HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 5 JUNE 2025
TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT/SECRETARY-GENERAL
On Sunday, June 8, the Secretary-General will arrive in Nice, in France, to take part in the third UN Ocean Conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica.
On Monday, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks during the conference’s opening session. He will recall the progress achieved since the last Ocean Conference in Lisbon and call for investments to fully realize the sustainable development goal number 14, which is, as you know, life below water.
The Secretary-General will also use this opportunity to urge all countries to ratify the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), and also to call on member states to agree this year on an ambitious and legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
The BBNJ will enter into force 120 days after its 60th ratification, and to facilitate this process, our colleagues at the department of Legal Affairs are organizing a Treaty event during the Ocean conference. At that event, all Member States who have not yet done so will be able to formally deposit their ratification.
While in Nice, the Secretary-General will have bilateral meetings with both co-hosts of the conference, President Emmanuel Macron, of France, as well as President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, of Costa Rica. He will also have a number of bilateral meetings with other delegation leaders and members of the civil society who will be at the conference.
On Tuesday morning, the Secretary-General will conclude his programme in Nice with a press encounter, which will be shown live on UN WebTV.
WORLD OCEANS DAY
A day ahead of the UN Ocean Conference, the UN will mark World Oceans Day. In his message, the Secretary-General calls for the protection of marine biodiversity, the rejection of practices that inflict irreversible damage, and he calls for the delivery on the promises of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement. &nbs
SECRETARY-GENERAL/FALLEN STAFF
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the annual memorial service for UN staff who have lost their lives in the line of duty over the past year, and he paid tribute to the 168 men and women who lost their lives in 2024.
He told journalists this morning that the past year has been especially devastating in Gaza, with 126 of our colleagues killed there -- 125 of those were serving with UNRWA.
Mr. Guterres said that the sacrifice of all 168 of our fallen colleagues everywhere is a tragedy, adding that it is also a reminder of the responsibility carried by every United Nations staff member, every single day.
He said that as we mourn those lost, we must also recognize the living -- the thousands of UN personnel who serve around the world today, carrying out the missions entrusted to them by the countries that make up these United Nations.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The UN continues to send supplies bound for Gaza to the Kerem Shalom crossing. Today, the UN sent just over 20 truckloads of supplies – which were mostly food assistance, as well as some health supplies – to the Israeli side of crossing, and that number reflects a limit imposed by the Israeli authorities.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stresses once again that, after 80 full days of blockade on the entry of aid and any other supplies, people in Gaza are starving. This demands the urgent opening of all crossings and allowing unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations to deliver aid at scale, through multiple routes, and to all areas where people require assistance.
UN partners say that more than 90 per cent of families in Gaza lack the cash needed to buy what little food remains available in the markets. Meat, dairy, vegetables and fruit are nearly absent from people’s daily diets, and eggs have once again disappeared from the market stalls.
Yesterday, Israeli authorities continued to deny humanitarian movements that require coordination. Out of 16 attempts to coordinate such movements, five were rejected, including trucking water, retrieval of nutrition supplies, and relocating fuel stocks. Six other missions also weren’t accomplished, either because of impediments or because organizers had to cancel them – which very often happens for security or logistical reasons. The remaining five missions were facilitated and accomplished. Those missions allowed our partners to screen children for malnutrition, provide medical services, and carry out assessments. However, none of them involved the delivery of supplies, which are so desperately needed, as we have been telling you.
Meanwhile, supplies continue to dwindle, as what’s allowed into Gaza is merely a trickle. This week, partners working on food security tell us that 14 of them delivered just over a quarter of a million meals daily.
This is much less than the 1 million meals that were being distributed daily at the end of April. Half of the community kitchens in Gaza have been forced to stop cooking due to lack of supplies or because of displacement orders.
OCHA says that, yesterday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order, this time covering 54 neighbourhoods across three governorates: North Gaza, Gaza and Deir el Balah. This is the second order issued for the same area, representing one third of the Gaza Strip.
Overall, since the renewed escalation of hostilities in March, the Israeli military issued 35 displacement orders, forcing more than 640,000 people to flee again. That’s almost every third Palestinian in Gaza.
UN partners working in health said that facilities continued to be attacked. This morning, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Suzanna Tkalec, with an OCHA team, visited Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City, only hours after an attack that took place just outside the facility.
Hospital managers said that four people were killed, and we understand that at least three of them were journalists.
OCHA stresses once again that civilians and healthcare facilities must always be protected.
Today, Ms. Tkalec and UN humanitarian partners also visited the Al Shifa and Patients Friends’ Society hospitals. The staff and partners stressed the need for qualified specialists, supplies and medical equipment.
On the education front, colleagues on the ground report that, as of today, hundreds of learning spaces have been forced to suspend their operations due to insecurity or lack of funding. More than 200,000 students and 5,000 teachers have been affected.
And this morning, in answer to questions to journalists, the Secretary-General said, about the forthcoming summit on the implementation of a two-state solution, that he firmly believes that it is the duty of the international community to keep the two-state solution alive and to materialize the conditions to make it happen.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) ttoday said that attacks across the country, which started last night and continued this morning, have killed and injured civilians. According to local authorities in Ukraine, more than 45 civilian casualties were reported, that’s in addition to the widespread damage to homes and civilian infrastructure we have seen in Chernihiv, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Sumy regions.
The city of Pryluki in the Chernihiv region was heavily impacted. Five people were killed in an overnight attack. In Kharkiv, at least 19 people were injured. Multiple residential buildings, a kindergarten and a store were damaged. That is what local authorities are telling us. The regions of Kherson, Donetsk and Sumy were also impacted and airstrikes also killed a number of people.
Hospitals, schools and residential buildings were not spared and suffered damages.
Meanwhile, more than 500 civilians were evacuated from front line areas in the past 24 hours in the Donetsk and Sumy regions. A hospital, a school and residential buildings were also damaged in Kherson City and surrounding areas.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are providing immediate assistance in the impacted regions, including construction materials, hygiene kits, emergency shelter and psychological support. The agriculture sector in Ukraine has suffered more than $83 billion in damages and losses since the wars started and today thousands of families still lack basic tools and services to sustain production and protect their livelihoods. And I am sure you will hear a lot more about that from our colleague Paul Heslop.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)says that since 2022, it has supported 250,000 rural families across Ukraine with vegetable seeds, animal feed, cash and vouchers.
SYRIA/SECURITY COUNCIL
This afternoon, the Security Council will convene at 3:00 p.m. for a briefing and consultations on Syria. Izumi Nakamitsu, the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs will brief Council members.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is World Environment Day. In his message, the Secretary-General says that this Day focuses on solutions to beat plastic pollution, adding that in two months, countries will come together to hammer out a new global treaty to end plastic pollution. We need an ambitious, credible and just agreement this year, he said.
Today is also the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. Our seas and oceans are one of the planet’s most important assets and their uses need to be managed responsibly.
On Saturday, the UN marks World Food Safety Day. This year’s theme is“Food safety: science in action.”
Tomorrow is Russian Language Day.
***The guest at the Noon Briefing was the senior UN Mine Action Adviser to the Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team in Ukraine (UNMAS), Paul Heslop.
