Briefing by Mr. Geir Pedersen, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, on the situation on the Middle East.
—————————-
The UN Special Envoy for Syria briefed the Security Council, stressing that the country’s fragile transition faces immense challenges but also opportunities. He said the interim authorities in Damascus “have inherited not just the ruins of shattered buildings, but the deeper wreckage of a battered social fabric, decayed institutions, and a hollowed-out economy.” Urgent international assistance, private sector revival, sanctions relief, and political stability are needed to move forward.
He warned against continued external interference, citing recent Israeli strikes, calling them “unacceptable and must stop,” and urged respect for Syria’s “sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.”
On Sweida, he welcomed the 18 July ceasefire and the 16 September roadmap, which includes measures on accountability, humanitarian and commercial access, reconstruction, and reconciliation. However, he cautioned that “solutions must safeguard Syria’s unity and territorial integrity while addressing the legitimate fears of the Druze community.”
Turning to the northeast, he noted that channels remain open between the interim authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces, saying “this will require bold moves and genuine compromise” on military integration, security reform, and disarmament. He also urged Member States to “heighten engagement on repatriation of their nationals in Al-Hol.”
Looking ahead, he underlined the importance of an inclusive interim legislature, stressing that “transparency, women’s participation, and the representation of all communities will be essential to confer legitimacy.”
Concluding, he warned that mishandling the transition could lead to gridlock and renewed conflict, but added: “If the challenges are well handled, and met with genuine negotiation and bold compromise, unity is within reach, and success against the odds is possible.”
"Peace is not a line we cross.
It is a choice we make.
Peace is not found, it is built."
Ahead of this week’s #PeaceDay, we join UN Global Advocate for Peace Maryam Bukar Hassan in calling on everyone, everywhere, to stand for peace. Watch and get inspired by the powerful message of hope the Nigerian artist and poet delivers in her spoken word piece ‘Peace is a Verb’.
#PeaceBegins with me, you, and all of us.
_________
Written & Performed: Maryam Bukar Hassan
Produced, Directed & Edited by: Stephanie Lemesianou
Assisted by: Rebecca Moudio, Sara Qamar, Shruti Satish, Tengjiao Wang
Live Performance: SummerStage Festival, Central Park NYC
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Syria
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Pakistan
Haiti
Water
Equal Pay Day
SYRIA
This morning, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, briefed the Security Council on the latest developments in that country. He said that the Syrian interim authorities and the Syrian people are attempting a transition in the face of numerous challenges.
Mr. Pedersen warned that if these challenges are mishandled, the consequences could be dire. He called on the international community to support Syria and to stand against foreign intervention.
For his part, Tom Fletcher, our Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that more than 70 per cent of the population in Syria needs some form of humanitarian assistance, while 7 million people are internally displaced, and more than 4 million are refugees in neighbouring countries.
He called on donors to give and to give generously to our various programmes.
The humanitarian appeal for Syria for this year is only 18% funded, which means that we can only reach a fraction of those that we need to reach.
PAKISTAN
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs sayd that humanitarian needs persist following this year’s monsoon floods.
Since the end of June, nearly seven million people have been affected in the country. Nearly three million people have been evacuated, with 150,000 people sheltering in 1,580 evacuation centres set up by various authorities.
We and our humanitarian partners continue to support the Government-led response. To date, UNICEF has provided more than two metric tonnes of essential medicine to the north in the capital of Punjab’s province, Lahore, and over two metric tonnes to the south, in the city of Multan. These medicines are being distributed to local health clinics.
UNICEF has also provided nutrition supplies and safe drinking water, relocated school materials, and established temporary learning centres.
WFP [World Food Programme], for its part, is delivering food, nutrition services, cash assistance and logistics support across Punjab and Sindh.
As people begin to return to their homes, additional funding is needed to provide assistance and rehabilitate basic infrastructure.
We have already released $5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund, with an additional $1.5 million channeled to local NGOs from the Asia Pacific Humanitarian Fund.
HAITI
Another humanitarian update on the grim situation in Haiti, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that last week’s deadly attack in the commune of Cabaret, in the West [department], forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
You will recall the Secretary-General’s statement over the weekend, in which he strongly condemned the reported killing of at least 40 people, including women, children and the elderly in that attack.
According to the IOM [International Organization for Migration], the attacks drove more than 4,700 people from their homes. More than two thirds of them sought refuge in the nearby commune of Arcahaie. While the majority of the displaced are being hosted by families, 23 percent of them have taken shelter in four schools.
These attacks underscore once again the worsening security and humanitarian situation in Haiti.
These attacks also come less than a month before the start of the new school year, further deepening the education crisis as several schools already under strain are being used as displacement sites, which is of course disrupting the lives of both students and teachers.
Forced displacements, destruction and attacks against people are driving up humanitarian needs, compounding existing crises in health, nutrition and education.
OCHA is coordinating the response to ensure that assistance reaches the most vulnerable, despite extremely challenging conditions.
Just to remind you, the humanitarian response in Haiti remains severely underfunded, with only [13] per cent of the $908 million needed in the bank.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight
Today marks a historical milestone for the United Nations Security Council – 10,000 meetings since the Council’s inception in 1946. Find out more about this UN organ, tasked with maintaining international peace and security
“Better Together” theme will guide the work of the United Nations General Assembly’s 80th session, its President Annalena Baerbock told reporters. “No single nation, regardless of its size, might, or wealth, can confront the challenges that we face all alone,” she said.
