HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 23 APRIL 2025
CLIMATE
This morning, the Secretary-General and President Lula of Brazil convened a virtual leaders’ session on climate and just transition.
After the meeting he spoke to some of you and said that he heard a unifying message: our world faces massive headwinds and a multitude of crises, but we cannot allow climate commitments to be blown off course.
The Secretary-General added that we must keep building momentum for action at COP30 in Brazil— and that today was an important part of that effort.
The Secretary-General also said that renewables are the economic opportunity of the century. Dissenters and fossil fuel interests may try to stand in the way, but the world is moving forward - full speed ahead.
The Secretary-General urged leaders to take action on two fronts: first — to step up efforts to submit the strongest possible national climate plans well ahead of COP30.
And second, to scale-up support for developing countries.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is travelling to Washington, D.C. this afternoon, to attend the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Annual Spring Meetings and engage in discussions with key stakeholders and government officials.
Ms. Mohammed will participate in a ministerial roundtable to discuss the upcoming fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) and priority actions to support the Sustainable Development Goals. She will separately meet with Finance Ministers, leaders of International Financial Institutions and Multilateral Development Banks to discuss the challenging global economic context, its implications for sustainable development, and how to mitigate the risks for the world’s poorest countries.
The Deputy Secretary-General will return to New York tomorrow evening.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that hostilities continue unabated across the Strip, with air strikes reportedly hitting tents and areas sheltering displaced families. Meanwhile, the blockade on any supplies into Gaza has gone on for more than seven weeks, further depriving people of the means for survival and undermining every aspect of civilian life.
Yesterday in Khan Younis, an OCHA team carried out assessments at two locations in Al Mawasi that were hit by Israeli strikes on Sunday and Monday, reportedly killing eight people and injuring more than a dozen others, mostly children. Among the injured is a four-year-old boy who lost both of his legs. The team said nearly 20 families lost their shelter and belongings.
Yesterday in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, OCHA visited another two sites that are hosting nearly 2,500 displaced people, including many who fled after the latest displacement orders on Al Qarara in Khan Younis. The team noted acute shortages of food, water, medicine and shelter. Civilians there are traumatized and have no access to mental health support.
Both communities rely entirely on once-daily hot meals from community kitchens, which are insufficient and frequently run out. Children are going hungry, with reports of injuries during food distributions due to overcrowding and competition.
OCHA says canned food distributions, cash assistance, water storage, emergency health support and temporary learning spaces are urgently required. The presence of injured civilians, as well as people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, underscores the vulnerability of people at these sites.
Throughout Gaza, food supplies are running dangerously low, and malnutrition is rapidly worsening. Last week, one partner screened 1,300 children in northern Gaza and identified more than 80 cases of acute malnutrition – a two-fold increase from previous weeks.
The UN’s partners working in nutrition also report severe supply shortages due to the aid blockade and the challenges of moving essential items into and within the Strip. Access to key storage facilities, such as the UNICEF warehouse in Rafah, remains heavily constrained.
On a positive note, two days ago, a truck carrying nutrition support successfully moved from northern to southern Gaza. The shipment can support approximately 470 children for one month and will be crucial in preventing their conditions from worsening.
Across Gaza, living conditions are appalling. More than half of the population relies on inadequate or non-existent sanitation, while over 75 per cent report exposure to sewage, open waste and rodent infestations.
The public health risks are grave, especially for vulnerable groups – particularly malnourished children under 5 – who are highly susceptible to waterborne diseases and infections.
As part of ongoing efforts to respond to growing environmental and public health risks, UNRWA says its sanitation teams are responding with spraying disinfectants, cleaning campaigns and hygiene awareness sessions to reduce these risks and support displaced families.
The UN calls on Member States with influence to press for an immediate end to the blockade. And the UN urges them to ensure that once supplies are let in, they can be distributed wherever people need them with full respect for the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. The UN continues to call on Member States with influence to push for the release of the hostages.
YEMEN
On the situation in Yemen, the UN remains deeply concerned over the impact of ongoing air strikes on civilians and the infrastructure they rely on, including health facilities. Since the noon briefing on Monday, more than two dozen air strikes have been reported. In Al Hodeidah city, our humanitarian partners are stepping up emergency support to meet rising needs related to the strikes.
