Source: United Nations (video statements)
Video Message by António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2026.
More info: https://www.un.org/en/observances/desertification-day
UN exhibit features footballers affected by displacement
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has unveiled a new exhibition at UN Headquarters in New York. The exhibition, “Uprooted to Unstopabble: the Gamechanging Team,” features a painting by Canadian artist Carling Jackson depicting football players whose experiences have been shaped by forced displacement.
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2026 – UN Chief message | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Video Message by António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2026 (17 June).
”Rangelands are vast open spaces found in every climate, on every continent.
They cover half the Earth’s land surface, supplying vital food and fibres, and
sustaining over two billion people. They also play a crucial role as wildlife habitats
and carbon sinks.
Yet up to fifty per cent of the world’s rangelands are now degraded or at risk.
These conditions threaten the global food system, harm local livelihoods, reduce
biodiversity, and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
On this World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, we are issuing an
urgent call to recognize and respect the world’s rangelands.
This means investing in restoration, especially water security;
Empowering rural communities through sustainable employment;
And forging solutions across borders through international cooperation.
This year also marks the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists –
a chance to support the pastoralists and Indigenous Peoples whose traditional
knowledge can help safeguard these ecosystems.
To protect our future, we must protect the land.
Together, let us ensure that rangelands everywhere thrive for generations to come.
Thank you” .
More info: https://www.un.org/en/observances/desertification-day
Middle East, UNIFIL, Sudan & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (11 June 2026) | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Muscat Plan of Action
– Middle East
– UNIFIL
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Uganda/Ebola
– Refugees/Report
– Global Alliance for Human Rights
– WFP Goodwill Ambassador
– International Day of Play
– Financial Contribution
MUSCAT PLAN OF ACTION
At 3:00 p.m. today, in the ECOSOC Chamber, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at the launch of the Muscat Plan of Action, an initiative aimed at countering hate speech and help prevent genocide and atrocity crimes. The Plan highlights the role of traditional and Indigenous leaders in promoting peace and strengthening social cohesion. It is the result of a collaborative process led by the Sultanate of Oman, the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, and the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, and is co-hosted by the UN Alliance of Civilizations.
In his remarks, the Secretary-General is expected to stress that hate speech is a growing threat to peace and security, and to call for breaking this cycle through education, support for those targeted, and stronger action by governments and technology companies.
MIDDLE EAST
The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by continuing escalation in the Middle East, including the strikes by the United States on Iran and the strikes by Iran on neighbouring countries in the Gulf and beyond that are not parties to the conflict and significant increase in hostile rhetoric.
He urges the parties to return to the full implementation of the ceasefire and avoid any further deterioration, which, as he told the Security Council yesterday, could trigger a full resumption of the conflict, with unpredictable consequences for the region and the world, especially the most vulnerable countries.
The Secretary-General underscores that the exercise of navigational rights and freedoms, in accordance with international law, must be respected. He further calls on all parties to uphold their obligations under international law and to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians.
The Secretary-General reiterates that the only way forward is through genuine dialogue and negotiations.
He calls on the United States and Iran to redouble their efforts towards a peaceful, comprehensive and durable agreement that advances regional and international peace and security.
UNIFIL
Turning to the situation along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon. This morning, a strike impacted near a UNIFIL logistical convoy in the village of Harris, in Sector West. Two Malaysian peacekeepers sustained light injuries and two UN vehicles were damaged. The convoy returned to a nearby UNIFIL base, where the injured peacekeepers are receiving treatment. Their condition is stable. UNIFIL will investigate the incident.
In a separate incident yesterday, an IDF tank fired near a UNIFIL convoy northwest of Bint Jubayl, in Sector West. The convoy took a detour and was able to safely resume its movement.
UNIFIL peacekeepers also observed significant drone activity in the Bayyadah area in Sector West yesterday.
Seven drones were seen flying north, including a reconnaissance-type drone that overflew a UNIFIL position, followed by four-armed drones that flew over the same base at altitudes ranging from 50 to 250 metres. Two-armed drones subsequently crashed in the area, one of them directly in front of the UNIFIL position. There was no damage to UN facilities and no injuries to personnel.
All these incidents are unacceptable. We once again remind all actors of the inviolability of UN personnel and assets. UNIFIL is serving the cause of peace and must be able to carry out its mandate without obstruction.
Meanwhile, UNIFIL peacekeepers yesterday recorded 86 violations of Lebanese airspace by Israel, amounting to more than 128 hours of overflight. They also reported 14 Israeli airstrikes, alongside extensive ground movements and dozens of incidents of indirect fire across the area.
