Rather than follow in the footsteps of his late father, a Nobel-prize winning writer, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa opted instead to serve humanity. Now the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Representative to Syria, he just witnessed a historic end to 14 years of conflict and crisis.
“There were these long, long lines of cars of Syrian refugees coming back from Lebanon. So many of them stopped the car the moment that they entered Syria, they got out of the car, they kissed the ground … saying we are so happy to be back in this new Syria,” Gonzalo shared.
The fall of the Assad regime has brought fresh hope for millions of displaced Syrians. Yet with a lack of housing, services and jobs still preventing most from returning, the UN is calling for action to support returnees.
In this episode, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa looks back on a career full of seismic turning points, and reflects on the painful sacrifices of a life spent in service.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:10] A turning point in Damascus
[04:10] A new atmosphere
[10:28] The emotional reunions
[12:42] Fears of another exodus
[15:43] What keeps Gonzalo awake at night
[19:29] Gonzalo’s humanitarian awakening
[25:16] Why work in the field matters
[27:23] The personal cost
[34:22] A hope for the future
[35:41] Closing remarks
Listen to more Awake at Night episodes: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDFQJEq_0b6hu1e8oxsch9W0D7vkNqt
About Awake at Night
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the podcast ‘Awake at Night’ is an in-depth interview series focusing on remarkable United Nations staff members who dedicate their career to helping people in parts of the world where they have the hardest lives – from war zones and displacement camps to areas hit by disasters and the devastation of climate change.
More info: https://www.un.org/en/awake-at-night/s11-gonzalo-vargas-llosa-what-next-for-syria-refugees
As a young white activist in South Africa, Nicholas Haysom risked detention to oppose the apartheid regime, later working alongside Nelson Mandela. Now Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan and Head of the United Nations Mission there, he is still striving tirelessly in pursuit of peace and human rights.
“The lesson of [Nelson] Mandela is not just being a nice person, it’s perseverance in your ideals. It’ll change the world.”
After a long and varied career, Nicholas (Fink) Haysom is supporting recovery and resilience in South Sudan, the UN’s newest member state. In this episode, he reflects on helping the world’s youngest nation build a better future, on why thorny negotiations are always necessary to move on from any civil war, and on why lasting peace should never be taken for granted.
[00:00] Introduction
[02:01] Growing up in Apartheid South Africa
[04:35] Political awakening and activism
[06:44] Enduring arrests and solitary confinement
[10:33] The end of apartheid
[12:58] Becoming Nelson Mandela’s legal advisor
[15:23] Working with Nelson Mandela and lessons learned
[19:06] Joining the United Nations
[21:55] Challenges of peace agreements
[23:56] Leading UN efforts in South Sudan
[27:09] What keeps Nicholas awake at night
[28:00] Gratitude for a meaningful career
[30:06] Hope for the next generation
[31:22] Seeing Mandela’s statue at UNHQ
[32:34] Closing remarks
Listen to more Awake at Night episodes: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDFQJEq_0b6hu1e8oxsch9W0D7vkNqt
About Awake at Night
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the podcast ‘Awake at Night’ is an in-depth interview series focusing on remarkable United Nations staff members who dedicate their career to helping people in parts of the world where they have the hardest lives – from war zones and displacement camps to areas hit by disasters and the devastation of climate change.
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Myanmar
Helsinki Final Act
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Syria
UNIFIL
Ukraine
Haiti
Security Council
Briefings Tomorrow
MYANMAR
The UN remains concerned by ongoing violence in Myanmar, including aerial bombardment hitting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Civilians and humanitarian workers must be protected. Any pathway out of the deteriorating situation in Myanmar requires an end to the violence and unimpeded access of relief workers and supplies to meet the enormous humanitarian needs exacerbated since the 28 March earthquakes.
The Secretary-General reiterates his concern over the military’s plan to hold elections amid ongoing conflict and human rights violations and without conditions, including safety and security, that would permit the people of Myanmar to freely and peacefully exercise their political rights.
