Noon briefing of 14 April 2025

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 14 APRIL 2025
 

FORUM ON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT 
This morning, the Chef de Cabinet, Courtenay Rattray, spoke to the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on behalf of the Secretary-General. 
He said that the legacies of colonialism and enslavement continue to poison our world and we still bear witness to the scourge of racism. This is true even in artificial intelligence, which too often mirrors and amplifies the same inequalities and racial biases that have plagued us for centuries, he said. 
The Secretary-General underscored that we need to eliminate bias from artificial intelligence, and to ensure these technologies advance equality, inclusion and digital justice. 
And he stressed that we must continue to address racism in all its forms – particularly where it is embedded in laws, policies and institutions. 

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL 
The Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will travel to Hanoi, Viet Nam, later today to attend the “Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 Summit” (P4G) on behalf of the Secretary-General. The Summit brings together leaders from the public and private sector as well as civil society to accelerate action towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and to foster climate action. 
During her visit, she will meet with senior government officials to strengthen the UN-Vietnam relationship. She will also chair the annual regional retreat with UN Resident Coordinators from across Asia and the Pacific, with a focus on advancing sustainable development in these countries. 
She will be back in New York over the weekend. 

SYRIA/LEBANON 
Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, arrived in Damascus today. She is set to meet with the Syrian interim authorities to discuss the political transition. During her meetings, she will reaffirm the UN’s commitment to supporting an inclusive, Syrian-owned and Syrian-led political process in line with the key principles listed in Security Council resolution 2254. 
Following that, Ms. DiCarlo will also travel to Lebanon to follow up on the January visit by the Secretary-General. She will meet with President General Joseph Aoun, as well as Nawaf Salam, President of the Council of Ministers, Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Parliament, and Youssef Rajji, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. 
Ms. DiCarlo will reiterate the UN’s steadfast support to the parties in their fulfilment of obligations under the cessation of hostilities and implementation of resolutions 1701, including through the peacekeeping mission UNIFIL and the office of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL). 
Ms. DiCarlo is also expected to visit the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission and area of operations in the south of the country, to see firsthand the impact resulting from the hostilities and the immense needs being supported by UN agencies, funds and programs. 

SUDAN 
Turning to the appalling situation in Sudan, and especially the latest developments in El Fasher. 
The Secretary-General condemned the killing of scores of civilians in the attacks on the town of El Fasher, as well as Zamzam, Abu Shouk and other nearby sites where displaced people are sheltering, in Sudan's North Darfur State. Humanitarians were also among the casualties. 
Our Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, also condemned the violence in the strongest terms and called for an immediate end to the hostilities and the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers. The perpetrators of these attacks must be brought to justice. 
And today, our humanitarian colleagues are telling us that preliminary figures from local sources indicate that more than 300 civilians have been killed, including 10 humanitarian personnel from the NGO Relief International who lost their lives while operating one of the last functioning health centres in Zamzam camp. 
The El Fasher area has been besieged for more than one year, cutting hundreds of thousands of people off from lifesaving humanitarian aid. Famine conditions have been identified in Zamzam and two other displacement camps in the area. 
The International Organization for Migration reported that at least 16,000 people were displaced from Zamzam camp during the same period, with many fleeing to the localities of El Fasher and Tawila. 
As part of the response, humanitarian partners are preparing to distribute essential household kits to about 2,000 newly displaced families in El Fasher this week. 
Local partners have reported that the humanitarian and protection situation in El Fasher is rapidly deteriorating due to continued violence and a growing influx of displaced people. 
Further east in the town of Um Kadadah in North Darfur, more than 50 people were reported killed and 900 homes destroyed in recent fighting, according to local sources. 
Meanwhile, residents and displaced people in Zamzam and El Fasher face severe shortages of essential supplies, including food, fuel and health items. Diesel prices have surged fivefold in the past three months, significantly limiting access to safe drinking water and forcing the suspension of some water trucking services. 
However, ongoing insecurity continues to impede access and poses serious risks to humanitarian personnel operating in and around the area. 
Meanwhile, Sudan’s health system continues to face alarming strain. The World Health Organization has verified about 160 attacks on health care since the onset of the conflict, resulting in more than 300 deaths. One third of hospitals in seven states are now non-functional, and recent funding cuts have forced health partners to scale down support to more than 300 health facilities across the country. 
We continue to call on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel, and facilitate immediate, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to those in need. … 
Two years into the devastating war in Sudan, we urge the parties to immediately cease the fighting and take steps towards an inclusive political process to put Sudan on a path towards peace and stability. 

