Category: United Nations

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Hybrid briefing from Sudan, by Amy Pope, Director General for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), on the situation in the country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbKNWwwL4x8

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Secretary-General António Guterres said, “The world must not turn its back on Africa, home to nearly one-fifth of humanity. The stakes are too high. And the potential is too great.”

The Secretary-General and Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the African Union Commission Chairperson, spoke to reporters following the annual African Union United Nations Conference.

Guterres reiterated that the cooperation between the two organizations has never been stronger — or more necessary.

The UN chief highlighted that Africa’s history is as old as humanity. Its resources are vast – and have driven the growth of many economies. However, its progress is held back by an outdated and unfair global financial system.

Guterres said, “The time has come to reform this financial architecture – so it reflects the world of today and better serves the needs of developing countries, particularly in Africa.”

The Secretary-General reiterated, “It must become more inclusive, representative, equitable and effective,” explaining that it means “giving developing countries more meaningful participation in global financial institutions. Tripling the lending capacity of multilateral development banks. And easing debt burdens with new instruments that reduce the cost of capital, lower borrowing costs, extend maturity, align debt service to the ability to pay, and speed up sovereign debt resolution for countries facing debt distress.”

The UN chief also reaffirmed his full support for the AU’s Silencing the Guns initiative.

In Sudan, Guterres is “gravely” concern by recent reports of mass atrocities and gross human rights violations in El Fasher and worsening violence in the Kordofans.

He said, “The flow of weapons and fighters from external parties must be cut off. The flow of humanitarian aid must be able to quickly reach civilians in need. The hostilities must stop.”

The Secretary-General called on the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to engage with his Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, and “take swift, tangible steps toward a negotiated settlement.”

In the eastern reaches of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guterres noted that decades of conflict have created a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions – with 5.7 million people displaced and 21 million in need of lifesaving aid. Services are collapsing. Cholera on the rise. Hope is on the run.

The UN chief said, “Donors must step up – with meaningful support for the vastly underfunded Humanitarian Response Plan. Combatants must stand down – so peace agreements can be implemented without delay. Parties must honour their commitments under the Washington Peace Agreement and Doha Declaration of Principles, and comply fully with Security Council resolution 2773.”

“The DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. And the root causes of the instability and violence in eastern DRC must be addressed,” Guterres added.

For his part, African Union Commission Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, said that the AU is committed to work with all parties and stakeholders at the United Nations to “achieve a transparent, equitable, unjust reform of the UN Security Council.”

“These reforms are indeed of paramount importance and would ultimately consolidate the multilateral system,” Youssouf said.

He also highlighted that the two organizations are faced with financial strains.

“We need to adapt our actions and programs to the new realities,” the Chairperson said, adding that “it is critical to continue to support peace operations, the fight against terrorism, conflict prevention and resolution, and also focus most of our efforts on humanitarian affairs.”

Asked about the decision from the United States to not attend the upcoming G20 in South Africa, the AU chairperson said, “It is indeed unfortunate that the United States boycott this G20 summit.”

He continued, “let me reassure you. I think the African continent has decided to take its destiny on its hands. And we are definitely working to increase the self-reliance. We are working to mobilize domestic resources for our development programs and the whole rhetorics and narratives is changing.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j8lpHtDdu0

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

United Nations Human rights expert on Haiti, William O’Neill has described conditions of prisons in Haiti as inhuman and degrading. Speaking to UN News, the designated expert said, ‘the conditions are subhuman, frankly. Unbelievably crowded and hot. There’s not enough food. There’s very little access to medical care.’
Mr. O’Neil added that the country’s justice system has struggled to function effectively. Cases are not being tried quickly enough and 82 per cent of prisoners are being held in detention while they await their trial.

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Acute food insecurity is likely to worsen across 16 countries and territories in the coming months, UN agencies warn in a new report calling for urgent humanitarian action in response. Five facts about this dire situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJkAx0gXsSc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.

"Presidente Lula,
Excellencies,
It is an honour to join you for the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.

I thank President Lula and the Government and people of Brazil for their leadership – here in Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, and centre of climate action.

Tropical forests breathe life into our planet.
Yet they remain under relentless assault – treated as short-term profit, not long-term value.
Last year, the world lost the equivalent of 18 football fields of tropical primary forest – every minute.

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility is a bold mechanism to make standing forests more valuable than cleared land – aligning conservation with opportunity, and solidarity with shared prosperity.

Excellencies,
Tropical forests are vital to climate stability.
They protect water and soils, store and remove billions of tonnes of carbon, regulate rainfall, shape weather patterns across continents, and sustain millions of people.
Without tropical forests, there is no path to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
We are dangerously close to a tipping point that could push these ecosystems beyond recovery.

Crossing that line would unleash droughts, fires, and biodiversity loss on a scale humanity cannot control.
We have pledged to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030.
Now we must deliver.

That means supporting forest nations – not as a favour, but as a shared duty;
Cutting emissions from deforestation;
And preserving forests’ immense capacity to store carbon.
By rewarding countries for keeping forests standing, we boost resilience.

By supporting Indigenous Peoples and forest communities, we advance climate justice and safeguard cultures whose knowledge has stewarded nature for millennia.
And by mobilizing long-term, predictable, and affordable finance, we close one of the most persistent gaps in global climate action.
Fairness, inclusion and integrity must be front and centre.
Finance must reach the ground – those protecting forests with their hands, hearts, and heritage.

Excellencies,
Today’s launch is a statement of solidarity and hope.
It shows that developing countries – while bearing the heaviest impacts of the climate crisis – are leading with solutions for all.
From the Amazon to the Congo Basin to Southeast Asia, forest nations prove that protecting nature can drive growth, stability, and dignity.
Now the world must respond with matching ambition.

Governments, development banks, and the private sector must join forces to close the finance gap, unlock investment for sustainable forest economies and scale up monitoring and restoration.
Together, we can ensure tropical forests stand forever – as living pillars of climate stability, biodiversity, resilience, and peace.

Thank you."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgCVbP2UMMs

Source: United Nations (video statements)

“In this fragile environment, withdrawal of resources and capacity is imprudent at best, catastrophic at worst,” UN Women chief Sima Sami Bahous told the Security Council, stressing that South Sudan’s gender-based violence crisis – threatening 2.7 million people -makes continued peacekeeping support essential.

Bahous said UN Mission in South Sudan documented 260 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, including “rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced abortion and forced marriage, with the highest number recorded in Western Equatoria State.”

She described a recent incident in Warrap State in which armed youth surrounded a girls’ boarding school seeking revenge for a cattle raid. “100 schoolgirls were trapped inside. They feared abduction or worse,” she said. “Fortunately, UN peacekeepers intervened. They de-escalated the situation. They freed the girls.”

“For those 100 girls, those peacekeepers could not have been more essential, nor their courage and skill more life changing,” she added, cautioning that any reduction of mandates or resources would be “imprudent at best, catastrophic at worst.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OualQ3VRHQ