The UN also remains deeply concerned about the ongoing missile and drone strikes conducted by the Houthis against Israel and in the Red Sea and call on the Houthis to cease such attacks immediately. Security Council resolution 2768 (2025) related to Houthi attacks against merchant and commercial vessels must be fully respected.
Meanwhile, the UN continues to receive updates on the devastating effects of attacks in recent days. We have verified five child casualties due to an air strike in Sana'a on Sunday. Strikes on April 17th damaged a hospital in Al Baida governorate, where humanitarian partners were running an emergency obstetric and newborn care programme. Damage to solar panels at the hospital mean that it can no longer operate around the clock.
OCHA reiterates once again the call for all parties to the conflict to uphold international humanitarian law.
The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to stay and deliver wherever we can and as funding allows. This year’s Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Yemen is currently just over 8 percent funded, with less than $205 million received of the nearly $2.5 billion required. The reality is that we cannot do more with less.
The people of Yemen are caught in a horrific cycle of violence and humanitarian crisis. Although funding is no substitute for the political solution that the people of Yemen so desperately deserve – it can and will help communities survive and stabilize.
SUDAN
Moving to Sudan. The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra is in Port Sudan. Today he met with General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces as well as other senior officials. Mr. Lamamra is intensifying his consultations and continuing his engagements with the parties and all relevant stakeholders to explore modalities to strengthen the protection of civilians and to de-escalate the conflict.
In his engagements, the Personal Envoy will reaffirm our call for urgent and genuine dialogue between the parties to the conflict towards an immediate cessation of hostilities. In addition to that, the UN renews the calls for an inclusive political process to prevent further escalation, protect civilians, and put Sudan back on a path towards peace and stability.
The UN urges the parties to seize the opportunity of the visit of Personal Envoy Ramtane Lamamra in the country and the region to commit to engaging on an inclusive way forward and on enhancing the protection of civilians, including through possible proximity talks.
SUDAN/HUMANITARIAN
On the humanitarian front, the UN remains gravely concerned about the mass displacement, civilian casualties and dire humanitarian needs in El Fasher, Tawila and other parts of North Darfur State, where civilians have sought safety and shelter after the takeover of Zamzam camp by the Rapid Support Forces.
The humanitarian partners on the ground report several hundred thousand inhabitants of the camp fled to other locations. Some residents had been living at Zamzam since the beginning of the Darfur conflict in 2003. And this is the camp where famine conditions have been confirmed in Zamzam last August – so as you can imagine the situation is very dire for these people.
In recent days, artillery shelling of El Fasher – including the Abu Shouk camp and Daraja Aoula areas – has reportedly caused dozens of further civilian casualties.
The massive influx of displaced people into host communities and towns where needs are already high is creating critical pressure on health services, water infrastructure and local food systems throughout North Darfur.
The UN and its humanitarian partners are scaling up operations to meet deepening needs across multiple areas in the state. However, the scale of the displacement – coupled with insecurity and rising logistical constraints that have impeded humanitarian access – are severely stretching the capacity to respond. Despite these and other challenges, our humanitarian colleagues are working with partners to coordinate the movement of an aid convoy to North Darfur in the coming days – carrying assistance for up to 40,000 people. This will be a cross-border mission via the Adre crossing from Chad, traveling via Geneina in West Darfur before reaching Tawila in North Darfur.
The UN is also working with all stakeholders to try to open up sustained access for relief supplies and personnel movements into the area. In El Fasher, local NGOs are running mobile health and nutrition clinics and have launched a water trucking project, providing 20 cubic metres of water daily to 10,000 people. The Sudan Humanitarian Fund – which is managed by OCHA – is supporting the work of six NGO partners in and around El Fasher. In light of the crisis in Zamzam and El Fasher, UN agencies and NGO partners are urgently reviewing and adjusting response priorities in the area, within the framework of the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. We and our humanitarian partners continue to call on all parties to the conflict to uphold international humanitarian law, ensure safe passage for civilians, and guarantee facilitate and enable unimpeded humanitarian access.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warn that children continue to face grave violations of their rights as fighting persists in parts of the east.
