MIL Video Engine

Source: United Nations (video statements)

According to an International Monetary Fund mission that visited Damascus last month, recovery is accelerating and double-digit growth in 2026 is projected.”

However, “widespread poverty and renewed inflation mean conditions remain very difficult for most Syrians,” he added.

Cordone briefed the Council from Damascus, following the Secretary-General’s visit to Syria last month (the first by a Secretary-General in 17 years.) In meetings with President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, the Secretary-General welcomed progress in Syria’s political transition, including steps to strengthen state institutions and moves toward reconciliation, accountability and transitional justice, while stressing that success would ultimately be measured by whether all Syrians feel represented and able to shape their country’s future, Cordone reported.

Cordone welcomed the United States’ rescinding of Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, saying such steps should help create more favorable conditions for economic recovery, investment and broader international engagement.

Cordone also said that “this month the Damascus Fourth Criminal Court convicted and sentenced to death several former officials, including former President Bashar al-Assad, who along with others was tried in absentia, as well as Atef Najib and Wassim al-Assad who appeared in person.”

Cordone said former Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun was also tried in person and received a life sentence. He said the proceedings incorporated several important fair-trial safeguards for defendants present in court and that there is a right to appeal within 30 days but called for stronger legal representation and a full appeal on the facts rather than only on points of law. He urged the Syrian authorities to establish a moratorium on all executions.

On 21 August, Cordone attended the commemoration of the chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta and Mu’adamiya, which killed some 1,500 people and left thousands injured.

On political front, the Deputy Special Envoy said the People’s Assembly has adopted rules of procedure but has yet to begin substantive work, and that further clarity is needed on its oversight role over the executive. He said the process for drafting a permanent constitution has still not been specified, urging an inclusive and transparent process and warning of urgency in starting it, as well as in preparing for elections at the end of the transition.

On Israeli activity in Syria, he said, “the continued Israeli presence east of the ceasefire line violates Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and is inconsistent with the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.”

Cordone said Israeli military activity has continued in southern Syria, including repeated ground incursions, house searches and the destruction of private and agricultural property, particularly in Quneitra and the Yarmouk Basin. He condemned an Israeli airstrike on the Abu al-Dhuhur airbase in northern Syria on 18 August, while welcoming recent direct Israel-Syria contacts and talks in Jordan and supporting United States mediation efforts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh0ExcwvyNU

Source: United Nations (video statements)

If Rangelands Could Speak
Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface and are home to pastoral
communities whose livelihoods, cultures and traditions have been shaped by these
landscapes for generations.
Following the spirit of the ancient Silk Road, the *UNCCD Silk Road Caravan* travelled
more than 8,000 kilometres across seven countries, connecting COP16 in Riyadh to
COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, bringing together pastoralists and participants from around 30
countries.
This film brings you the voices of pastoralists themselves — people whose lives are
deeply connected to these landscapes. It captures their struggles, resilience and
determination, as well as their hopes for the future.
It is a specially produced short version of a much larger story. A *feature-length Silk
Road Caravan documentary will be completed and launched at the end of 2026*,
bringing together the wider journey and the stories of the pastoralists and communities
we met along the way.
Credits
A film by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
Concept and Supervising Producer
Xenya Scanlon
Associate Producer
Papa Camara
Directors
Lizzy Geble
Yazan Neme
Farhod Abdujalilov
Producer
Yazan Neme
Director of Photography
Lizzy Geble
Camera Operator
Farhod Abdujalilov
Additional Camera China
Ruan Shuai
Peng Yuan
Drone Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
Julian Kolb
Sound Engineer Türkiye
Dustin Hasberg
Sound Engineer Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
Julian Kolb
Music
,Desert Day’
Ricky Kej
,Sands of Time’
Ricky Kej
,Orient’
Ricky Kej
,Balafon’
Cast of Characters
,I Dream Of a Far Off Place’
Jushua Spacht
,Rangelands’
Ricky Kej
Additional Editor
Martin Schmidt
Colorgrading
Martin Schmidt – MGS Media
Contributors
China Gabriel
Katheryn Jimenez
Bollor Battumur
Byambadorj Mend
Shawn Sebastian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXreK-WnQQA

Source: United Nations (video statements)

If the Rangelands Could Speak

What would they tell us?

Across the Silk Road Caravan, pastoralists were asked one simple question: If the rangelands could speak, what would they tell humanity?

We hear answers from different countries, cultures and experiences — brought together through powerful portraits captured along the journey across Eurasia.

This four-minute film is part of the *UNCCD Silk Road Caravan*, an 8,000-kilometre journey across seven countries that brought together participants from around 30 countries to exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas about the future of rangelands and pastoralism.

The Caravan connects COP16 in Riyadh with COP17 in Ulaanbaatar and supports the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026.

