, led jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN), and Duke University in the United States. It responds to the Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat.

WMO points out that extreme heat claims more than half a million lives every year and has resulted in a record 639 billion potential work hours lost in 2024.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Turning to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Since the latest ceasefire, our colleagues at OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) have been leading a number of assessments across Gaza to areas where people are living or have moved, including those who are in close proximity to the so-called “Yellow Line,” where as you know Israeli ground forces remain present.

Our teams note that communities in these areas urgently need aid, and it is essential that services are restored quickly. These assessments will inform a rapid response by ourselves and our partners to the most critical needs, which include water, food, shelter, hygiene supplies, and healthcare. As winter takes hold, our partners working on shelter distributed thousands of tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses and clothing kits to vulnerable people across Gaza. That was done on Monday.

Our partners are reporting important progress in improving healthcare, with 27 health service points reopened or newly established across Gaza since the latest ceasefire came into effect. However, as we’ve warned many times, multiple impediments are still restricting our ability to scale up the response as quickly and efficiently as we have the capacity to do. Once again, we underscore the need to open additional crossings, to resolve bottlenecks, fully facilitate the operations of humanitarian agencies, and provide safety guarantees for our convoys.

Our partners working to support water, sanitation, and hygiene note that various equipment needed to improve critical infrastructure and address the public health risks remain blocked by Israeli authorities from entering Gaza. Such equipment includes machines that are urgently needed to contain and properly dispose of medical waste.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25zBHZuHAPI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

– Deputy Secretary-General
– Health/COP30
– Refugees/COP30
– Food Waste/COP30
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Somalia
– AU-UN Annual Conference
– Event to Mark 20 Years of UNDSS
——————————————————–

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL

The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is traveling to Kigali, Rwanda to participate in the Second Edition of the African Renaissance Retreat. This retreat will bring together some of Africa’s most prominent leaders from business, government and development to help shape and accelerate the continent’s transformation.

During her visit, the Deputy Secretary-General will be meeting with senior government officials to discuss advancing the implementation of Agenda 2030 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The Deputy Secretary-General will also speak at the African School of Governance – a pan-African institution shaping the next generation of policymakers.  She is expected to return back to New York on Monday.

HEALTH/COP30

At COP30 today, it is Health Day. In his remarks at the Health and Climate Ministerial Meeting, Simon Stiell, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, noted that in a big city like Belém, in the Amazon, we are reminded of the deep connection between human health and the health of our planet, and of our shared responsibility to take care of both. Mr. Stiell underscored that today’s launch of the Belém Health Action Plan is a vital step forward. Led by the Government of Brazil and the World Health Organization, it integrates adaptation, equity, and climate justice, the three pillars of a resilient society.

As the world faces record-breaking temperatures, an Extreme Heat Risk Governance Framework and Toolkit was launched today at COP30, and that toolkit was launched to help countries strengthen governance, coordination, and investment in response to escalating heat risks. The new Framework and Toolkit were developed by an international collaboration of national and global experts, led jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN), and Duke University in the United States. It responds to the Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat.

WMO points out that extreme heat claims more than half a million lives every year and has resulted in a record 639 billion potential work hours lost in 2024.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Turning to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Since the latest ceasefire, our colleagues at OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) have been leading a number of assessments across Gaza to areas where people are living or have moved, including those who are in close proximity to the so-called “Yellow Line,” where as you know Israeli ground forces remain present.

Our teams note that communities in these areas urgently need aid, and it is essential that services are restored quickly. These assessments will inform a rapid response by ourselves and our partners to the most critical needs, which include water, food, shelter, hygiene supplies, and healthcare. As winter takes hold, our partners working on shelter distributed thousands of tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses and clothing kits to vulnerable people across Gaza. That was done on Monday.

Our partners are reporting important progress in improving healthcare, with 27 health service points reopened or newly established across Gaza since the latest ceasefire came into effect. However, as we’ve warned many times, multiple impediments are still restricting our ability to scale up the response as quickly and efficiently as we have the capacity to do. Once again, we underscore the need to open additional crossings, to resolve bottlenecks, fully facilitate the operations of humanitarian agencies, and provide safety guarantees for our convoys.

Our partners working to support water, sanitation, and hygiene note that various equipment needed to improve critical infrastructure and address the public health risks remain blocked by Israeli authorities from entering Gaza. Such equipment includes machines that are urgently needed to contain and properly dispose of medical waste.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25zBHZuHAPI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:

-AU-UN Annual Conference
-Sudan
-Occupied Palestinian Territory
-Yemen
-Cambodia / Thailand
-Iraq
-Afghanistan
-Democratic Republic of the Congo
-Hunger
-Briefing / Tomorrow

AU-UN ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The 9th African Union–UN annual conference is taking place at the UN Headquarters.
The high-level discussions started earlier this morning and are co-chaired by the Secretary-General and Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
The annual meeting is focusing on progress in the implementation of the cooperation frameworks between the two organizations, but also on the joint action and challenges linked to peace, security, development and human rights.
Discussions include topics such as financing for development, climate action, as well as the implementation of the African strategy for women, peace and security agenda.

SUDAN
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, is in Sudan, to see firsthand the immense suffering and to help identify solutions to this deepening humanitarian crisis. Mr. Fletcher is currently traveling towards Darfur, where he is expected to meet families who fled the recent violence in El Fasher, a city he described as “already the scene of catastrophic levels of human suffering” that has now “descended into an even darker hell.’ Mr. Fletcher is expected to also meet with aid workers who are trying to help all those in need despite insecurity they are facing, access constraints and, as you heard, severe funding shortages. Mr. Fletcher, as you will recall, recently allocated $20 million from the OCHA-managed Central Emergency Response Fund to scale up life-saving aid in Tawila, Darfur and Kordofan.

And as I mentioned, we hope to have Mr. Fletcher brief you after he’s visited Darfur.
Yesterday, Mr. Fletcher was in Port Sudan where he met with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, President of the Transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan. Their discussions focused on improving humanitarian access across Sudan. Mr. Fletcher conveyed out appreciation for the Government’s stated commitment to facilitate the delivery of essential aid wherever it is needed.
While in Port Sudan, he also met with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who was also in Sudan. They discussed urgent steps to reach people in need across Sudan, from Darfur to the Kordofan. Mr. Fletcher expressed his gratitude for their partnership and commitment to facilitate neutral and impartial humanitarian access.
Mr. Fletcher, while in Port Sudan, also met with our UN and country team staff.

Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml___Oe0CZ8