Category: United Nations

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Rwanda
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Humanitarian
Sudan
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Lebanon
Ukraine
Southeast Asia Children
Food Price Index
International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
International Days
Guest

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO/RWANDA

The Secretary-General welcomes the official signing yesterday in Washington of the Washington accords for peace and prosperity between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, under the facilitation of the United States of America. He commends President Trump for his efforts and congratulates Presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame on this important milestone.

The Secretary-General underscores that these agreements represent a critical step towards restoring trust between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda and in advancing efforts for lasting peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Secretary-General also welcomes the significant progress made under both the Doha and the African Union-led processes.

He urges all parties to honour the commitments they have undertaken, including the respect of a permanent ceasefire, as called for by Security Council resolution 2773 (2025).

The Secretary-General reiterates that the United Nations, including the UN Peacekeeping mission in the DRC -MONUSCO, stands ready to continue supporting all efforts towards sustainable peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the wider region.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO/HUMANITARIAN

On the humanitarian side, on the ground, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that hostilities are continuing across South Kivu province, resulting in more civilian deaths, injuries and displacement.

Since 2 December, intense fighting, including the use of heavy weaponry and shelling, has been reported in several villages across the territories of Uvira, Walungu, Kabare, Fizi and Kalehe. These attacks have damaged critical infrastructure and homes.

Meanwhile, local health authorities in Walungu territory say that at least 13 civilians have been admitted to hospital. Intense fighting and roadblocks have rendered unfortunately evacuations impossible, and that is preventing an unknown number of injured civilians from reaching the medical facilities they need for treatment.

The violence has forced people to flee their homes, though the exact number cannot yet be determined. As of the end of October, there were 1.2 million people displaced in South Kivu.

Between January and September of this year, we and our partners have provided food, shelter and protection and health services to 1.5 million people in South Kivu.

We, yet again, reiterate our urgent call on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and protect all civilians and civilian infrastructure. Humanitarian access must be granted to allow for life-saving assistance to reach those in need.

SUDAN

The UN Children’s Fund today noted that drone strikes in Ghadeer locality, Kalogi, in South Kordofan, have reportedly killed more than 10 children aged between 5 and 7 years old. That was inside a kindergarten. UNICEF stressed that the killing and maiming of children, and attacks on schools and hospitals are grave violations of children’s rights. These strikes come amid a sharp deterioration in security across the Kordofan States since early November, driving up widespread displacement and deepening humanitarian needs. UNICEF says that medical services are collapsing, essential supplies are nearly exhausted, and education is disrupted, leaving children without learning opportunities and in severe psychosocial distress.

The UN Children’s Fund continues to work with its partners to deliver lifesaving support in Sudan, but the scale of needs far exceeds the resources.

UNICEF calls on the international community to step up efforts to protect children and to provide urgent assistance.

And today, we join the World Food Programme in strongly condemning an attack on a WFP truck near the town of Hamra El Sheikh in North Darfur. That took place last night. That truck was part of a larger convoy of 39 trucks on route with vital food assistance to support hungry families who fled to Tawilah, in North Darfur, in search of food and safety.

WFP supports about 700,000 people in Tawilah with food support.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-12-05

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Drone strikes in Ghadeer locality, Kalogi, South Kordofan, have reportedly killed more than 10 children aged between 5 and 7 years, inside a kindergarten yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/28J0WLG5gxc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

A life-long humanitarian, Matthias Schmale has borne witness to a number of seismic moments in world history. Currently United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, he is overseeing efforts to help Ukrainians prepare for a fourth winter at war.

“The longer this lasts, the more the resilience will go down, the more the psychological damage will take hold […] There are nights where I lie in bed thinking, why can’t this nightmare for civilians end?”

Ukrainians have endured four years of hellish conflict that continues to devastate civilian lives and infrastructure, leaving 36 percent of the population in need of aid. In this episode, Matthias Schmale looks back on a long career of humanitarian service, reflects on the deep scars of war and explains why daily life in Kiev can be both heaven and hell.

[00:00] Introduction
[01:01] Experiencing “Heaven and Hell” in Ukraine
[03:03] Do not romanticize resilience
[08:00] Navigating loss and the hard road to healing
[11:04] Hope and reality
[12:36] Winter as a weapon
[14:41] Declining humanitarian funding
[15:49] Hope persists despite dark times
[21:50] What keeps Matthias awake at night
[26:13] Reflections from UNRWA – then and now
[29:49] Losing colleagues in Gaza
[31:42] Clarifying a controversial interview
[35:26] From missionary kid to humanitarian
[37:27] Growing up in Apartheid South Africa
[40:34] Witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall
[42:16] Closing remarks

Listen to more Awake at Night episodes: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDFQJEq_0b6hu1e8oxsch9W0D7vkNqt
#podcast #unitednations #awakeatnight #OCHA #Ukraine

About Awake at Night
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the podcast ‘Awake at Night’ is an in-depth interview series focusing on remarkable United Nations staff members who dedicate their career to helping people in parts of the world where they have the hardest lives – from war zones and displacement camps to areas hit by disasters and the devastation of climate change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYaybLNgO9s

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Remarks by Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, on behalf of António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the Informal meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures.

