Noon briefing of 9 December 2025

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

TUESDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2025

SECRETARY-GENERAL STATEMENT/YEMEN

The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the continued arbitrary detention of 59 United Nations personnel, in addition to dozens of NGO, civil society, and diplomatic mission personnel. He condemns the referral by the Houthi de facto authorities of United Nations personnel to their special criminal court.

The UN personnel have been held incommunicado, some for years, without any due process, in violation of international law. United Nations personnel, including those who are nationals of Yemen, are immune from legal process in respect of all acts performed by them in their official capacity. 

We call on the de facto authorities to rescind the referral and work in good faith toward the immediate release of all detained personnel of the UN, NGOs and diplomatic community.

The United Nations remains committed to supporting the people of Yemen and delivering principled humanitarian assistance.

YEMEN 

Following recent developments in Hadramout and Al-Mahra in the eastern region of Yemen, the UN Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg, today highlighted the need for all actors to exercise restraint and de-escalate through dialogue. 

This came during meetings he held in Riyadh with the Yemeni Foreign Minister Shaya Zindani, the Saudi Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber, the UAE Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Zaabi. He also met with representatives of the permanent five members of the Security Council in Saudi Arabia and other diplomats. 

He noted that the eastern region of Yemen is a vital area, both politically and economically and underscored the need to preserve the space where Yemeni parties can discuss in support of stability and in the interest of Yemeni people.                                                         

Grundberg reaffirmed his continued engagement with Yemeni, regional, and international actors to support de-escalation and advance prospects for a negotiated political settlement to the conflict in Yemen. 

TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT 

Later today, the Secretary-General will be leaving New York for travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Oman. 

He will arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday, 10 December. There he will hold bilateral meetings with the Saudi leadership, including His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discuss a number of pressing regional issues.  

From Saudi Arabia, the Secretary-General will travel to Iraq on 13 December to mark the closure of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). Mr. Guterres will express gratitude to the Mission’s staff members and to the government and people of Iraq for hosting UNAMI for 22 years.      

While in Baghdad, he will have bilateral meetings with the leaders of the government of Iraq, including with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. 

The Secretary-General will return to Riyadh to participate in the 11th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations taking place on 14 and 15 December. The Forum, convened under the theme “Two decades of dialogue for humanity: Advancing a new era of mutual respect and understanding in a multipolar world,” marks the twentieth anniversary of the Alliance of Civilizations.    

Prior to leaving the region, the Secretary-General is also scheduled to visit Muscat. There he will meet the Sultan of Oman, His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, on 15 December to discuss regional issues, including the situation in Yemen. 

CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND 

The high-level pledging event for the Central Emergency Response Fund is now underway here in New York.  

Speaking at the event earlier this morning, the Secretary-General appealed for stepped-up commitments to our global emergency fund, to help reach the 1-billion-dollar target for CERF endorsed by the General Assembly, and to keep humanitarian funding predictable for the years ahead. 

This year alone, CERF has allocated some 110 million dollars to neglected and underfunded emergencies, from Afghanistan to Somalia and beyond. Yet, the projected contributions this year are expected to be the lowest since 2015. Mr. Guterres said that we are being asked to do more and more, with less and less and that is simply unsustainable.     

For his part, Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, warned that if CERF falters, then the world’s emergency service will falter, and millions of people who rely on us will suffer.  

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will provide the total funding announced at the conference as soon as they have it. 

SECURITY COUNCIL/UKRAINE  

This morning, the Security Council held a briefing on Ukraine. Joyce Msuya, the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that intense missile and drone attacks across Ukraine have continued to exact a worrying toll on civilians. These strikes, many conducted at night, during freezing temperatures, continue to kill and injure civilians, sever essential services, and undermine the lifelines that civilians rely on. Humanitarian partners continue to deliver assistance whenever and wherever access allows, she said, but access to some front-line areas remains extremely challenging.  

For her part, Kayoko Gotoh, the Officer-in-charge for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, said that despite cautious optimism around resumed diplomatic efforts, 2025 has been one of the deadliest for the people of Ukraine, who have not only shown remarkable resilience to endure the horrible consequences of the war, but also determination to build a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future for their country. She added that meeting their aspirations and ensuring the long-term stability of the region must remain our collective focus and priority.  

Ms. Gotoh said that we remain hopeful that the ongoing diplomatic efforts, led by the United States, can help bring this war to a negotiated end. She renewed our call to all stakeholders to actively engage in and support an inclusive diplomatic process in pursuit of a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace. 

SUDAN 

Moving to Sudan, and specifically to the children caught in this horrendous crisis. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today called for urgent action to safeguard children and essential services. UNICEF estimates that 10 million people have been displaced in Sudan, half of them children. This is the highest level of child displacement in the world. 

UNICEF reports that children trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, are especially vulnerable, where access to food, water and medical supplies remains practically cut off. Newly displaced children arrive exhausted, dehydrated and in urgent need of protection, nutrition and medical support.  

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, who is currently in Sudan, met with government officials in Port Sudan, as well as with displaced women and children.  

As is too often the case, she underscored, women and girls are bearing the brunt of the crisis, including horrific levels of sexual violence. They need protection, services and global solidarity. 

