Noon briefing of 1 December 2025

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

MONDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2025

WORLD AIDS DAY 

In his message for World AIDS Day, the Secretary-General noted major progress, including a 40% drop in new infections since 2010, and significant improvements in treatment access. Yet, he says, millions still lack prevention and care due to inequality and stigma. To end AIDS, Mr. Guterres urges greater investment in prevention, expanding treatment for all and a human rights-based approach. 

FIFTH COMMITTEE 

This morning, the Secretary-General spoke to the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee and formally introduced the revised estimates report relating to the proposed programme budget for 2026 and the support account for peacekeeping operations for the 2025/26 period. Those revisions take into account initial measures to improve the management and operations of the Secretariat, resulting from the first workstream of the UN80 Initiative, as well as targeted efficiencies and cost reductions to the proposed programme budget for 2026 and the support account for 2025/26. 

Overall, for the regular budget, the Secretary-General is proposing to bring the resource requirements for 2026 down to 3.238 billion US dollars – that is a reduction of 577 million dollars, or 15.1 per cent, compared to the 2025 appropriation.                                                                            

The proposed staffing table is revised to 11,594 posts – including Special Political Missions – that is a reduction of about 18.8 per cent, compared to the approved staffing table for 2025. 

The Secretary-General added that the proposed reduction for special political missions compared to 2025 comprises a net decrease of 84.7 million US dollars due to the closure of missions, and a net decrease of $64.8 million for continuing missions.  

OTTAWA CONVENTION 

Today, the Secretary-General also addressed by pre-recorded video message the opening of the twenty-second meeting of the States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention. 

He reminded participants that anti-personnel landmines are among the cruelest and most indiscriminate weapons ever created. They kill and the maim long after a conflict has ended. 

Yet today, as conflicts rage, some States waver in their commitment, Mr. Guterres said. 

So let’s be clear, he added. Any weakening of the Ottawa Convention could spark a dangerous race to the bottom. And civilians would pay the highest price.      

This 22nd Meeting of the States Parties must strengthen our resolve to curb these vicious weapons, he added. It must rally new Parties and inspire the compliance of existing Parties. 

He called on all to recommit to protecting lives, respecting international law and restoring hope to communities threatened by landmines. 

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that humanitarian conditions remain extremely dire even as aid operations continue across the Strip.  

Yesterday, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, concluded a four-day visit to Gaza, where he met with our partners, visited humanitarian project sites, and spoke to people struggling to cope with already appalling conditions as winter fast approaches. He stressed the importance of unfettered humanitarian access and the need for our NGO partners to be able to bring supplies into Gaza.    

Meanwhile, our partners leading the health response report that they continue to restore services across the Strip – with 234 health service points now operational, compared to 197 before the ceasefire.  

While this is a significant improvement, efforts to expand access to healthcare continue to face challenges due to the lack of critical supplies and the vast destruction of infrastructure during two years of war.    

Our partners leading on logistics warn that Salah ad Deen Road remains closed for the movement of humanitarian cargo from Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing, and the Al Rasheed Road and the Philadelphi corridor remain the only available routes. This leads to congestion and exposes any convoy to looting and security risks.   

Meanwhile, our partners leading the shelter response warn that needs remain very high – with some 1.5 million people in need of urgent support. We and our partners continue to provide shelter assistance across the Gaza strip.  

Between Wednesday and Thursday, our partners distributed tents, tarpaulins, bedding and kitchen sets, as well as winter clothing vouchers, to some 4,300 households. That includes 2,500 families in southern Gaza and nearly 1,800 in the north. Our partners were able to reopen 18 out of 31 temporary learning spaces affected by the rainstorms. This has allowed some 8,000 children to resume some form of learning.   

Over the weekend, 160 high-performance tents arrived in Gaza for learning activities. This is the highest number of such tents received by our education partners to date. However, they warn that stationery and other education supplies continue to be rejected, hampering efforts to scale up the response. So far, fewer than 3,200 individual learners’ kits have been able to enter Gaza.    

Finally, our partners working on cash assistance say they’ve completed transfers to 123,000 families since the ceasefire – which is already exceeding the target of 120,000 under the 60-day ceasefire plan. 

