Video message by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on United Nations Day (24 October 2025).
“ ‘We the peoples of the United Nations…’
These are not just the opening words of the United Nations Charter – they define
who we are.
The United Nations is more than an institution. It is a living promise – spanning
borders, bridging continents, inspiring generations.
For eighty years, we have worked to forge peace, tackle poverty and hunger,
advance human rights, and build a more sustainable world – together.
As we look ahead, we confront challenges of staggering scale: escalating conflicts,
climate chaos, runaway technologies, and threats to the very fabric of our
institution.
This is no time for timidity or retreat.
Now, more than ever, the world must recommit to solving problems no nation can
solve alone.
On this UN Day, let’s stand together and fulfil the extraordinary promise of your
United Nations.
Let’s show the world what is possible when “we the peoples” choose to act as one.“
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/Travel
– Security Council
– International Court of Justice
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Niger
– Tropical Storm Melissa
– Tunisia
– International Day
SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVEL
The Secretary-General is on his way to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he will participate in a high-level event marking the opening for signature of the UN Convention against Cybercrime. The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in December of last year; this landmark treaty is the first comprehensive global framework to address cybercrime.
While in Vietnam, the Secretary-General will also hold bilateral meetings with senior Vietnamese officials.
Before he headed to Hanoi, the Secretary-General met with the group of Francophone Ambassadors accredited to Geneva. He gave them an overview of the UN80 process and discussed a variety of other global issues.
And for tomorrow, which is UN Day, the Secretary-General will participate via video link in a Security Council session to commemorate the United Nations’ 80th anniversary.
SECURITY COUNCIL
Ramiz Alakbarov, the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council on Israel and Palestine this morning and he said that the ceasefire agreement represents hope for a better future, but the dynamics are extremely fragile.
He told Council members that a return to conflict must be avoided at all costs. The remaining deceased hostages must be released without any further delay. Humanitarian assistance must enter the Gaza Strip at scale to meet the enormous needs of the population wherever they are. All parties must abide by their commitments under the deal and agreements should be reached to implement the next phase.
Mr. Alakbarov said that, as tracked by the UN 2720 Mechanism for Gaza, humanitarian partners have scaled up aid delivery, with a 46 per cent increase in aid tracked by the UN entering the Strip in the first week of the ceasefire. But he added that much more still needs to be done, and he pointed to the need for more crossings and functional relief corridors, safe passage for aid workers and civilians, unrestricted entry of goods, sustained entry of fuel, and operational space for the UN and NGOs, including renewal of NGO registration.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-10-23
Sudan is facing one of the world’s most severe emergencies, with more than 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including over 9.6 million who are internally displaced and nearly 15 million children. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban explains how the United Nations is helping to address this complex emergency.
A UN-backed global transit system is streamlining border procedures, saving time and money for transport operators and Customs authorities.
The TIR (International Road Transport) Convention provides for a standard, internationally recognized Customs document, the TIR Carnet, which also serves as proof of existence of an internationally valid guarantee.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) administers the TIR Convention, which was established in 1959 and currently has 78 Contracting Parties – 77 Member States and the European Union.
Joint Press Briefing by Professor Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur counter terrorism and human rights, and Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, following the presentation of their reports to the General Assembly’s Third Committee on human rights.
Briefing by Ramesh Rajasingham, Director, Coordination Division, Head and Representative of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (OCHA), on the humanitarian situation in Syria.
Briefing from Geneva, the Director of Coordination Division at OCHA, Ramesh Rajasingham said, “Syria’s humanitarian crisis is longstanding, but it is not static,” and added that “developments on the ground continue to add to or exacerbate people’s needs.”
Rajasingham said, “clashes in parts of Aleppo earlier this month caused civilian casualties and temporarily displaced some families,” and while the ceasefire in As-Sweida has largely held, “the fragile and unpredictable security environment continues to affect the movement of people and goods,” which “has led to shortages and high prices for critical items like fuel and bread; hampered the restoration of critical services including healthcare and water; and prevented displaced people from returning to their homes.”
