Source: United Nations (video statements)
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 1.4 million Syrians have voluntarily returned from neighbouring countries since December 2024, alongside 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) who have gone back to their areas of origin.
Céline Schmitt, spokesperson for #UNHCR in #Syria, explains how UN agencies are responding on the ground.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Speaking to reporters at his annual early year press conference at the UN Headquarters, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for renewed efforts on peace, justice and sustainable development as he outlined his priorities for 2026 – the final year of his tenure.
The Secretary-General vowed the Organization would be ‘pushing for peace – just and sustainable peace rooted in international law.’
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, said that there is a potential turning point in Gaza, but “the task at hand is monumental.”
Briefing the Security Council, Alakbarov said, “The announced start of the second phase of President Trump’s 20-point Comprehensive Plan is a critical step in consolidating the ceasefire in Gaza, alongside the establishment of the subsidiary bodies of the Board of Peace, including the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Office of the High Representative for Gaza.”
He highlighted, “The task at hand is monumental. It requires full coordination among all stakeholders, taking into account existing systems and capacities. The United Nations stands ready to support the Committee and Palestinians in Gaza as they start the arduous work of rebuilding.”
He said, “Across all sectors, humanitarian actors are still unable to operate at scale in Gaza. Their work is being hindered by insecurity, customs clearance challenges, the limited number of partners authorized by Israeli authorities to bring cargo into Gaza, delays and denials of cargo at crossings, and limited routes available for transporting supplies within Gaza.”
He also said, “On 30 December, Israel announced that it plans to suspend the operations of some international NGOs. The Government also notified 37 INGOs that their registrations would expire at the end of 2025, due to what Israel says is their failure to comply with new Israeli regulations, triggering a 60-day review period. Banning these INGOs will have a significant impact on the humanitarian response across the OPT. I urge Israel to immediately reverse this decision.”
He reported, “Despite the ceasefire, the Israeli military continues to conduct military operations with airstrikes, shelling and gunfire occurring across the Strip. Armed exchanges have also persisted with Palestinian militants. Attacks in the vicinity of or beyond the so-called “yellow line” are happening daily. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, including many women and children.”
Talking about the West Bank, he said, “Negative trends are entrenched daily. The reporting period was marked by continued violence, with extensive Israeli military operations, settlement expansion, settler violence, demolitions and large-scale detentions.”
He stressed, “On 12 January, Israeli forces raided an UNRWA health centre in occupied East Jerusalem and ordered it to close. A week later Israeli forces forcibly entered the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem with bulldozers, demolishing buildings. Officials also made abhorrent calls for the annihilation of UNRWA staff. These acts are flagrant violations of international law and the privileges and immunities of the United Nations. I call on the Israeli government to abide by the October 2025 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which states that Israel is obliged under international law to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or prevent them.”
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said, “Israel is not the sovereign in the Palestinian territory. This illegal occupation has no rights whatsoever in Occupied Palestine, including in Jerusalem. Mr. President, the ceasefire’s permanence and success requires that Israel cease trying to dictate the future of Gaza and to fully withdraw from the territory. Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. I repeat: Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. It belongs to the Palestinian people, nobody else.”
Israeli ambassador Danny Danon stated, “One obstacle remains: Hamas disarmament. The choice now rests with Hamas: acceptance of full disarmament enables progress; refusal places full responsibility on Hamas for the consequences.”
US ambassador Mike Waltz said, “along with our partners on the Board of Peace, and in consultation with the National Committee, will apply pressure to Hamas to honor its commitment and to disarm. Hamas must not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly or indirectly, in any form. Period.”
He also said, “Under the leadership of Major General Jasper Jeffers of the United States Army, the ISF will begin to establish control and stability, so that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) can withdraw from Gaza based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization. These will be agreed upon between the IDF, the ISF, the guarantors, and the United States, with an objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to its neighbors or its citizens.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Press briefing by United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, on his priorities for 2026
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Secretary-General’s Press Conference
Ecosoc Coordination Segment
Haiti
Yemen
Sudan
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Peacekeeping
Security Council
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Ukraine
Honour Roll
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SECRETARY-GENERAL’S PRESS CONFERENCE
Tomorrow, at noon, the Secretary-General, António Guterres, will be here for his last annual start-of-the-year press conference.
The Secretary-General will talk about his priorities for 2026. And I think paint a very clear picture of the current state of the world, the challenges we face and the path forwards. We will share the remarks with you under embargo soon, probably mid-afternoon or so.
