Category: United Nations

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
• AIDS
• Peacebuilding Week
• Secretary-General/Travel
• Ukraine
• Sudan
• UNIFIL
• Lebanon/Humanitarian
• Occupied Palestinian Territory
• Syria/Security Council
• Panama
• World Food Programme/Pope Leo
• Ebola/Children
• Human Security

AIDS

The Deputy Secretary-General spoke on the Secretary-General’s behalf this morning at the Opening Plenary of the High-level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, and she pointed to the progress over the past years in dealing with the disease, noting that AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 70 per cent since their peak in 2004, and by 54 per cent since 2010. HIV prevention and treatment services have reduced new infections by 40 per cent in the same period, she added. 

But the Deputy Secretary-General warned that AIDS is not over.  At the end of 2024, 9.2 million people in need still lacked access to HIV treatment, and 1.3 million acquired HIV. And most tragically, 630,000 lives were lost in AIDS-related deaths.

The Secretary-General’s remarks underscore five priorities to face the AIDS challenge: to close the widening gaps in access to prevention, treatment and care services; to continue ensuring the leadership of communities in the HIV response; respect for human rights; adequate financing; and a revival of the multilateral spirit that has driven the HIV response from the very start. We have shared those remarks with you.

PEACEBUILDING WEEK

Today, we start the first-ever Peacebuilding Week, marking an important milestone, which is 20 years since the inaugural session of the Peacebuilding Commission and the establishment of the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund. More than 50 events in New York and over 20 around the world are being organized. Here at Headquarters today, a joint session of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Economic and Social Council is taking place through 1p.m. on advancing social cohesion through job creation in peacebuilding contexts.

Also on Thursday, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at the Peacebuilding Commission’s Annual Session in the General Assembly Hall.

And just a reminder, at 1:30 p.m., here in the briefing room, we will be joined by Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding and Peace Support, alongside Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, and the Permanent Representatives of Egypt, Ihab Moustafa Awad Moustafa, and Slovenia Samuel Žbogar. They will provide an overview of the Peacebuilding Week and the importance of investing in prevention and peacebuilding at a time of growing global challenges.

SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRAVEL

The Secretary-General has arrived in London, where he will attend a series of events taking place during the London Climate Action Week. He will deliver a special address on climate and energy tomorrow morning, outlining how renewable energy offers the clearest route to energy security, affordability and resilience, and underscoring the destructive role played by fossil fuels in the climate crisis and energy crisis we face.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJhD8rgyDFA

Source: United Nations (video statements)

UN Peacekeeping is one of the international community’s most effective tools to respond to conflict. But it is facing significant reductions in political support and resources.

Peace does not happen by accident. It requires political will, sustained investment and collective commitment.

Now is the time to invest in peace, not war.

#InvestInPeace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyokhrKJZz4

Source: United Nations (video statements)

In a special address at London Climate Action Week, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres draws on the latest scientific evidence to show how the worsening climate crisis and growing energy insecurity are rooted in continued fossil fuels dependence. He outlines a clear pathway to accelerate the transition to a more secure, resilient and sustainable energy future: one powered by renewable energy, strengthened international cooperation, and science-based action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et3HVYzyu3c

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Press Conference by Vanessa Frazier, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, on the Secretary-General’s Annual Report.

24,174 children were killed, maimed, recruited, raped or otherwise affected by grave violations in conflict zones last year, the United Nations said, calling the toll “many scars on our collective moral conscience.”

Frazier said her office verified 38,558 grave violations affecting 24,174 children in 2025, the highest number recorded since the Children and Armed Conflict mandate was established 30 years ago.

“Today’s findings are stark. They reflect the shocking reality faced by children in conflict zones around the world, a reality that concerns all of us,” Frazier told reporters in New York.

The violations tracked under the mandate include recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access to children, she noted.

For the first time since the mandate was created, government forces were responsible for the majority of grave violations, Frazier said, adding that state forces remained the principal perpetrators of killing and maiming, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access. “These patterns reflect persistent and blatant disregard for international law, and for the rights and special protections owed to children,” she said.

Killing and maiming was the most prevalent violation, with 14,224 children verified as killed or maimed, Frazier continued. The number of children killed rose 35 percent compared with 2024, reaching 6,266, she said, followed by 8,322 incidents of denial of humanitarian access and 6,607 cases of recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.

Sexual violence against children, particularly girls, continues to be used as a tactic of war to humiliate, terrorize and displace entire communities, Frazier said, pointing to a rise in gang rape committed by parties to conflict as evidence of “a deliberate and organized use of sexual violence within the ranks.”