#UNCCD #COP17 #SilkRoadCaravan #IYRP2026 #Rangelands #Pastoralists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx7u3o3Sd0w

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Providing an update on the floods in Nepal, the United Nations Resident Coordinator Lila Pieters Yahia told reporters in New York that as of tonight, “we have 359 people, unfortunately, who have lost their life,” while 73 people have been hospitalised and 910 are missing, including “517 are foreigners from different nationalities.”

Briefing via video teleconference from Katmandu, Yahia said, “the government of Prime Minister Balen Shah is leading the search and rescue and is coordinating any type of response,” and noted that “more than 30,000 security personnel have been mobilised, and they’re working day and night to try to search and to rescue people.”

She said, “we have over 35 bridges which have been destroyed. The roads are destroyed and so it’s extremely, extremely difficult to have access. We have about 40km of road which are damaged. We have electricity which has been disrupted, about 10 percent in the total area. And in total, we have about 10,000 households, which are in immediate need.”

The Resident Coordinator thanked Under Secretary-General Tom Fletcher for providing USD 2.5 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) and reported that a team from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) “is arriving tomorrow morning to support us with coordination.”

All the UN agencies, she said, “particularly UNICEF, WFP, UNFPA and WHO are mobilised and have been conducting assessments and also going into the field.”

In addition to the CERF funding, Yahia said, “the Swiss government has generously given us one million dollars,” and “more and more funding is becoming available,” including from Australia, the United Kingdom, India, China, the US and the World Bank.

Responding to a reporter’s question, she said, “the government has just issued a warning this afternoon of potential, additional flood risk in the Koshi River. And so, what we have all to exercise is to be very cautious. And they have sent warnings to the population living in that area and requesting all the population to stand away from riverbanks and to go up as much as possible and to find safe places.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhMJcl9sZbU

Source: United Nations (video statements)

On 31 August 2026, on the International Day for People of African Descent, the UN Movie Society of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council is honoured to present a special conversation with two-time Academy Award®-winning director Ben Proudfoot, director of THE EYES OF GHANA. On this occasion, opening remarks will be delivered by H.E. Mr. Samuel Yao Kumah, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations.

Executive produced by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, THE EYES OF GHANA is a documentary feature by two-time Academy Award-winning director Ben Proudfoot, following 93-year-old cinematographer Chris Hesse — personal cameraman to Ghana’s founding President, Kwame Nkrumah — as he races against blindness and time to rescue and repatriate more than 1,000 reels of long-lost footage documenting the birth of African independence. The film’s story of reclaiming a suppressed visual history speaks directly to the spirit of the International Day for People of African Descent, honouring the memory, culture, and resilience of people of African descent worldwide.

The International Day for People of African Descent reminds us that recognition, justice, and development — the three pillars of the UN’s Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034) — remain vital, unfinished work. THE EYES OF GHANA embodies that work: Chris Hesse’s decades-long fight to save the footage of Ghana’s independence from erasure, and Anita Afonu’s mission to ensure that this history is never lost again.

Movies hold the unique power to promote universal ideals, principles, and values so deeply enshrined by the United Nations, including peace, development, respect for human rights, cultural appreciation, the dignity of the human person, and equal rights for all. Founded at the United Nations Headquarters by Brenda Vongova, the UN Movie Society is committed to championing the goals and values of the United Nations through the universal language of motion pictures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eRm84Wd-Q0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

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

Highlights:
Guest
Secretary-General on the Death of Ratko Mladić
Asia Floods
Secretary-General – Ebola / DRC
Ethiopia
Djibouti
Lebanon
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Central African Republic
Security Council/Syria
Deputy Secretary-General/India
Senior Personnel Appointment – UNOPS
World Lake Day

Asia Floods
I think you heard quite an extensive update form our Resident Coordinator in Nepal. I do want to add a bit on Tom Fletcher, our Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and our Emergency Relief Coordinator. He remains in close contact of course with our teams in the region as well as with the Nepalese and Chinese authorities.

Today, he spoke with the Foreign Minister of Nepal, offering the UN support and expressing the condolences on behalf of the UN system. He also spoke with the Resident Coordinator and also participated in some of the Country Team meetings.

Mr. Fletcher has also been in touch with representatives of the Government of China, also expressing condolences and offering our support.

He’s also allocated $2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund in order to save lives with emergency medical care, shelter and water.

Secretary-General – Ebola / DRC

Also this morning, you heard from the Secretary-General, who spoke about the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In his remarks, the Secretary-General stressed that Ebola can be stopped, but that the world must overcome what he calls "the virus of indifference". He warned that international attention and resources continue to lag behind the realities on the ground.

The Secretary-General said that the $2.13 billion humanitarian needs and response plan is only 48 per cent funded and appealed for additional resources to scale up the response, warning that the current funding will only last weeks and not months.

Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues on the ground, together with our partners, are increasing safe and dignified burial capacity in the affected provinces, and that is as you know a critical measure to prevent further transmission of the virus, which remains highly contagious even after death. They have deployed about 35 additional mobile safe and dignified burial teams and 286 community-based teams to support disease surveillance and burials as needed.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-08-27

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUfuAb2lS1c