In South Kivu province, local armed groups have forced at least nine girls into marriages in Kalehe since February. According to local partners, many other incidents of child marriage may be going unreported. Our partners also warn that armed groups continue to recruit children as fighters.
Children are also missing out on school in parts of South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces, where authorities have reported the occupation of at least five schools by armed groups.
In North Kivu, colleagues found that nearly 9,000 displaced people living in some 50 collective centres around the provincial capital Goma and in the town of Sake hope to return to their homes in Masisi, Nyiragongo and Rutshuru territories. OCHA is working with our humanitarian partners to address these issues and help enable safe, voluntary returns.
And also today several UN officials warned that the conflict in the country is having a dramatic impact on women and children, including increased risk of conflict-related sexual violence on displaced people.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO/PEACEKEEPING
And on the peacekeeping front, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (MONUSCO) yesterday conducted a Long-Range Mission to Dhendron village, in Ituri, which is some 14 kilometers northeast of the peacekeepers’ Temporary Operating Base in Bayoo. This long-range patrol, which follows a CODECO attack on 19 April, seeks to promote security for local farmers during the cultivation season and assess the situation on the ground.
The Mission engaged farmers who raised concerns about continued insecurity and called for more frequent patrols and the deployment of Congolese Armed Forces troops to support the safe return of internally displaced persons.
SOMALIA
Turning to Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that deadly flash floods have impacted nearly 30,000 people in different parts of the country. Authorities say at least four people have been killed in the past week, including three children. The rains come after months of extreme dry conditions that decimated water sources and grazing land, straining livelihoods and forcing scores of pastoralist families to abandon their villages. Following a delayed start to the April to June wet season, the rains have been particularly heavy in Puntland and South West states. Authorities in Somalia are appealing for assistance, especially emergency shelter, restoration of sanitation facilities, food assistance and relocation support for impacted people.
The UN and its humanitarian partners, have started assessments to determine the impact of the disaster and mobilize the response – but these efforts are constrained by extremely limited resources due to recent funding cuts. OCHA warns that humanitarian needs are rising in Somalia at a time when aid agencies are having to reduce and even suspend assistance due to dwindling resources. This year, about one third of Somalia’s population – nearly 6 million people – needs humanitarian assistance. However, our $1.42 billion humanitarian appeal is just 10 per cent funded, with $143 million received to date.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that according to Ukrainian authorities, yesterday and in the early hours of today, drone and glide bomb attacks struck densely populated areas throughout the country, while fighting claimed the lives of civilians in front-line regions. In Zaporizhzhia City, a glide bomb strike yesterday killed and injured people, including children. This is what local authorities are telling us. Several apartment buildings were damaged. Despite being near the front line, the city remains home to some 630,000 people, including many displaced from other regions. Authorities also report overnight drone strikes in the regions of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Poltava and Odesa, damaging homes, warehouses, a hospital, an ambulance and a critical energy facility.
The UN and its humanitarian partners, including national NGOs, are providing emergency aid, complementing the work of state responders. Impacted communities are receiving hot meals, construction materials and other critical items – as well as psychosocial support.
KASHMIR
The Secretary-General strongly condemned yesterday the armed attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April, in which at least 28 people were killed. He offers his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the victims. The Secretary-General stresses attacks against civilians are unacceptable under any circumstances.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
Today is World Book and Copyright Day. Not only do they entertain us, but books reflect the linguistic diversity of our world.
Today is English Language Day. It is also Spanish Language Day.
BRIEFINGS TOMORROW
Tomorrow, there will be a briefing by Nils Hilmer, Germany’s State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence; Katharina Stasch, Germany’s Director-General for international order and disarmament in the Federal Foreign Office and Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations. They will discuss the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 taking place in Berlin on 13-14 May.
At 2:00 p.m., there will be a briefing by the Permanent Mission of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to the UN on Bolivia’s proposals to address the global crisis from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples.
At 3:00 p.m., there will be a briefing sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Canada on the “Tŝilhqot’ in Nation Calls for Action to Address Toxic Drug Crisis in Canada”