Security Council Resolution 2669 (2022) calls for immediately releasing all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi; upholding democratic institutions and processes; and pursuing in constructive dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar.
The United Nations is committed to staying and delivering in Myanmar and to working with all stakeholders, including ASEAN and other regional actors, to attain sustainable peace.
HELSINKI FINAL ACT
Today, the Secretary-General addressed via a video message the High-level Conference commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. He noted that we are witnessing a dangerous drift away from commitments that have safeguarded peace for generations. Yet, he said, in this moment of peril, the values enshrined in the UN Charter and echoed in the Helsinki Final Act – sovereignty, territorial integrity and peaceful coexistence – remain our moral and strategic compass.
The Secretary-General called on all to recommit to the spirit of Helsinki by strengthening regional partnerships to renew multilateralism, by principled leadership to uphold international law, and by forging unity of purpose to build a future of mutual respect, resilience, and shared prosperity.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=31%20July%202025
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Sudan
– Somalia
– Pacific Tsunami Warnings
– Haiti
– Cholera
– Tax Cooperation
– International Days
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that four days since the start of tactical pauses in Gaza declared by the Israeli authorities, we are still seeing casualties among those seeking aid and more deaths due to hunger and malnutrition.
Parents continue to struggle to save their starving children. In a social media post, UNICEF said that this is a condition that we can prevent and called for increased humanitarian access.
Aid workers in Gaza have not been spared. UN partners report high workloads, burnout and exhaustion – due mainly to the lack of food – among frontline workers as well as among caseworkers in mental health and psycho-social support facilities.
While the UN and its partners are taking advantage of any opportunity to support people in need during the unilateral tactical pauses, the conditions for the delivery of aid and supplies are far from sufficient. As an example of the delivery of aid challenges, you’ll recall that the Kerem Shalom crossing is a fenced-off area. For our drivers to access it, Israeli authorities must approve the mission, provide a safe route through which to travel, provide multiple ‘green lights’ on movement, as well as a pause in bombing, and, ultimately, open the iron gates to allow us to enter.
On the issue of fuel, last week, the UN brought in limited quantities of fuel through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, almost half of which were transferred to the north to support vital health, emergency, water and telecommunications needs.
OCHA reiterates that current fuel entries are insufficient to meet life-saving critical needs and represent a drop in the ocean of needs.
OCHA again stresses that a permanent ceasefire is needed more than ever. Unilateral tactical pauses alone do not allow for the continuous flow of supplies required to meet immense needs levels in Gaza.
Meanwhile, desperate, hungry people continue to offload the small amounts of aid from the trucks that are able to exit the crossings.
The UN and our partners continue to coordinate humanitarian movements inside Gaza with the Israeli authorities. Yesterday, three facilitated missions allowed our staff to collect cargo containing food from the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and allowed for fuel to be transferred within Gaza. However, the others faced impediments, particularly delays in receiving the green light to move by the Israeli authorities, and one had to be cancelled.
OCHA reiterates that in order to scale-up the delivery of aid in a manner that begins to meet people’s tremendous needs, it is critical that all crossings must open, a broad range of supplies – both humanitarian and commercial – be allowed to enter, aid movements inside Gaza be safeguarded and facilitated in a timely manner, and that humanitarians be allowed to do their jobs.
Full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/ossg/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=30+July+2025
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres briefed Member States during an informal meeting of the General Assembly on the next phase of the UN80 Initiative, highlighting steps needed to streamline how the organization implements the thousands of mandates that guide its work.
“As we all know, these problems have grown worse. We must learn from what went wrong. We must do better. And I believe we can,” Guterres said today (Aug 01), referring to inefficiencies in the mandate system.
The briefing followed the circulation of a report on 31 July 2025, presenting findings from Workstream 2 of the UN80 Initiative, a Mandate Implementation Review, which examines the structures, processes, and services related to mandate creation, delivery, and review. The report does not assess the content or merit of any mandates themselves.