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 
Turning to Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that the humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities. 
It has now been a month and a half since any supplies were last allowed through the crossings into Gaza– by far the longest such halt to date. 
The humanitarians working on the ground report a surge in attacks causing mass civilian casualties and the destruction of some of the remaining infrastructure that’s needed to keep people alive. This includes yesterday’s Israeli strike on Al Ahli hospital. 
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, said that Al Ahli hospital has gone out of service after receiving an evacuation order and being attacked. 
He called for an immediate halt to attacks on health care and reiterated that patients, health workers and hospitals must be protected, in line with international humanitarian law. 
Also yesterday, a UN warehouse in Gaza city and a community food distribution point that we supported in Khan Younis were hit by strikes. Our colleagues have confirmed damages to the warehouse. 
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities continue to issue additional displacement orders, further reducing the limited space available for families. Civilians are effectively trapped in increasingly fragmented and unsafe enclaves, where access to essentials for survival is dwindling by the day. 
Four new displacement orders were issued over the weekend – two on Friday and another two on Saturday. Some of them followed reports on Palestinian rocket fire. 
Combined, these latest orders cover more than 33 square kilometres, which is more than half the size of Manhattan, or approximately 9 per cent of the entire Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people lived in those areas, based on our assessments from February. These areas also included medical points and other facilities supporting people’s survival. Currently, about 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under displacement orders or in “no go” zones, where the Israeli authorities require humanitarian teams to coordinate their movements. And I can tell you that displacement orders are now undermining access to half of all water wells across the Gaza Strip. 
Due to the closure of the crossings compounded by restrictions within Gaza, dwindling supplies have forced them to ration and reduce deliveries to make the most of the remaining stocks. 
Over the weekend, the UN was able to relocate some existing fuel stocks from areas under displacement orders to locations where they are more accessible for humanitarian operations. 

UKRAINE 
The Secretary-General said that he was deeply alarmed and shocked to learn of the missile attack by the Russian armed forces on Sumy, Ukraine, which reportedly killed at least 34 people, including two children, and injured nearly 100 others. According to authorities, two missiles struck a crowded street in the city centre on Sunday morning, destroying a public bus with people inside and damaging many residential buildings, the city university facility and scores of civilian vehicles. 
The Secretary-General noted that the attack, on Palm Sunday and at the start of Holy Week, continues a devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns in recent weeks, resulting in civilian casualties and large-scale destruction. 
He underlined that attacks against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited under international humanitarian law, and that any such attacks, wherever they occur, must end immediately. In a statement, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, also strongly condemned the deadly air strikes on Sumy City. Right after the attack, aid workers delivered first aid, emergency shelter, psychological support—including for children—as well as hot meals, blankets and hygiene kits. 
Hostilities also continued in other parts of the country, in the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia. Local authorities say that between April 11th and 14th, dozens of civilians were killed in this region and many more injured. Homes and civilian infrastructure, including schools and health facilities were also damaged. 

MYANMAR 
Turning to Myanmar, new data released today from the UN Development Programme says that at least two and a half million metric tonnes of debris – roughly 125,000 truckloads – must be removed. 
The data, which was generated through remote sensing analysis, highlights the extensive destruction caused by the earthquake and underscores the urgent need for large-scale debris removal and reconstruction of critical infrastructure and homes. 
The analysis also shows that more than 10,000 homes and public service buildings may have been significantly damaged or destroyed, while 128 health facilities were exposed to severe or violent tremors, with high likelihood of significant damage or destruction as a result. 