ECOSOC COORDINATION SEGMENT
This morning, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, delivered remarks on behalf of the Secretary-General at the 2026 ECOSOC Coordination Segment, which brings together Member States and partners to coordinate development priorities and strengthen multilateral cooperation.
Over eight decades, she said, ECOSOC has advanced dialogue and coordinated action in support of sustainable development and human rights. And amid interconnected crises, from conflict and inequality to climate change and emerging technologies, ECOSOC must demonstrate that global cooperation can deliver.
Ms. Mohammed conveyed the Secretary-General’s welcome for ECOSOC’s continued efforts to strengthen the UN development system, aligned with the UN80 Initiative’s vision of a more effective UN delivering for people and planet.
HAITI
The Department of Operational Support who have been leading efforts to establish and operationalise the UN Support Office in Haiti says that the Security Council, through its resolution 2793, requested the UN to establish the Support Office to provide logistical support to the Gang Suppression Force within six months of its adoption – so by the end of March.
The interim Director of this office, the Director of Mission Support, Stephen McOwan, has been selected recently and he arrived in Port-au-Prince over the weekend. He has joined about 37 staff of the UN Support Office already deployed in the Haitian capital.
A second office, located in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, was established last week.
This office provides transactional human resources, finance and travel services to both UNSOH and BINUH, our political office, in Haiti. Currently, we have 15 staff stationed in Santo Domingo setting up these services.
With the cooperation of the Government of the Dominican Republic, the country was also designated as a medical evacuation destination.
Additional staff expected to arrive in Haiti and the Dominican Republic through the end February 2026.
Since the adoption of the Security Council resolution establishing the UN Support Office for Haiti, our colleagues have signed a land use agreement with the Government of Haiti for the occupancy of land and premises for the UNSOH civilian footprint.
The first UNSOH air asset is now in Port-au-Prince and as you can imagine, this is an important step for our colleagues’ logistics and operational mobility.
Lastly, equipment from the UN Logistics Base in Brindisi is on its way to Port-au-Prince.
Another shipment has also been confirmed from Baghdad to Port-au-Prince including residual equipment and assets from the liquidating UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). We are particularly grateful for the assistance of the Government of Iraq in expediting approvals for this, as their contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-01-28
Source: United Nations (video statements)
At the UN’s annual Holocaust remembrance ceremony, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the Holocaust remains a powerful warning as antisemitism rises worldwide, urging action against hatred, racism and discrimination. Holocaust survivors also shared firsthand testimonies, calling for remembrance rooted in empathy and respect for human dignity.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Addressing the annual Holocaust memorial event in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust, Secretary-General António Guterres today (27 Jan) grieved for the “six million Jews murdered just because they were Jewish,” and said, “the Holocaust is not only history. It is a warning. A warning that hatred, once unleashed, can consume everything.”
Guterres said, that warning feels “more urgent than ever” as “antisemitism around the world is raging” and “Jewish communities live in fear.”
The Secretary-General said, “this dark chapter of our common history reveals sobering truths. When those with power fail to act, evil goes unpunished. When the past is distorted, denied and weaponized, hatred and prejudice fester. When words become weapons, lies, conspiracies, the casual joke and the coded slur can grow until the unthinkable becomes policy and violence.”
He said, “let us together pledge to stand against antisemitism and all forms of hatred — and against bigotry, racism and discrimination anywhere and everywhere.”
The President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock, for her part said, “questioning the rights of some, simply for who they are, where they come from, or what colour their skin is all has the same end: dehumanization, which eventually spreads to all.”
Baerbock, who is a former German foreign minister, quoted German pastor Martin Niemöller and said, “when they came for the Jews, I did not speak up, I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak up. I was a Protestant. When they came for me, no one was left to speak up.”
She said, “Never Again is not a slogan. It is a duty, a duty to speak up and to stand up, to defend the dignity and human rights—not of some—but of every member of our human family, everywhere, every day.”
In his address to the gathering, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said, “unlike1941, today there is a different reality. We crashed and stopped Hamas’s terror machine. We brought home. We brought home every hostage, every single one of them.”
Removing a pin from his lapel, Danon said, “we waited 843 days. Today the pain finally comes off.”
Evelyn Konrad, one of five Holocaust survivors who addressed today’s memorial, recounted the day her family was able to leave Hungary.