The countries with the highest levels of violations in 2025 were the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar and Somalia, she said.

Frazier closed her briefing with an appeal to translate the findings into action. “The lives of these 24,174 children are as many scars on our collective moral conscience. I hope we carry them with us so that we use their memory and their pain to act,” she said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0FmtnSQEo8

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that acute food insecurity is expected to worsen further for millions of people across 13 countries deemed “hunger hotspots” between June and November 2026.

Briefing reporters in New York by video teleconference, the Director of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Service, Jean-Martin Bauer, said Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Palestine, Nigeria and Somalia are at the highest level of concern as “these are countries where populations are facing or at risk of facing high levels of acute food insecurity, including starvation and death.”

At a very high level of concern, Bauer continued, are Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti, while Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali and Myanmar are included as “countries that require close monitoring and urgent action as the situation could deteriorate.”

The WFP official said in many of these hotspots “overlapping conflict, climate and macroeconomic shocks – including the spillovers from the Middle East conflict,” added to the potential effects of the El Niño, “all amplify food insecurity.”

He stressed that “every hotspot of highest concern is a place affected by conflict and violence. And conflict destroys livelihoods. It forces people to leave. It disrupts markets, damages infrastructure and restricts humanitarian access.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Director at the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, Rein Paulsen, told reporters that “funding levels in 2025 dropped to a level that was last seen in the period 2016 and 2017. At the same time, during that same period from 2016 through 2025, the percentage and share of the population analysed as being in acute food insecurity, by acute food insecurity, has doubled during that same period.”

Paulsen said, “impossible choices within already hyper prioritised plans have to be made. And at the same time, we’re having to make, cuts to assessments, cuts to our monitoring and analytical capabilities, all of which are weakening the evidence base that’s needed precisely to be able to prioritise assistance and to guide decision making. And this is a major risk, without reliable data, vulnerable communities become invisible.”

He told reporters, “the worst outcomes that you see described in this report are not inevitable. They are foreseeable and therefore they are preventable. But the window to act is narrowing, which is why the issuance of this report and action in response to it is so important.”

The latest edition of the Hunger Hotspots report, released twice a year through the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC), identifies Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and Palestine as the world’s most critical hunger hotspots in terms of severity and magnitude of hunger. Northeast Nigeria has been added to the list of highest concern, following projections indicating that populations in Borno State may face Catastrophe levels of acute food insecurity (defined as an extreme lack of food / other basic needs, with starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels evident) during the upcoming period covered by the report. Somalia has also been placed in this category with populations in the Bay region of Burhakaba District facing a risk of Famine.

Armed conflict and violence remain the primary drivers of acute food insecurity, affecting 12 of the 13 hotspots.

These pressures are compounded by economic shocks, severe funding shortfalls and growing risks linked to a forecast El Niño event, which is expected to bring uneven rainfall, droughts, and flooding across countries with already high vulnerability.

Funding for food assistance, emergency agricultural assistance and nutrition in food crises has declined by an estimated 59 percent between 2022 and 2025, returning to levels last seen nearly a decade ago. At the same time, the number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity in these countries has risen to around 266 million.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yamoTt3foY

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Stephane Kulimushi Mutanda is a young social entrepreneur, basketball player, and coach from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, currently based in Uganda. He is the founder of the Refugee Basketball Academy (RBA), an initiative that empowers refugee and marginalized youth through sport, mentorship, and education. Stephane is also one of the 17 Young Leaders for the SDGs selected by the UN Youth Office, supporting efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CTtj1g-FZUw

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The first global regulations for self-driving cars head to a vote at a world forum convening at the United Nations in Geneva this month, setting the stage for uniform safety standards across countries.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/u1_0McLNq-s

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
– Secretary-General/Trip Announcement
– Haavisto
– Sudan
– Lebanon/Israel
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Kosovo
– Peacebuilding Week
– World Refugee Day
– International Day of Yoga
– International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice

SECRETARY-GENERAL/TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT

The Secretary-General will arrive in London on Monday, where he will attend a series of events taking place during the London Climate Action Week. He will deliver a special address on climate and energy on Tuesday morning, outlining how renewable energy offers the clearest route to energy security, affordability and resilience.

The Secretary-General is expected to underscore that it is clear that our world is facing a climate crisis and an energy crisis, which, on the surface, may seem separate, but share the same destructive force: fossil fuels.

During his visit to London, the Secretary-General will participate in other events, including the Global Energy and Electrification Summit and the Local Leaders Summit, as well as the Climate and Development Finance Forum 2026.

The Secretary-General will also attend a Super Pollutants reception, in the presence of His Majesty King Charles III.