The humanitarian official said, “we need more funding for critical humanitarian aid. Our response plan for Syria remains only 19 percent funded, one of the lowest levels among our biggest appeals.”
He said, “this month, water trucking services for IDPs in parts of Ar-Raqqa were suspended, and trucking in Al-Hasakeh will be curtailed next month without more resources. The World Food Programme warns that without additional funding they will have to scale back their assistance by January. Over 340 health facilities have suspended services, reducing access to healthcare and medicine for more than 7 million people.”
Press conference by Andrew Saberton, Deputy Executive Director for Management, on his recent visit to Gaza and the West Bank.
“In Gaza I was not fully prepared for what I saw, one can’t be,” a UN top official for population said, describing the destruction across the enclave as “the set of a dystopian film.”
Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Andrew Saberton, Deputy Executive Director for Management at UNFPA said, “There is no other way to put it, Gaza has been flattened mile upon mile with rubble and dust, with few buildings left intact. This is not collateral damage. And I cannot unsee what I have seen.”
He said many women in Gaza “lost everything, their family members, their homes, their colleges and their jobs,” adding that “women cannot even access the most basic personal hygiene supplies when they are menstruating.”
The UN official also said, “Across Gaza, as you well know, one in four people is starving. That includes 11,500 pregnant women for whom starvation is particularly catastrophic for both mother and the newborn. Premature and low birth weight babies now make up around 70 per cent of newborns, and one in three pregnancies is regarded as high risk.”
Maternal health services have collapsed under the strain of conflict. “Ninety-four per cent of hospitals in Gaza are damaged or destroyed,” Saberton said. “Maternal deaths are on the rise because the drugs that could save mothers are no longer available, and multiple newborns are often crammed into one incubator due to a lack of fuel and equipment.”
He noted that UNFPA recently managed to deliver some medical supplies into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. “We have been distributing medical supplies and equipment, including incubators, delivery beds and fetal-monitoring machines,” he said, “now that we have more freedom of movement.”
However, Saberton cautioned that “the trickle of aid being allowed to enter Gaza after the ceasefire is nowhere near enough.” He said UNFPA has “much more assistance on all the crossings ready to enter, including more incubators, more heart monitors, beds and other supplies for safe births, as well as much needed hygiene items.”
He urged the full opening of all crossings to ensure “safe and sustained humanitarian access to bring aid to all women and girls in Gaza, from the north to the south.”
Saberton also warned of the long-term psychological toll. “There will be this period of elation when you know, ‘the ceasefire, the ceasefire holds,’ and then it may come this overwhelming downside when people take a look at their lives and realize they’ve lost everything,” he said. “That may actually lead to a kind of a bigger issue psychologically that we’ll need to address.”
Saberton concluded with a call for action: “For the last two years many countries, nations, people have been saying, ‘what can I do? I want to do something.’ Now is the time.”
Briefing by Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, on the situation in Syria.
The Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, Najat Rochdi, told the Security Council that “Syrian women have the right to participate fully and meaningfully in determining the future of the country,” but said “the processes and initial outcomes of transition have not matched their expectations and the commitments made.”
Briefing virtually from Damascus on the situation in Syria, Rochdi said, “this month, six women were elected to the People’s Assembly out of 119 seats contested, reflecting a voting process where women were consistently underrepresented from the outset, which could have been avoided.”
Moreover, she said, “with one Christian, three Ismailis, three Alawites, four Kurds and no Druze among the 119 elected so far, the Supreme Electoral Commission has publicly acknowledged the need to improve representation of communities.”
In meetings with Syrian interlocutors, Rochdi said, some “have also criticized this and other aspects of what they see as underrepresentation.”
She emphasized that solutions must uphold Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity, and address the Druze and Bedouin communities’ safety and rights. The UN, she underscored, stands ready to support authorities and civil society.
The photo exhibit “Shared Lives, Shared Future” showcases over 200 powerful human stories from all 193 Member States, reflecting 80 years of global work of the United Nations. Organized by the UN’s Department of Global Communications together with Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland, this exhibit is on view at the UN Headquarters until January 2026 and also can be seen online at: https://www.un.org/en/exhibits/exhibit/un80