She said, “in May 1939 we got the French visas. After my mother and I boarded the train in Budapest, I never saw my Hungarian family again. On the train, I was so excited because I’d soon see my beloved grandmother, my Omutti again. I also looked forward to walking on the familiar streets of Vienna. But outside the train station, Vienna looked grey, glum. As we crossed the bridge into Leopoldstadt, I heard the thunder of jackboots marching toward us from the Prater. I saw very few people on the Praterstrasse. Those I saw were hurrying, staying close to the walls of the old buildings. We crossed from the trolley to Omutti’s building. Two large women in dirndls approached us. Where they should have had sprigs of Alpine roses or flowers pinned to their dirndls, each one had a huge Hackenkreuz, swastikas. They marched toward us as if we were not there. It happened so fast: they pushed my beautiful, slender mother off the sidewalk into the street. I ended up with one foot on the sidewalk, one foot on the street. My mother held my hand tight. I tried to break my mother’s grip. I wanted to run after those two big women. They didn’t even look back. I wanted to bite them, to kick them, to scratch them. My mother dug her nails into my arm. Suddenly, I was afraid.”
A UNESCO study published today indicates that over 77 percent of teachers in the European Union had encountered at least one incident of antisemitism between students at least once or twice. Over a quarter of teachers had witnessed nine or more of these incidents. Overall, on average, teachers had encountered five or six antisemitic incidents between students at their school.
Secretary General full remarks: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statements/2026-01-27/secretary-generals-message-the-international-day-of-commemoration-memory-of-the-victims-of-the-holocaust
Website: https://www.un.org/en/observances/commemoration-holocaust-victims-day
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Highlights:
– Holocaust
– Antisemitism
– Syria
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Iraq
– Niger
– South Sudan
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Chile
– Multidimensional Vulnerability Index
– Honour Roll
– Secretary-General/Press Conference
————————————————————-
HOLOCAUST
This morning, the Secretary-General attended the annual ceremony in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. In remarks delivered he said that he grieved for the Jews, the Roma and Sinti, the people with disabilities, LGBTQI+people, and so many more who were enslaved, persecuted, tortured, and killed.
He said that the Holocaust is not only history. It is a warning. A warning that hatred, once unleashed, can consume everything.
Today, Mr. Guterres said, that warning feels much more urgent than ever. Antisemitism around the world is raging. Jewish communities live in fear. Synagogues attacked. Families shattered. Vile antisemitic hatred racing across cyberspace.
He recalled that the Holocaust did not begin with killing. It began with words. Its architects telegraphed their evil intentions.
The Secretary-General said that they deliberately spread a hateful, supremacist ideology that preyed on fear and economic despair.
He urged all to act against such hatred, saying that when those with power fail to act, evil goes unpunished. When the past is distorted, denied and weaponized, hatred and prejudice fester.
The Secretary-General said that it is also our duty to keep alive the spirit of acting in common purpose, through multilateralism, to ensure that the forces of humanity always triumph over the forces of inhumanity.
ANTISEMITISM
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), today published a study which collects data from 2,030 educators across the European Union, seeking to examine their knowledge and understanding of what antisemitism refers to and explore their preparedness to address antisemitism when they encounter it. Worryingly, just over three-quarters of the teachers, that is more than 77 per cent, had encountered at least one incident of antisemitism between students at least once or twice.
Over a quarter of teachers had witnessed nine or more of these incidents. Overall, on average, teachers had encountered five or six antisemitic incidents between students at their school.
The report adds that the most prevalent challenges that teachers encountered were students demonstrating antisemitic attitudes, tropes and conspiracy theories read on the internet or in the media, and that being exposed to this sort of content in the family environment.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-01-27
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Video message by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
More information: https://www.un.org/en/observances/commemoration-holocaust-victims-day
Source: United Nations (video statements)
A medical doctor by training, Dr. Felipe Paulier is a passionate advocate for young people. Two years ago, aged just 32, his life took a new turn when he became the first-ever Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, the youngest senior appointment in the history of the United Nations.
“Leaving young people at the sidelines of how we find solutions is not the way. It’s really bringing them [in], because on many of the things, the solutions will come from them.”
The UN Youth Office believes that positive change is rooted in empowering young people to meaningfully participate in decisions that impact their lives and futures. In this episode, Felipe Paulier reflects on youth demands for peace and opportunity, on the stubborn barriers to change, and shares why he always prescribes reconnecting with nature as a cure for digital overwhelm.
#podcast #UnitedNations #awakeatnight #UNYouthOffice #youth