Launched in March 2025, the UN80 Initiative aims to enhance the United Nations’ efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness to global challenges in the lead-up to the Organization’s 80th anniversary. The initiative focuses on three reform tracks: internal efficiency, mandate implementation review, and structural and programmatic reforms.
Since 1946, the UN’s three main organs, the General Assembly, Security Council, and Economic and Social Council, along with their subsidiary bodies, have issued mandates through over 40,000 resolutions, decisions, and presidential statements. These mandates define the UN’s activities and hold the Secretariat accountable, yet their sheer volume and complexity have created a “vast – and often opaque” landscape, the Secretary-General said.
“There is no easy way to know what already exists, or what has been adopted across different bodies,” he warned. “The risks of duplication and overlap are clear.”
Guterres emphasized that mandates are the responsibility of Member States, “They are the expression of your will. And they are the sole property and responsibility of Member States. The vital task of creating, reviewing or retiring them lies with you – and you alone. Our role is to implement them – fully, faithfully, and efficiently.” He called for reforms that would include “fewer meetings, fewer reports,” and more tailored, transparent systems for monitoring and reporting on mandate implementation.
Letter by the President of the General Assembly:
https://www.un.org/pga/79/2025/07/18/letter-from-the-president-of-the-general-assembly-on-the-briefing-on-the-report-of-the-secretary-general-on-the-un80-initiative/
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
UN80
Trip Announcement
Deputy Secretary-General/ Travel
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Haiti
Haiti – Humanitarian
Security Council/Afternoon
World Breastfeeding Week
Briefings Today
UN80
The Secretary-General this morning provided an update to Member States on his UN80 initiative, focusing on his report, issued yesterday, on what is known as “workstream two,” which deals with the implementation of mandates received from Member States. Mandates are the sole property of Member States, he affirmed.
Mr. Guterres said that the problems with mandates are well known: Burdensome processes. Overlap. Duplicative structures. And a growing gap between mandates and resources. And he told the Member States that the review of mandates is not about questioning their decisions but about implementing them — more effectively, more efficiently, and with greater impact. Mandates are not ends in themselves, the Secretary-General said; they are tools to deliver real results, in real lives, in the real world.
He said that today, there are more than 40,000 resolutions and decisions on the books – and counting. The risks of duplication and overlap are clear.
Meanwhile, since 2020, the average word count of General Assembly resolutions has increased by 55 per cent. ECOSOC texts have grown by 95 per cent. And Security Council resolutions are now three times longer than they were 30 years ago.
The Secretary-General added that we cannot expect far greater impact without the means to deliver. By spreading our capacities so thin, we risk becoming more focused on process than on results.
That is why, he said, the report puts for their consideration a possible shift: Toward shorter, clearer, and more focused mandates.
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT
The Secretary-General will travel to Central Asia this weekend. On Sunday, the Secretary-General and the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym Jomart Tokayev, will witness the signing of the Host Country Agreement for the UN Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan, which has been formalized by the General Assembly. The signatories will be Murat Nurtleu, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, and Li Junhua, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
From Kazakhstan, the Secretary-General will travel to Awaza in Turkmenistan, to attend the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries. He will reaffirm the need to help the Landlocked Developing Countries overcome physical barriers and connect to global markets, including by leveraging Artificial Intelligence to strengthen early warning systems.
While in Turkmenistan, the Secretary-General is expected to have bilateral meetings with the host country leaders, as well as leaders and officials attending the conference.
For full Highlights:
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=01%20August%202025
Since 1946, mandates included in over 40,000 resolutions have shaped the work of the United Nations, guiding its global impact and directly supporting more than 440 million people each year. In response to Member States’ calls for a more agile, effective, and coherent UN, the Secretary-General’s new report on mandate implementation review examines systemic challenges in how mandates are created, delivered, and reviewed.
As part of the UN80 Initiative’s second workstream, and in line with General Assembly resolution 79/318, the report proposes ways to strengthen mandate processes while fully respecting that mandates remain the responsibility of Member States. Addressing these issues is essential to ensure the UN remains responsive, coherent, and fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world.
