HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 24 JUNE 2025
IRAN/ISRAEL
The Secretary-General welcomes US President Trump’s announcement of a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. He urges the two countries to respect it fully. The fighting must stop, the people of the two countries have already suffered too much, he said.
The Secretary-General hopes that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region.
IRAN/QATAR
In a statement yesterday, the Secretary-General expressed his deep alarm at the further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
On social media, he strongly condemned the attack yesterday by Iran on Qatar, a country that has been active for peace in the region and further afield.
The Secretary-General urges all Member States to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law.
UN CHARTER
Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at a ceremony that took place here at the UN headquarters to welcome home the original UN Charter, 80 years after it was written. Eighty years is a blink of an eye in history, and yet, the Secretary-General said, until the United Nations, humanity never had a single place where every government and all peoples could unite to fix the world and build something better.
SECURITY COUNCIL
Hannah Tetteh, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, briefed the Security Council this morning by VTC and said that the UN Mission in Libya, UNSMIL, has helped to support the preservation of the fragile truce that had been reached on 14 May, develop mechanisms to facilitate a de-escalation of tensions in order to prevent further clashes, and ensure the protection of civilians.
She warned that there are reports of continued build-up and fears among many Libyans that armed clashes will resume. UNSMIL urges all political and security actors to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions that would only serve to deepen the lack of trust and undermine all the de-escalation efforts being made to sustain the fragile truce.
Ms. Tetteh noted the calls from many Libyans for UNSMIL to act swiftly to facilitate a Libyan led and owned political process that leads to credible elections and unified institutions. She said that UNSMIL will intensify its engagement in the coming weeks, building on the momentum generated by the Berlin meeting earlier this month.
SECURITY COUNCIL/NON-PROLIFERATION
At 3 p.m., Security Council members will meet for an open briefing on the Secretary-General’s report as requested by resolution 2231 that refers to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action otherwise known as JCPOA.
Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, is expected to brief.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the Gaza Strip, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that amid ongoing hostilities, people continue to be killed or injured. This includes reports of people coming under fire near non-UN militarized distribution sites or on routes designated by the Israeli authorities for the UN to collect trucks carrying aid.
The mission we told you about yesterday that attempted to access fuel stored in Rafah has been successfully accomplished. That fuel is being allocated to run critical services in the south, thereby buying some time. However, unless more fuel is allowed into Gaza, these lifelines will very quickly shut down.
Fuel is essential to produce, treat and distribute water to more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza. UNICEF warns that if the current more than 100-day blockade on fuel coming into Gaza does not end, children may begin to die of thirst.
Israeli authorities must allow the delivery of fuel, in sufficient quantities, into and throughout Gaza, including to the north. If these life-saving operations shut down, more people will not be able to survive.
Meanwhile, caregivers are warning that children are experiencing mounting psychological stress. This is driven by the deteriorating conditions, including lack of food. Last week, in several displacement sites in Gaza city, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, the UN and our partners provided more than 1,000 children with sessions to help them manage their fears and other difficult emotions.
Today, the World Health Organization is sounding the alarm over the “mental health emergency” in Gaza. Across the Strip, WHO has trained hundreds of front-line humanitarian workers in psychological first aid to support people and promote a sense of safety among the population.
Today, the Israeli military issued another displacement order in three neighbourhoods in Jabalya, in the north. At least 30,000 people are assessed to be in those areas. OCHA reminds us that most of Gaza remains under displacement orders.
With no shelter supplies allowed into Gaza, and many of the existing shelters requiring urgent repair works, our partners in Khan Younis are working creatively to recycle wooden pallets received as part of food shipments to rehabilitate and maintain temporary sites. OCHA reminds us that, just like fuel, shelter materials have been banned for over 16 weeks – this at the same time that hundreds of thousands of people have been newly displaced.