In total, UNIFIL recorded 449 projectile trajectories yesterday. Of these, 431 originated from south of the Blue Line or from within the area of operations in south Lebanon. Eighteen trajectories were observed transiting from north to south, with only one crossing the Blue Line.
On the humanitarian front, UNIFIL facilitated nine humanitarian missions yesterday: eight to Tyre in Sector West and one to Fardis and Hasbaya in Sector East.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-11
Gaza’s Fishermen Struggle
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Before the war, Gaza’s fishing sector supported thousands of fishermen and provided a vital source of food for the besieged population. The war has devastated ports, boats, equipment stores, and fishing nets, destroying livelihoods and deepening food shortages across Gaza.
President of UN General Assembly visits Nairobi
Source: United Nations (video statements)
President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock wrapped up a two-day official mission to Nairobi, Kenya where she highlighted the important role of the United Nations for Africa.
‘The Nairobi Headquarters is a place where the UN works closest to the communities, climate realities and development challenges’. It is there ‘to serve the people’, she added while visiting several UN-supported projects about waste recycling and digital education for youth.
Middle East: Advancing Political Solutions – UN Chief’s remarks | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Remarks by António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, on advancing political solutions in the Middle East: mediation and dialogue for a lasting peace.
Guterres warned that the Middle East is being pulled deeper into crisis, as this week has brought wider attacks and further deterioration, and said, “a brutal price is being paid by the region’s people, and it is extending to the wider world, particularly the most vulnerable countries and communities.”
Escalation in the Middle East, Guterres said, “reverberates across borders and continents, through political tensions, displacement and rising insecurity, through markets and trade routes, through food and fuel costs.”
In Lebanon, he said, “we have witnessed a serious escalation as Israel intensified its operations in Lebanese territory and Hezbollah fired deeper into Israel.
Guterres said, “we have seen the killing of civilians, entire communities uprooted and extensive demolition of homes and civilian infrastructure in southern Lebanon, the forced displacement of over a million civilians, the killing of seven UN peacekeepers, including one last week. And through it all, the risk and reality of war escalation.”
Gaza, he continued, “still faces profound uncertainty and immense human suffering,” as “violence is on the rise, with civilians killed on a daily basis.”
The Secretary-General said, humanitarian operations “remain heavily constrained, “as “basic human needs for clean water, sanitation, food, shelter, healthcare, and more are going unmet. And the Israeli government is declaring its intent to control 70 percent of the Strip. “
In the West Bank, he said, “reports of settler violence now averaging six attacks per day; the demolition of homes; destruction of farms and confiscation of lands; the relentless expansion of illegal Israeli settlements; the ongoing displacement of Palestinians at levels not seen since 1967; the threat of an attempt of annexation that would, like the decades long occupation, have no legal validity; the risk of making a two-state solution impossible when there is no other viable option. And throughout, the presumption of impunity.”
Guterres said, “civilians and civilian infrastructure have come under attack in multiple countries,” and stressed that “all threats to national sovereignty and territorial integrity are violations to international law.”
At the same time, he said, “restrictions on navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz are causing hardship and instability across the world, driving up energy prices and disrupting supply chains, making fertilisers more costly and hunger more prevalent, pushing up inflation and piling on debt, and in fragile states, raising the risk of fresh conflicts.”
Even in the best-case scenario, the Secretary-General said, “these shocks will be felt for many months, with developing countries bearing the heaviest impact,” and called on all parties “to honour the ceasefire and redouble efforts to reach a lasting agreement.”
Middle East, Lebanon & other topics – Daily Press Briefing (10 June 2026）| United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/Middle East
– United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
– Lebanon
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Yemen/Detainees
– Yemen/Special Envoy
– Afghanistan
– Sudan
– Central African Republic
– Mali
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Dialogue among Civilizations
– Refugees/Exhibit
SECRETARY-GENERAL/MIDDLE EAST
This morning, the Secretary-General warned the Security Council this morning that the Middle East is being pulled deeper into crisis – and the consequences reach far beyond the region. This week has brought wider attacks and further deterioration, he said.
Mr. Guterres said that he is profoundly concerned it could trigger a full resumption of conflict.
He said that the ceasefire is more like a lesser-fire – as we have seen with the escalating attacks and rhetoric over the last 48 hours. We should not minimize the risks of lesser fire becoming full fire – in other words, full-scale war.