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Press conference by Matthias Schmale, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine on the situation in the country.

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Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine said, “At the moment, I don’t sense any optimism that we’re getting closer to ending this terrible tragedy.” Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters, he cautioned that earlier “moments of cautious optimism” had faded as Ukraine enters another winter under bombardment.

Schmale warned that continued strikes on energy infrastructure pose one of the gravest risks. “We are particularly worried about the winter,” he said, noting that the “big worry is people potentially getting stuck in high rise buildings in cities.”

He pointed to a recent close call in the northeast, saying a city of 40,000 people in Sumy region “was cut off for several days.” Authorities had begun considering evacuations, he said, adding that the worst was fortunately avoided. But he warned that the winter months could bring “a catastrophe within a catastrophe.”

Despite ongoing strikes, Schmale said Ukraine is living through a dual reality in which “development and recovery work goes on” even as fighting continues. In Kherson, he noted that “every day there’s been shelling this year,” leaving the streets desolate and largely empty. Yet beneath that devastation, he visited an underground maternity ward, a setting he described as a stark counterpoint to the destruction above. Schmale said, “And you couldn’t experience a starker contrast: above ground the horror of war, below ground in the same place people helping women give birth to new life. And it sort of characterizes the defiance of the Ukrainians.”

He also highlighted “innovative work” combining de-mining with agricultural recovery, with NGOs and UN agencies clearing fields and helping farmers return to their land. He said such efforts keep alive the hope of a better future.

Still, he cautioned against “romanticiz[ing] resilience.” After nearly four years of war, he said “the population is getting weary and more tired,” even as red lines remain firmly in place. That fatigue, he added, will shape “the receptiveness to whatever deal might come out in the future.”

Schmale said the conflict is becoming increasingly technological, with drone warfare reshaping conditions for civilians and aid workers alike. On a recent trip to Donetsk region, he observed “kilometers of the road being covered by fishnets” to disrupt drone surveillance. Humanitarian groups, he said, report that their biggest worry is “drone attacks targeting them very directly.”

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

Source: United Nations (video statements)

As the war in Ukraine continues with no ceasefire in sight, civilians face mounting risks amid ongoing strikes and harsh winter conditions. Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, describes the deepening challenges for communities and outlines how UN agencies and partners are supporting people through winterization efforts.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Piej5t86VPc

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Reporting from the war-torn maternity hospital at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, Nestor Owomuhangi, UNFPA representative in Palestine, says the agency is working to keep maternity care alive amid the ruins. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the UN agency responsible for reproductive health worldwide, supporting safe childbirth, maternal care and services for women and girls. Despite the destruction of hospitals across the Gaza Strip, UNFPA continues to deliver medicines and equipment and deploy trained midwives, ensuring that women in Gaza can still access essential maternity services even in the most difficult conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uFRSIvk3zY0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
– Sudan
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Central African Republic
– South Asia Floods
– Hurricane Melissa
– International Days
– Senior Appointment
– Mic Browne  

SUDAN

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that civilians across the Kordofan region face growing dangers as violence intensifies. Earlier today, the Operational Humanitarian Country Team in Sudan issued a statement condemning in the strongest terms the escalating violence across Kordofan and the ongoing sieges that have cut off multiple cities. OCHA notes that the people in Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan State remain trapped, facing extreme hardship, severe restrictions on movement, and limited access to essential services and protection. Famine conditions have been identified in Kadugli, while sustained attacks have been reported in Babanusa, in West Kordofan, State in recent days.

The humanitarian community in Sudan also expressed deep concern over continued attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in the region, noting that the violence is restricting access to food, medicine and essential supplies and limiting farmers’ access to their fields and to markets for their products. This is increasing the risk of famine spreading across the Kordofan states.

The statement urged that all those involved in the fighting to protect civilians, including medical and humanitarian workers, particularly those fleeing besieged areas and local front-line responders delivering life-saving aid wherever they can.

Aid workers in Sudan face extraordinary risks as they work to deliver basic assistance to 1.1 million human beings across the Kordofan region. They require safe, and they requite unimpeded access to reach all those in need.

The humanitarian community in Sudan also stressed that sexual violence, abductions and the recruitment of children must end, and that all civilian sites, including hospitals, shelters, markets must be respected and protected in line with international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile, in North Darfur State, our partners at Save the Children tell us that more than 43,000 people displaced from El Fasher following the escalation of conflict in late October have now arrived in Korma town and Silk camp, placing immense strain on an already a fragile community. An assessment last week in Korma, which is located about 70 kilometres north-west of El Fasher, found critical shortages of food, healthcare, nutrition, water and sanitation services, as well as education and protection.