MEDIA SEMINAR 

The 2025 United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East is taking place in Conference Room 6, right now, as we speak. The theme of this year is “Breaking Barriers: Navigating the Dangers and Complexities of Reporting from Gaza and the West Bank.” 

The Secretary-General, in a message to today’s seminar, said that journalists in Gaza have been facing the same risks and realities as the people they cover – including displacement, famine and death. Since the appalling attacks on 7 October, more than 260 media workers have been killed in Gaza and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, making this the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades, the Secretary-General underscored. 

He emphasized that the rules of war are clear: Civilians and civilian infrastructure are not to be a target. Journalists must be able to perform their essential work without interference, without intimidation and of course without harm. This includes the unacceptable ban that prevents international journalists from actually entering Gaza freely.    

SUDAN 

Moving to Sudan. Ramtane Lamamra, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, is currently in Port Sudan. 

There, he held meetings with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan, as well as with other senior officials including Kamil Idris, the Transitional Prime Minister, and Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  

Mr. Lamamra will travel tomorrow to Addis Ababa for further consultations with key stakeholders, including senior African Union and Ethiopian officials. The urgent need for better protection of civilians is at the forefront of all his discussions during these visits.  

SUDAN/HUMANITARIAN 

On the humanitarian front, a bleak picture continues to be painted as needs continue to rise, mainly across the Darfur and Kordofan regions, as well as in Northern and River Nile states.  

OCHA reports that aid organizations still cannot reach civilians inside El Fasher. The International Organization for Migration estimates that as of last week, more than 106,000 people had been displaced from the city and surrounding villages since late October. Nearly 80 per cent of those displaced remain in rural villages west and north of the city, without adequate support or safe passage for those wishing to travel onward.  

Meanwhile, displacement from North Darfur and the Kordofan region is deepening needs in Northern and River Nile states. Over the weekend, our humanitarian colleagues met with local officials and displaced families who fled to these states.                             

Their assessment showed that these families urgently need shelter and other essential items, as well as health services and water, sanitation and hygiene assistance. 

In Northern State alone, local authorities estimate that 7,000 people who sought refuge there in recent weeks are scattered across rural Dabbah, with more than 300 people arriving each and every day. We and our partners are providing primary healthcare, are providing food assistance, safe water and psychosocial support, but funding shortfalls have left critical gaps, including on our ability to provide latrine coverage.  

We once again call on all parties to urgently guarantee safe, unhindered humanitarian access and protect civilians, including, of course, aid workers. It is equally vital that donors commit additional resources to reach people in greatest need across Sudan, including support for the local organizations and networks on the front lines of the response.                                   

JEAN-PIERRE LACROIX  

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Head of the UN Peace Operations Department, is in Algeria today, where he is taking part in the 12th High-Level Seminar on Peace and Security in Africa.   

In a tweet on his activities, Mr. Lacroix welcomed Algeria's role in the Security Council and its continued support for peace operations. 

Prior to this visit, the Under-Secretary-General wrapped up a 4-day visit to the Central African Republic. He said the country is following a positive trajectory with significant progress achieved, giving credit first and foremost to the Central African Republic and its people. 

During the visit, Mr. Lacroix had meetings with the President of the Central African Republic, the Prime Minister and other senior government authorities, women's organisations, civil society groups and the diplomatic community.                                           

With elections scheduled for the end of the month, Mr. Lacroix reaffirmed that the peacekeeping mission remains fully committed to supporting the organization of the polls so that they can take place under the best possible conditions. He also noted that challenges remain and that efforts need to continue to protect civilians, to further implement the peace process, including disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of combatants, and also to enhance state authority throughout the territory.  

Referring to the peacekeeping liquidity crisis, Mr. Lacroix said the department paid tribute to all mission personnel and to the Special Representative, Valentine Rugwabiza, for the exceptional work they are carrying out, and will continue to carry out, despite constraints and challenging financial circumstances. 

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Peacekeeping mission there– MONUSCO -  said they have assisted the Congolese Army in screening some 9,500 prospective recruits who were seeking to join the Armed Forces at the Kamina military training centre in Haut-Lomami. This took place on 27 and 28 November, and we can tell you that because of this screening, 25 boys under the age of 18 were identified and separated before they could be formally inducted.  