While in London, the Secretary-General will hold a bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Yvette Cooper. He will also meet with leaders attending the London Climate Action Week.

The Secretary-General is expected back in New York on 24 June.

HAAVISTO

The Personal Envoy for Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, spoke with the Commander-in-Chief of the Rapid Support Forces, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, earlier today.

The Personal Envoy underscored the need to urgently de-escalate the situation in the El Obeid area and avoid any actions that may further worsen the already-dire humanitarian situation and put civilian lives at risk. He emphasized that the focus of the parties to the conflict should turn towards advancing dialogue to end the war.   

They also discussed the latest political developments, including the recent Quintet-facilitated engagements with Sudanese civilian stakeholders in Addis Ababa.

The Personal Envoy is also engaging Member State partners with influence over the conflict parties to encourage their commitment to genuine dialogue and convey as a matter of urgency that an attack on El Obeid must be avoided.

We reiterate the call made by the Secretary-General in his statement yesterday for restraint from all parties in the El Obeid area and to take all necessary measures to respect and protect civilians. We must not allow the horrors of El Fasher to be repeated in El Obeid.

SUDAN

We have seen further reports of drone attacks overnight. For now, the area remains accessible.

OCHA says it and its humanitarian partners are focusing on moving food and other supplies into the city, while preparing for the potential movement of large numbers of people of the immediate area.

And for those who have been asking about our presence in El Obeid, I can tell you that we do not have a permanent presence in the city. However, despite access constraints, our humanitarian partners are still working on the ground, staying and delivering with WFP and others, to move more assistance there to help residents is an area that hosts more than 100,000 displaced people.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdzp7KaTANs

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The meeting took place under a ceasefire that has existed in name since October 2025 – but dire conditions continue and most Gazans remain displaced.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WqC–fV_Q4g

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Special Representative for Libya Hanna Serwaa Tetteh warned against a “growing wave of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and incitement” targeting refugees, migrants, humanitarian actors, and UN personnel, and stressed that the UN “is not in the business of resettling migrants” in Libya.

Addressing the Security Council, Tetteh said, “a growing wave of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and incitement targeting refugees, migrants, humanitarian actors and UN agencies and personnel in Libya, including Libyan nationals.”

She continued, “False and misleading claims – particularly allegations of UN plans to settle migrants or refugees in Libya – have contributed to a climate of hostility, threats, and violence against humanitarian workers and UN personnel, and have already provoked violence against UN premises, underscoring the real dangers posed by disinformation. Migration is a legitimate public concern but must be addressed on the basis of facts, not fear, and through responsible public discourse rather than inflammatory, false and provocative narratives. Let me use this opportunity to state clearly that the UN in Libya is not in the business of resettling migrants into Libya.”

She stressed, “The country’s challenges cannot be addressed through fabrications and scapegoating. They require responsible leadership, unified functioning and effective institutions to restore public trust. Advancing the UNSMIL-facilitated roadmap is therefore not merely a political imperative; it is one viable path to overcoming institutional fragmentation and building a more stable and secure future for all Libyans.”

She also said, “Libya’s economic trajectory continues to pose a significant threat to its stability and the wellbeing of its citizens. Rising prices and the erosion of purchasing power increasingly strain households and impact the provisions of social services across the country.”

She added, “Higher global oil and gas prices have boosted revenues and provided short-term relief, but this should not obscure structural vulnerabilities. Fuel shortages across Greater Tripoli and other cities particularly in the south in late April and May, exposed persisting weaknesses in the management of the subsidy regime. The primary driver of fuel shortages remains entrenched networks smuggling subsidised refined petroleum products out of the country to the disadvantage of the Libyan consumer.”

She stressed that in Tripoli, public mobilisation against migration-related issues intensified this month due to “deliberate misinformation” on various media platforms.

She continued, “On 4 June, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the UNHCR and UNSMIL buildings, demonstrating against alleged plans to settle migrants in Libya. At UNHCR, demonstrators blocked access to the premises with earth barriers. At UNSMIL, protesters breached the perimeter, damaged the entrance gates, dumped sand and debris, and threw stones at UN security personnel.”

She also emphasized that “if Libyan political actors and institutions are unable to work together to create the political and security conditions for holding elections and completing the remaining legal and institutional steps within a reasonable timeframe, continued reliance on this process alone will not be sufficient to deliver the Libyan people’s right to have a government of their choice which would have democratic legitimacy.”

Taher M. El-Sonni, Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations, stated, “We stress to everyone that Libya will not be a place for the resettlement of immigrants. Libya will never be country for the resettlement of immigrants in any form.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9rIvt4m21s