Yesterday, the UN and our partners attempted to coordinate 14 humanitarian movements inside Gaza, but six were denied outright. These included the trucking of fuel and water as well as the retrieval of bodies and broken trucks.
UNIFIL
Today, Major General Diodato Abagnara of Italy officially assumed command of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Major General Abagnara previously served as UNIFIL’s Sector West Commander. Most recently he was the Commander of the Military Technical Committee for Lebanon, that coordinated multinational support to the Lebanese Armed Forces. We congratulate him.
He is taking over from Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro of Spain who led the mission during tumultuous times.
As the new General takes up his new position, UNIFIL’s efforts remain focused on containing the escalation in the south of Lebanon and creating conditions for a durable political solution along the Blue Line.
UKRAINE
Moving to Ukraine. Our humanitarian colleagues tell us that 27 civilians have been killed and more than 230 injured over the past 48 hours across Ukraine, and that’s according to local authorities.
Children were among the victims, with one child killed and 10 others injured.
Attacks have intensified in the regions of Dnipro, Sumy and Odesa, while the Donetsk, Kherson and Kharkiv regions also report multiple civilian casualties and damage to homes, schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure.
According to local authorities, earlier today local time, the city center of Dnipro was hit by multiple missiles, with one strike close to UN premises in the city. The regional governor reported that 29 schools and kindergartens have been damaged, along with 8 healthcare facilities.
Yesterday, in the Odesa region, an attack on a school killed three staff members, and injured others including youths.
According to the International Organization for Migration report in May, more than 21 per cent of children ages three to five are not attending preschool due to displacement and proximity to front lines. In front-line regions, non-attendance reaches 37 per cent.
From January to May of this year, humanitarian organizations provided education support to over 270,000 people across Ukraine, while 25,000 children accessed digital and temporary learning spaces.
SUDAN
Turning to Sudan, the UN is gravely alarmed by reports of a deadly attack on a hospital in West Kordofan State over the weekend.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 40 civilians were killed in the attack on the Al Mujlad Hospital, including children and health workers, with dozens of people injured. WHO noted that there was also extensive damage to the facility.
All attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel are condemned, particularly in conflict zones where reaching the injured can be difficult if not impossible.
The parties must respect the specific protection afforded to healthcare personnel under international humanitarian law.
The rules of war demand that the wounded and sick, medical personnel and hospitals be protected at all times.
The attack on the hospital comes at a time when about three quarters of health facilities in areas worst impacted by conflict – including the Kordofan region – are barely operational or closed. Meanwhile, health and humanitarian partners overstretched and underfunded as they try to stem the spread of diseases, including measles and cholera.
Despite the many challenges, we have some positive news to report on the ongoing effort to fight the cholera outbreak in Sudan. The number of new suspected cases has sharply declined in recent weeks. Between June 16th and 22nd, 207 new suspected cases were reported, compared to more than 8,400 between May 19th and 25th, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Health.
We and our partners working on health and water, sanitation and hygiene continue to scale up the response. More than 3 million oral cholera vaccine doses have been delivered to Khartoum and North Kordofan, with vaccination campaigns already underway. Another 3 million doses are expected to arrive shortly.
So far, partners have reached 2.3 million people through emergency water and sanitation activities, while hygiene promotion efforts have supported 1.3 million.
However, aid organizations are now facing a depletion of prepositioned supplies due to the early onset of the outbreak, which was driven by attacks on infrastructure and disruptions to power and water sources.
OCHA stresses that flexible funding is urgently needed to sustain and scale up the response, especially with cholera cases feared to rise again from July to August onwards with the rainy season and potential flooding.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are facilitating a five-day dialogue, which brings together the leaders of six armed groups, including CODECO and Zaire.
The dialogue, launched yesterday in Aru, in the Ituri province, also includes provincial authorities, community representatives, as well as officials from the Provincial Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Community Stabilization programme.