These efforts were first put in place as part of the Action Plan signed in 2012 by the Government of the DRC with the UN to end the recruitment and use of children in the country’s armed forces. The Congolese armed forces completed the measures included in the action plan in 2017.  

These ongoing screenings to prevent child recruitment reflect the constructive collaboration between the Government, the Peacekeeping Mission’s Child Protection Section, UNICEF and the Joint Technical Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in the area of security sector reform. 

Today, the Ministry of Health in the DRC declared an end of the Ebola outbreak which had been declared in early September in the Kasai province, and that is good news. WHO and its partners provided technical, operational and financial support to the government to contain this outbreak. This was the country’s 16th ebola outbreak, and needless to say, although the outbreak has been declared over, health authorities are maintaining surveillance to rapidly respond to any re-emergence of the ebola virus. 

UKRAINE 

Turning to Europe and Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that the city and region of Kyiv were hit by large-scale drone and missile strikes over the weekend, killing and injuring several civilians. Hundreds of residential buildings and other civilian facilities were damaged. Up to 500,000 families in the Kyiv lost electricity, with water and heating services also disrupted. According to a private energy company, power has since been restored to about 590,000 families, and repair is ongoing. In the city of Dnipro, authorities and aid workers report that an attack this morning also killed and injured civilians. Additional casualties were reported in the regions of Chernihiv, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia. The attacks in these regions also caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure.                                                         

For its part, UNICEF says that 4.6 million children in Ukraine continue to face major disruptions to education as the war enters its fourth academic year. 

SRI LANKA 

Turning to Sri Lanka, we are closely following the situation after Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on Friday, bringing heavy rainfall and destruction across the country. 

The storm triggered widespread flooding and landslides and is believed to be the worst flood in the country’s recent history. 

Our colleagues on the ground are coordinating closely with Sri Lanka’s disaster management authorities. As of today, the authorities have reported 366 people killed, 367 missing, and over 1.1 million people impacted across all 25 districts of the country. 

More than 215,000 people are sheltering in over 1,500 Government-run safety centres. Initial assessments report over 15,000 homes destroyed and widespread disruptions to infrastructure, including the rail network and the power grid.                                                                         

The Government is taking the lead in search-and-rescue operations. But our Humanitarian Country Team is preparing a joint response plan, supported by the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. And that team was activated by our Resident Coordinator on the ground, Marc-André Franche.

The UN in Sri Lanka is rapidly mobilizing to provide immediate and life-saving support, including food, safe drinking water and hygiene and shelter items, as well as maternity and dignity kits. 

We, along with the national authorities, are carrying out a joint needs assessment so that support reaches all those who need it. 

WORLD’S LAND RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 

A report released today by FAO  warns that feeding a projected 10 billion people by 2050 will require bold and smarter choices in how the world manages its land, soil and water. The report notes that over the past 60 years, global agricultural production tripled with only an 8 per cent increase in agricultural land but at high environmental and social costs.  According to FAO, today, more than 60 per cent of human-induced land degradation occurs on agricultural land. 

NEW RESIDENT COORDINATORS 

On 30 November, Fatou Aminata Lo Diop of Senegal assumed her post as UN Resident Coordinator in Gabon. She brings over 20 years of experience in the UN, including 12 in leadership roles.  

Also, on 30 November, Hanny Cueva-Beteta of Peru took up her role as UN Resident Coordinator in Paraguay. She brings over 15 years of experience within the United Nations at Headquarters, regional and country levels. 

On 1 December, which is today, Stefan Priesner of Austria began his assignment as UN Resident Coordinator in India. He brings extensive experience in international development and multidisciplinary programme leadership, having previously served as Resident Coordinator in Iran.   

** Briefing and Guest 

At 1 p.m., Ambassador Samuel Žbogar, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the United Nations and the President of the Security Council for the month of December, briefed reporters on the Programme of Work. 

Cesar Nunez, the Director of the UNAIDS Office in New York, was the guest at the Noon Briefing and he briefed reporters on the occasion of World AIDS Day and the launch of the World AIDS Day report entitled, “Overcoming Disruption: Transforming the AIDS response”.