Briefing journalists today (17 Sep) Baerbock said the year’s priorities include advancing the UN80 reform agenda, strengthening the organization’s effectiveness, and guiding the selection of the next Secretary-General. She also highlighted the need to build on the Pact for the Future and “regain momentum on the SDGs.”
“Yes, we are at a crossroads – a make-or-break moment,” Baerbock said. “Our forebearers had the humility and grace to put aside their differences and work together in 1945; we need that same principled conviction today.”
She stressed that governments must back up their speeches with tangible commitments. “If we want to make our United Nations stronger, then we would need commitments from all the governments around the world,” Baerbock said, urging parliaments to consider UN funding alongside global priorities such as peace and security, climate action, human rights, and sustainable development.
Baerbock said these issues would guide her bilateral meetings with heads of state during the high-level week.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva today (17 Sep) told the Security Council that as United Nations agencies “were ramping up their support for earthquake victims,” Taliban authorities “have blocked access for female national staff to UN field office premises around the country,” and said “this serious restriction hinders the UN’s ability to help the Afghan people at their moment of great need.”
Otunbayeva welcomed support from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, but said, “IFI-funded projects must be implemented through UN agencies, and their impact has been reduced by the enforcement of bans against female national staff, and the wider ban on women working, which has created unacceptable discrimination.”
She said, “we have issued a statement calling for the lifting of this ban and its enforcement, and I urge the Security Council to echo our call.”
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Colombia
Occupied Palestinian Territory
UNIFIL
Sudan
Central African Republic
Afghanistan/Humanitarian
Security Council
Ukraine
World Patient Safety Day
Financial Contribution
Guest Tomorrow and Security Briefing
COLOMBIA
The Secretary-General welcomed the issuance by Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace of its first restorative sentences, which is a historic milestone in the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement of 2016. The Secretary-General took note of the court’s announcement that these sentences, for former commanders of the FARC-EP, will be followed later this week by the first sentences for former members of the public security forces.
The Secretary-General noted that this is the first sentences of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and it marks a key step forward for the innovative mechanisms of transitional justice in the Agreement, which seek to foster truth, ensure accountability for the most serious crimes committed during Colombia’s armed conflict, as well as to provide redress to the victims.
The Secretary-General stresses that these decisions should be implemented in full and translate into actions of reparation on behalf of the victims. He called on all sentenced individuals to maintain their commitment to peace by fully complying with their sentences, and for the Colombian governmental and state authorities to ensure that all conditions are in place for the sentences to be carried out.
The United Nations, including through our Verification Mission on the ground is mandated to verify compliance with and implementation of the sentences, remains firmly committed to supporting Colombia in its pursuit of lasting peace, justice and reconciliation.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, which is worsening by the hour, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs continues to call for the immediate protection of civilians. Issuing displacement orders does not absolve the parties to a conflict from their responsibilities to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities.
Today, the Israeli army once again ordered people to leave Gaza City within the next 48 hours and move south along a temporary passageway on the Salah ad Din road, which is the one that runs through the center of the Gaza strip.
Thousands of people continue to flee, amid active hostilities. Roads, as you can well imagine and as you have see, are congested, people are hungry, and children are traumatized.
Between Monday and yesterday, our partners monitoring the movement of people in Gaza recorded nearly 40,000 displacements to the south.
Since mid-August – and as of yesterday – some 200,000 movements have been recorded, with many women, children and older people walking for hours.
OCHA was informed by the Ministry of Health in Gaza that the Rantissi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City was damaged after being struck multiple times overnight. There were 80 patients at the facility, including 12 children and babies in intensive care. Half of the patients and their caregivers were forced to flee, under fire, in search of elusive safety.
Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund warns that Israel’s offensive in Gaza is forcing women to give birth in the streets, without hospitals, without doctors or clean water. UNFPA says that 23,000 women are going without care, and about 15 babies are born each week without any medical help.
Our humanitarian partners tell us that since the collapse of the ceasefire in March, 80 medical points and primary healthcare centres providing sexual and reproductive health outpatient services have been affected, with 65 of those out of service.
Today, the Palestine Telecommunications Company reported a complete internet outage across Gaza City and the north. This is preventing people and humanitarians from receiving critical information.
Our partners have set up three support points in areas receiving displaced people in southern Gaza to assist separated, orphaned and injured children.
They report that heavy bombardment in Gaza City is further fueling people’s distress, especially among children.
Yesterday, two humanitarian movements to collect food cargo from the crossings into Gaza were either cancelled or denied. Other missions were facilitated but faced impediments on the ground. The Zikim crossing remains closed for a fifth consecutive day.
Full Highlights
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=17%20September%202025
Joint Media Stakeout by UN Security Council Signatories of the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), delivered by Sangjin Kim, Charge d’affaires, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN.
The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly – under the theme Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights – comes at a pivotal moment to renew global commitment to multilateralism, solidarity and shared action for people and planet.
This year’s high-level week (22-30 September) highlights the urgency of delivering on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals and reinvigorating global cooperation.
Visit UN News for a front-row seat to the 80th UN General Assembly! Follow world leaders as they debate the globe’s most pressing challenges and chart the next chapter for peace, development, and human rights — all live, on your phone or computer.
https://news.un.org/en/events/unga80 and https://news.un.org