Social media has become a new gateway to armed groups in Colombia. Videos set to the rhythm of cumbia and corridos are used to attract young people. UN News spoke with two teachers from conflict-affected areas.
The Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Awaza, Turkmenistan, opens an opportunity to explore meaningful partnerships to unlock the potential of landlocked developing countries.
Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) are locked out: with no direct territorial access to the sea, they struggle with international trade, connectivity, and economic development.
Cut off from the global marketplace and without the means to develop adequate transport and logistics infrastructure, landlocked developing countries facing unique and significant challenges in achieving the sustainable development goals. By supporting these countries, we can help to build a more equitable and prosperous future for all.
Secretary-General’s remarks at the Centre for Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan
————–
Distinguished President Tokayev and my dear friend,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a profound honour to join you today.
We have just signed the host country agreement for the United Nations Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan.
The Centre represents the opening of a new chapter – for the region and for our collective journey towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
It symbolizes the new era of cooperation in Central Asia – grounded in shared priorities and solutions.
And it holds great potential for showing how the strong bonds among the region’s leaders can translate into deeper economic integration, for the benefit of all people.
This is more essential than ever.
And I commend President Tokayev for his vision and his leadership in helping to shape this new Central Asia that will become more and more a fundamental power in our world order.
I thank Member States for supporting this initiative.
And I salute the people of Kazakhstan for their warm welcome.
Almaty is a fitting home for this Centre.
This is a city of history, resilience, and vision.
And Kazakhstan is an ideal and generous host.
This country has long served as a bridge between East and West, tradition and innovation.
The Centre has been mandated by the General Assembly, and I look forward to its operationalization – with terms of reference being finalized and leadership appointments to follow.
Soon, it will serve as a hub for regional collaboration … a laboratory for ideas … and a launchpad for action.
It will bring together governments, UN country teams, civil society, academia, the private sector, regional organizations, and financial institutions – to develop coordinated, country-led efforts;
And tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time – from climate change and water scarcity to youth unemployment, gender inequality and digital exclusion.
Working together with our Resident Coordinators and Country Teams, it will contribute to accelerating progress toward the 2030 Agenda in Central Asia and Afghanistan – driven by the spirit of solidarity and shared responsibility that defines the United Nations.
Excellencies, dear friends,
We are only five years away from 2030 – but far from our destination.
The world is facing complex and interlinked challenges that threaten sustainable development.
Poverty is stalling. Hunger and malnutrition are plaguing societies. Inequalities are deepening. Conflicts continue to tear communities apart. And the climate crisis is accelerating.
In Central Asia, climate change is already draining water supplies, melting glaciers, and fuelling natural disasters.
The shrinking of the Aral Sea is a stark reminder of the region’s environmental vulnerability.
Rising trade tensions and global uncertainty compound these risks.
The region’s landlocked geography presents additional barriers – to trade, connectivity, financing, and access to global markets.
That is why I am especially pleased to be here on the eve of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Turkmenistan.
This Centre can become a vital pioneer in implementing the Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries;
Today, we must say that Kazakhstan is no longer a landlocked country. Kazakhstan is a centre in the global trade system.
A centre in the global logistics, transportation and the telecommunication system with its corridors on roads, railways, fiber optics and transforming this country in really a bridge from East and West, North and South.
And the Centre can help ensure that the aspirations of landlocked nations are not constrained by geography – but can empower by cooperation and regional solutions.
It will build on the region’s greatest asset – its people.
Young people, women, entrepreneurs, and civil society – these are the true engines of progress, driving the innovation and resilience needed to leave no one behind.
The Centre will support data-driven policy, spark innovation, and amplify the voices of those too often unheard.
And nowhere is that cooperation more urgent than in our support to Afghanistan.
The people of Afghanistan continue to face immense hardship – from entrenched poverty and mass displacement to earthquakes, climate shocks, and a fragile humanitarian landscape.
…
Full Statement: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2025-08-03/secretary-generals-remarks-the-centre-for-sustainable-development-goals-for-central-asia-and-afghanistan-delivered