This is part of the government-led peace process, and also aims to support the protection of civilians, restore state authority, and define disarmament and demobilization modalities. This week’s dialogue also seeks to identify concrete steps to enable the return of displaced people and the resumption of socio-economic activities. In addition to facilitating discussions, the peacekeeping mission provided substantive and logistical support.
This is the second dialogue session in Aru. The first one was held in May and June 2023 and led to an Act of Engagement by participating groups.
CHAD
Turning to Chad, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that $8 million has been allocated from the OCHA Regional Pooled Fund to support the humanitarian response in the country.
$6 million will go towards assisting vulnerable host communities, Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees in eastern Chad. The remaining $2 million will support more than 220,000 people displaced in Chad`s western Lac province, where there are ongoing attacks by non-state armed groups as well as secondary displacement of people in search of alternative livelihoods given the inadequacy of humanitarian aid.
This new funding – largely directed through national humanitarian partners – comes on the heels of a $14.5 million disbursement from the Central Emergency Response Fund this year that was also primarily focused on eastern Chad.
As a reminder, since conflict began in Sudan, Chad has received nearly 860,000 Sudanese refugees and 274,000 returning Chadians – more than 700,000 of them children.
Chadian authorities, in collaboration with humanitarian organizations, continue to provide lifesaving assistance and protection to refugees both inside and outside camps, as well as to Chadian returnees and host communities. Ongoing efforts include relocating refugees to safer areas, providing food assistance, vaccinating children, setting up child-friendly spaces, and delivering gender-based violence services.
These operations are far from adequate. Funding shortfalls continue to hamper the response, leaving many refugees and vulnerable communities in precarious conditions. The looming flood season threatens to make matters worse.
Despite these recent funding allocations, Chad’s Humanitarian Response Plan remains critically underfunded. Only 11 per cent of the $1.4 billion required has been received. Of this, $835 million is urgently needed to assist 2.8 million people facing the most severe needs across the country.
REFUGEES
The UN Refugee Agency today released a report estimating that 2.5 million refugees worldwide will need to be resettled next year. UNHCR notes that while the figure remains high, annual resettlement needs have decreased for next year – down from 2.9 million in 2025, even as the global number of refugees continues to grow. This is mainly due to the changed situation in Syria, which has allowed for voluntary returns. The UN Refugee Agency said that for 2026, the largest refugee populations that will need to be resettled are Afghans, followed by Syrians, South Sudanese, Sudanese, Rohingya and Congolese. Last year, despite the challenges, more than 116,000 refugees were given the opportunity to find safety and rebuild their lives through UNHCR-supported resettlement.
PANEL ON CHEMICALS
The UN Environment Programme note that countries have agreed on an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution. The panel, established in Punta del Este, Uruguay, on 20 June, is expected to conduct global assessments, identify knowledge gaps, and communicate complex science in policy-friendly formats, among other functions.
UN Environment Programme points out that this new panel completes a global scientific trifecta, alongside the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM
The Secretary-General spoke by video message to the Internet Governance Forum in Norway, telling participants that as digital risks accelerate, so must we.
He said that means, among other things, bridging the digital divide by expanding affordable, meaningful internet access; closing the skills gap; countering online hate speech; promoting information integrity, tolerance and respect; addressing the concentration of digital power and decision-making in the hands of a few; and fostering greater diversity, transparency and trust in digital spaces.
He said: Let us keep building a digital future that protects, empowers, and includes everyone – everywhere.
WOMEN IN DIPLOMACY
Today is the International Day of Women in Diplomacy.
In a post to mark the Day, our top female diplomat in this organization, Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General said that today she celebrates the women shaping a fairer, more peaceful world, at the table and beyond.
GUESTS TOMORROW
Tomorrow at around 12:45 p.m., our Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, will be here in this very room, and she will be accompanied by Ambassador Héctor Gómez Hernández, the Permanent Representative of Spain, and Ambassador Chola Milambo, the Permanent Representative of Zambia.
They will brief reporters on expectations for the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development.