The world needs to see a complete ceasefire, the Secretary-General said, with navigational rights and freedoms restored, in line with international law and Security Council resolution 2817, and serious negotiations on the nuclear issues –ensuring that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.
On Lebanon, he warned that since March, we have witnessed a serious escalation –as Israel intensified its operations in Lebanese territory and Hizbullah fired deeper into Israel. All parties must work towards a diplomatic settlement that fully respects the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized borders – in line with Security Council resolution 1701, he said. And he urged a continued UN uniformed presence following the departure of UN Interim Force in Lebanon(UNIFIL).
He added that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – is rapidly deteriorating. Despite the ceasefire announced eight months ago, Gaza still faces profound uncertainty and immense human suffering.
The Secretary-General urged all parties to implement in full and without delay the Comprehensive Plan facilitated by the United States, Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye.
UNITED NATIONS INTERIM FORCE IN LEBANON
Yesterday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) continued to report intensive and widespread Israel Defense Forces (IDF) air and ground activity across and just north of its area of operations. UNIFIL recorded at least 15 IDF airstrikes involving fighter aircraft, helicopters, and drones. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, airstrikes targeting Tyre yesterday killed at least 11 people and injured 44 others.
Yesterday, UNIFIL detected 80 violations of Lebanese airspace by the Israel Defense Forces, amounting to more than 126 hours of overflight. UNIFIL also recorded a total of 447 projectile trajectories, of which 442 originated from IDF positions. The remaining five trajectories were allegedly fired by Hizbullah.
Peacekeepers continue to be directly affected by ongoing hostilities. Yesterday, UNIFIL personnel at a checkpoint west of Kleyaa in Sector East witnessed intense ground combat in close proximity to their position. Armed individuals were observed firing AK-47s and a light machine gun from a residential building adjacent to the checkpoint.
The same UNIFIL position was exposed to significant risk throughout the day, including 24 artillery impacts landing as close as 300 to 400 metres, three suicide drone detonations nearby, and an airstrike in the vicinity. Peacekeepers were forced to take shelter. While no personnel were injured, the facility sustained damage, including cracked walls and shattered windows. We reiterate that UN premises and personnel must be respected and protected at all times and must never be targeted under any circumstances.
In a separate incident, UNIFIL discovered a grenade and a drone near the main gate of a position near Marjayoun in Sector East. The area was secured, and a UNIFIL explosive ordnance disposal team safely neutralized both devices.
Working in coordination with OCHA, UNIFIL’s Liaison branch facilitated the deconfliction of six planned humanitarian missions to the Tyre area in Sector West yesterday. However, all were subsequently cancelled following new displacement orders issued by the IDF affecting Tyre and surrounding areas. This underscores the increasingly constrained humanitarian space and the growing impact on civilians. Continued displacement orders are forcing people to flee while disrupting the delivery of life-saving assistance.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-10
Security Council: Advancing political solutions in the Middle East | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
10169th meeting of the UN Security Council on "Advancing political solutions in the Middle East"
Central African region: Encouraging signs in peace efforts – Briefing | United Nations
Source: United Nations (video statements)
Assistant Secretary-General Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee told the Security Council that the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) has shown “encouraging signs” in its peace efforts in the subregion, yet “deepening multidimensional security and humanitarian crises, socio economic pressures and, most worryingly, restrictions to civil and political rights have increased.”
Pobee said, “two fulcrums of instability stand out in Central Africa, Eastern Chad and the Lake Chad region,” and noted that “with the conflict in the Sudan in its fourth year, its direct impact on Chad cannot be overemphasised.”
She said, “the influx of over 900,000 Sudanese refugees and 300,000 Chadian returnees, including over 800,000 children since April 2023, has placed a significant strain on national resources,” and has “undermined social cohesion in Chad’s eastern provinces, exacerbating an already severe humanitarian crisis.
Civilians in Cameroon and Chad, Pobee said, “continue to suffer indiscriminate attacks and human rights abuses by the various Boko Haram affiliated and splinter groups,” as they are “exploiting the limited presence of state authorities and services in those areas.”
The Multinational Joint Task Force, she said, “remains an essential cross regional mechanism to combat the violent extremist threat in the Lake Chad Basin.”
The political affairs and peacebuilding official said, “there is a worrying trend of increasing restrictions on civil and political rights in several parts of Central Africa,” warning that “if not reversed, these could contribute to a narrowing civic space, affecting long term stability and leading to conflict.”