SOUTH SUDAN 
The peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is stepping up its patrols amid a deteriorating security situation. The mission is also engaging with authorities and communities. 
This comes as the areas of the Upper Nile State continues to see clashes between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLA-iO), causing casualties and displacement. 
Intercommunal violence in Warrap and Lakes states is also rising, with over 200 deaths reported in recent weeks. And just to flag that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan, Mr. Nicholas Haysom, will brief the Security Council on Wednesday. 

UNISFA/UNMISS PEACE AGREEMENT 
60 youth leaders including 16 women from the Ngok Dinka community of Abyei and the Twic Dinka community of Warrap state in South Sudan have signed an agreement committing to an immediate cessation of hostilities. They agreed to reopening key routes enabling free, secure movement of people and goods, and pledged to collaborate on countering misinformation and hate speech. 
This was the result of a four-day dialogue attended by key peace partners, including our peacekeeping missions in Abyei (UNISFA) and South Sudan (UNMISS), non-governmental partners, community leaders and the South Sudan Council of Churches. Both our missions reaffirmed their full support towards the implementation of these resolutions and strengthening dialogue and intercommunal harmony between both communities. 

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the peacekeeping mission there continues to engage proactively with communities in Ituri and North Kivu. 
On Friday, peacekeepers conducted a Joint Assessment Mission in the areas of Mayangose, about 10 km northeast of Beni, and in Sayo, in the North Kivu province. The mission aimed to evaluate the overall security situation and the protection of civilians ahead of a planned deployment by peacekeepers in this area. 
Over the weekend, the mission also deployed a Mobile Operating Base in Tchomia, approximately 30 km southeast of Bunia in Ituri province. 
This deployment aims to help ease tensions following reports of alleged abuses by members of the Congolese armed forces at the Niamusasi displacement site. 

HAITI/ IOM 
This morning, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope, arrived in Port-au-Prince, to begin a visit to Haiti. 
While there, she is scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, and other senior officials to discuss urgent humanitarian needs and IOM’s support to displaced communities. She is also planning to discuss durable solutions and migration governance efforts. 
This morning, Ms. Pope visited a site for internally displaced people, where she met with families impacted by gang violence, and she also addressed IOM staff during a town hall meeting, recognizing their commitment under extremely challenging conditions. 

ECUADOR 
From Ecuador, following the massive oil spill in the province of Esmeraldas last month, OCHA’s UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team carried out an assessment that found that at least 150,000 people have been impacted by the oil spill and need humanitarian assistance. 
The assessment also points to a concerning increase in respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases and limited access to safe water. 
Livelihoods have been particularly hit hard, especially in fishing, agriculture and shellfish harvesting. More than 37,000 women have lost their livelihoods, many of them shellfish gatherers who now face growing health risks and exposure to gender-based violence. 
The UN teams are testing water from affected rivers, treatment plants and seafood from the ocean for hydrocarbons and heavy metals, as it could have long term environmental and health repercussions. 
The Resident Coordinator there, Lena Savelli, has shared the findings and recommendations with Government ministers and the national humanitarian forum and reiterated our commitment to support the Government with technical assistance. 

EXPO 2025 
In Osaka, Japan, the UN Pavillion has opened at the Expo 2025. 
In a welcome message to the Pavillion, the Secretary-General invites people to explore and discover how the United Nations plays a key role in people’s lives today. 
This Pavilion, he says, also symbolizes an important truth — building a better, more peaceful future requires all countries, and all people, working as one. 

CHAGAS DISEASE DAY 
Today is World Chagas Disease Day. 
Chagas disease, also known as "silent or silenced disease" - is an illness caused by a parasite that can lead to serious heart and stomach problems. An estimated 10,000 people die from it every year. 
This year’s theme is “Prevent, Control, Care: Everyone’s role in Chagas disease.” 

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION 
The Bahamas has paid its dues to the regular budget in full, bringing the number of fully paid-up Member States to 92.