Source: United Nations (video statements)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemns overnight missile and drone attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, reiterating his appeal for urgent de-escalation, leading to a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Programming Note
– Trip Announcement
– Digital Week in Geneva
– Ukraine
– Uganda
– Syria
– Lebanon/Israel
– Lebanon/Humanitarian
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Security Council
– Ebola
– Uganda/WHO
– Nigeria
– International Day of Cooperatives
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PROGRAMMING NOTE
A programming note, as a reminder, tomorrow the UN Headquarters will be closed given that it’s an official holiday in our host country for their Independence Day.
On Monday, UN Development Programme Administrator, Alexander De Croo, and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, who will join us from Kabul to brief on their joint mission to Afghanistan.
Then, at 1:15 p.m., Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and UN Police Adviser, Faisal Shahkar, will be here to brief ahead of the fifth United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS 2026).
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The Secretary-General will arrive in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday 5 July to take part in the inaugural session of the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance.
You will recall that the Global Digital Compact, adopted at the Summit of the Future in 2024, included among its commitments the creation of a Global Dialogue on AI Governance, to serve as an inclusive space, within the UN, for governments, civil society and other stakeholders to deliberate on AI.
Last year, the Dialogue was established by the General Assembly to build common approaches to the governance of artificial intelligence. In the same resolution, the General Assembly also created the International Scientific Panel on AI, the first global scientific body on Artificial Intelligence.
In his remarks during the Dialogue’s opening session, the Secretary-General is expected to reiterate that as AI is already transforming our world, for the first time, the Global Dialogue on AI Governance is giving every country a seat at the table, something he has been advocating for since early on in his mandate.
Also on Monday, Yoshua Bengio and Maria Ressa, the Co-chairs of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, will present their preliminary report to Member States, and you heard from them yesterday.
Throughout the day, the Secretary-General will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders taking part in the Global Dialogue.
In the afternoon, at the Palais des Nations, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks during a meeting of the International Law Commission.
He will travel back to New York on Tuesday morning.
DIGITAL WEEK IN GENEVA
The Global Dialogue on AI governance – which takes place on Monday and Tuesday, kicks off what our colleagues have dubbed Geneva Digital Week.
Also happening next week, from 6 to 10 July, is the World Summit on the Information Society, organized by the International Telecommunication Union.
Finally, Geneva is also the host city of the AI for Good Global Summit, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with UN partners, and co-convened by Switzerland.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-07-02
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Informal comments to the media by Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the situation in the Middle East – Security Council Media Stakeout.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Ahead of the first Global Dialogue on AI Governance (Geneva, 6–7 July 2026), Yoshua Bengio, Maria Ressa, and Ambassadors Egriselda López and Rein Tammsaar explain what the UN’s new AI bodies can actually do — and why no country can govern AI alone.
They discuss the accelerating capabilities of frontier AI, disinformation and the erosion of trust, the widening AI divide between countries, and why multilateral governance is the only viable path.
In August 2025, UN Member States established two new mechanisms for global cooperation on artificial intelligence: the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, the first UN platform where all countries discuss AI governance together, and the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which provides evidence-based assessments independent of any government or company.
The first session of the Global Dialogue takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 6–7 July 2026.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Press Conference by Ambassador Zénon Mukongo Ngay, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and President of the Security Council for the month of July 2026, on the programme of work of the Security Council in July.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Introducing the Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, Secretary-General António Guterres (1 Jul) said, “the science is here. We can no longer say we did not know. What we do with it is now up to all of us.”
Guterres told reporters in New York that the report “is honest about the extraordinary promise of this technology.”
Used well, he said, “AI could be the most powerful engine for development, speeding the world’s progress on everything from health and hunger to learning and climate,” but warned that the Panel was “just as clear eyed about the harm artificial intelligence can cause.”
The Secretary-General said, “the more AI advances without shared rules, the less say governments and people will have in the outcome.”
He stressed that “this is a preliminary report” and the Panel “will keep working as the technology evolves.”
Source: United Nations (video statements)
In August 2025, the United Nations established two pathbreaking mechanisms for global cooperation on AI: the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance. Together, they translate shared principles into practice by bridging scientific evidence, policy dialogue, and international cooperation.
The first session of the Dialogue takes place in Geneva, Switzerland on 6 and 7 July 2026. Ahead of the Dialogue, the UN interviews the co-chairs of the Dialogue, Ambassador Egriselda López of El Salvador and Ambassador Rein Tammsaar of Estonia, and the co-chairs of the Scientific Panel on AI, Yoshua Bengio of Canada and Maria Ressa of the Philippines.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
AI Panel and Trip Announcement
Finances
Peacekeeping Budget
Deputy Secretary-General
Lebanon
Sudan
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Venezuela
Ukraine
New Resident Coordinators: Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan
Central African Republic
Financial Contribution
AI PANEL AND TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
This morning, the Secretary-General introduced the preliminary report of the Independent Scientific Panel on AI. He noted that the Panel, which is made up of 40 experts from around the world, is the first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of Artificial Intelligence across economies and societies.
The report will inform the discussions taking place next week at the first Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, which is taking place in Geneva.
And as he announced himself, the Secretary-General will be in Geneva on Monday to take part in the Dialogue and deliver a keynote address. He is also scheduled to hold a number of bilateral meetings with leaders who will be attending the AI Summit.
FINANCES
The Secretary-General, in a statement issued last night, welcomed the decision by the General Assembly to reform financial rules that were putting the Organization’s stability at risk. By its action, the Assembly has agreed to introduce, for a four-year trial period, a new methodology to ensure that unspent funds are returned to Member States only when they are backed by cash.
The Secretary-General said this decision will allow us to manage resources, especially for regular and peacekeeping budgets, in a more predictable and responsible way, and to better deliver on the mandates given to us by those very Member States.
The Secretary-General added that he had been calling for this change since very early in his mandate.
As he just said to you an hour ago, he is grateful to Member States for taking this important action, which will greatly benefit the incoming Administration and contribute to the financial stability of the Organization for a number of years.
PEACEKEEPING BUDGET
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations add that without the change approved by the General Assembly, the UN would have been forced to return $224 million now and another nearly $900 million by July of next year. The change, together with payment in full and on time by all Member States, will allow our peacekeeping missions to continue implementing their mandates and reverse some of the negative impact of the contingency plans implemented during the recently concluded budget cycle.
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix thanked Member States for their efforts and the time they devoted to reaching these agreements. He said that we will continue working to improve performance and efficiency so that we can deliver the greatest possible impact for the people and communities we serve, including by helping to protect civilians, monitor and maintain ceasefires, and advance solutions for lasting peace.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-07-01
Source: United Nations (video statements)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres joined Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence Co-Chairs Yoshua Bengio and Maria Ressa to present the Panel’s first preliminary report ahead of the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva.
The independent panel warns that while AI could accelerate progress in health, education and sustainable development, its rapid advance also raises urgent questions about governance, safety and accountability.
Source: United Nations (video statements)
The head of the United Nations and its top budget official welcome a decision by the General Assembly to end a decades-old rule that caused significant liquidity problems for the Organization.