An OCHA team also visited Korma yesterday, noting that people fleeing violence continue to arrive in the area.

And you will recall, last month, Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, also visited Korma, where he heard from survivors who escaped the violence in El Fasher.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that the humanitarian scale-up is well underway, even as insecurity persists, with frequent reports of attacks across the Gaza Strip causing casualties, including among civilians, and of course, causing further destruction.

On Monday, UN partners leading on shelter and protection support distributed critical items to thousands of households, including thousands of winter clothing items, hundreds of bedding kits, tents, tarpaulins and kitchen sets. About 1,100 people were provided with services ranging from psychological support to legal consultations. Also on Monday, UN partners set up 30 activity tents in different locations across Gaza to provide safe spaces where children can access psychosocial support and structured activities.

During November, the UN and its partners distributed monthly food parcels to more than 60 per cent of Gaza’s population. That’s about 1.3 million people out of 2.1 million. The UN is also supporting community kitchens, bread production, and other activities critical to addressing food insecurity.

Throughout last month, UN mine action partners conducted over 130 assessments of explosive hazards across priority humanitarian locations, including warehouses, distribution points, major transport corridors and key infrastructure. This mapping exercise has been essential to enable we and our partners across all sectors to scale up operations based on our plan for the initial period of the ceasefire.

UN mine action partners also continue to educate people, especially children, on how to stay safe around explosive hazards, and they are reaching a lot of people every week doing that.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-12-04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULWmFc0truo

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:

-Occupied Palestinian territory
-Lebanon/Israel
-Sudan
-Mozambique
-Myanmar
-Migrants and refugees/Latin America and the Caribbean
-International day of persons with disabilities
-Guest tomorrow

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) continues to receive reports that air strikes, shelling, gunfire and other Israeli military operations are causing more civilian casualties, displacement and destruction in Gaza. In recent days, hundreds of families were reportedly displaced in the At Tufah and Ash Shuja’iyyeh neighbourhoods in eastern Gaza city, following strikes and movement of military machinery.
The UN and its partners continue to provide assistance to people in need across the Strip wherever we can have access. The UN healthcare partners report that six additional healthcare service points have opened since Sunday.
Yesterday in Rafah, a team from the World Health Organization(WHO) also managed to reach the European Hospital, which remains non-operational, to move some vital equipment to functioning healthcare facilities.
However, attempts to gain access to Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza continue to be denied by the Israelisecurity authorities.
WHO reported that the agency facilitated the referral and transfer of the first patient to the Emirati Field Hospital since before last year’s Rafah incursion, which had rendered the facility inaccessible. The hospital is the only functioning medical facility serving the Rafah area.
Preparations for winter are a key priority for the UN and our partners, and we continue to deliver shelter supplies and other critical items to the most vulnerable households. Since Sunday, some 4,400 families received tents, tarpaulins, blankets, winter clothing and kitchen sets across Gaza through UN-coordinated deliveries.
In addition, UN partners managing displacement sites report that work is ongoing to help prepare suitable locations for those seeking to leave high-risk areas, including shoreline communities.
In Khan Younis, an estimated 4,000 households live along the coast, with some 1,000 at especially high risk due to their proximity to the water line. Some of these families have reportedly started to relocate to the two sites identified as being safe by the localmunicipality.
In the ongoing effort to improve access to water and sanitation, our partners report that 42 truckloads of debris have been cleared over the past 48 hours to reach the Al Amal, Tel al Dhahab and Asian wells in Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza. Repairs are expected to begin soon.
In the meantime, UN partners working to reduce risks of explosive ordnance warn that unexploded remnants of war continue to pose a threat to civilians. Over the past week, they were able to carry out 50 assessments across Gaza to help lower the risks for aid workers. Just last week, six people were reportedly killed and 10 others injured in two incidents involving explosive ordnance in Gaza City and Deir al Balah.
OCHA continues to call for unimpeded, safe and sustained access for humanitarian workers and supplies to reach people in need. Impediments must be lifted to allow teams to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance faster and more efficiently. Civilians must always be protected, and safe passage must be ensured for those wishing to flee. They must also be allowed to return to areas should they wish to.

LEBANON/ISRAEL
Today, UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) hosted the fourteenth meeting of the five parties cessation of hostilities mechanism at its headquarters in Naqoura.
Chaired by the United States with the support of France, the meeting saw for the first time the participation of delegations of Israel and Lebanon included civilian representatives which marks a significant step forward and we look forward to continued momentum in that front.
The Office of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon was also present in the meetings.

Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-12-03

Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Website: https://www.un.org/sg/en/spokesperson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMT4Ip0djdo

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Comments to the media by Ulugbek Lapasov, Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations, alongside Permanent Representatives of Central Asia on the Central Asian Summit of Heads of State which took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 16 November 2025.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u5BYDmOUmo