Famine has been declared in parts of Darfur and Kordofan regions, with the risk of spreading. Despite severe access constraints, UNICEF is delivering assistance across the country.  

The UN continues to call for an immediate end to the violence and for all parties to uphold international humanitarian law, ensuring the safety and dignity of every child and civilian. 

SOUTH SUDAN 

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is encouraged by renewed efforts from the country’s leaders to reinvigorate political dialogue. The Mission said today that meaningful progress towards sustainable peace and credible elections requires an immediate end to violence nationwide. 

The Mission remains deeply concerned by ongoing hostilities, such as aerial bombardments, armed confrontations, and intercommunal clashes, that continue to cause loss of life, widespread displacement, and the destruction of property, including critical humanitarian infrastructure. 

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 

Turning to the Gaza Strip, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that the UN and our partners continue our efforts to scale up the humanitarian response, delivering life-saving assistance despite persistent impediments on the ground.   

Yesterday, the UN and our partners coordinated 10 humanitarian movements inside Gaza with the Israeli authorities. Eight were facilitated, allowing us to collect critical supplies from the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem and Zikim crossings – including fuel, blankets, tent toolkits, jerrycans, and vaccines. One mission was denied and another impeded.  

Today, the World Health Organization said that a second batch of five medical freezers has been delivered to five hospitals – including two stabilization centres for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition – to ensure the safe storage of therapeutic milk and foods for malnourished children.                                          

The agency added that, since August, it has provided 23 medical freezers to hospitals offering maternity and nutrition services in Gaza. These units help strengthen maternal health services and improve child and newborn care.  

With a severe storm expected this week, our partners providing shelter services report that since the ceasefire, they have distributed tents, tarpaulins, blankets, winter clothes and other critical items to help families cope. But what has reached people remains a trickle compared with the needs. Our partners estimate that nearly 1.3 million people still require shelter ahead of winter. Past storms flooded displacement sites, contaminating living areas with sewage and solid waste. More than 760 displacement sites hosting some 850,000 people are at risk of flooding.   

You will recall that a major impediment to shelter response is the restrictive NGO registration requirement. Many of our NGO partners remain blocked from bringing in relief, and nearly 4,000 pallets of shelter materials have been rejected by the Israeli authorities. Gaza urgently needs heavy machinery, tools, and many more shelter items to prevent catastrophic flooding.  

Meanwhile, our partners leading efforts to restore education services report that as of yesterday, the number of temporary learning spaces across the Strip has risen to more than 390, up from just over 300 in October. These spaces now support nearly 221,000 students, taught by some 5,200 teachers.    

Despite this progress, our partners note that just over a third of Gaza’s school-aged population in the 2025-2026 academic year were enrolled in these learning spaces, highlighting the continued gap in access to education.   

The 2026 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory was launched yesterday, and it calls for just over $4 billion to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance to 3.6 million people across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.   

The appeal underscores dual humanitarian crises: catastrophic destruction and extreme deprivation in Gaza; and rising displacement, demolitions, settler violence and movement restrictions in the West Bank.   

The plan seeks to address priority needs, including food, water, shelter, health and nutrition services, sanitation and hygiene aid, cash assistance, protection, mental health support, and the rehabilitation of basic infrastructure.   

OCHA warns that significant bureaucratic impediments, access restrictions and anti-UN rhetoric continue to constrain aid operations. Full implementation of the humanitarian response depends on a stable and enabling operating environment.                                

LEBANON/ISRAEL 

UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon report repeated discoveries of unauthorized weapon caches and unexploded ordnance. Yesterday, in Sector East, peacekeepers discovered a rocket launcher, cluster ammunition and submunitions. The day before, in Sector West, they found a rocket launcher system hidden inside a pit covered with concrete blocks and earth. In keeping with their mandate, these findings were reported to the Lebanese Armed Forces.  

UNIFIL observes continued Israel Defense Forces military activities in the area of operations. Yesterday alone, more than 500 rounds of small-arms fire were recorded from south to north of the Blue Line in Sector East.                              

Incidents of obstruction and aggressive behaviour directed at peacekeepers continue. Our peacekeepers tell us that yesterday an Israel Defense Forces tank turned its turret directly towards a UNIFIL patrol vehicle in Sector East. On the same day, two green laser beams were pointed at a patrol, while a small drone hovered at an altitude of 50 meters near the patrol in Sector West.  

We continue to call on both parties to adhere to their commitments and obligations under 1701 Security Council resolution, if the progress achieved so far is to be safeguarded. 

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT 

The launch of the first United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport (2026–2035) and its widely anticipated Implementation Plan will be launched tomorrow at Headquarters. 

Outlining six focus areas and means of implementation, the Implementation Plan provides a roadmap to align policies, finance, technology and data with sustainable transport to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.   

YOUTH PEACE AND SECURITY 

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, which was done through the adoption of Security Council resolution 2250. The resolution recognizes the vital role young people play in building and sustaining peace and urges countries to include youth at all levels of peace processes and decision-making. 

Next week, on Monday, 15 December, the Youth Peace and Security Secretariat, otherwise known as the Youth Office, the Department and Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), are organizing a high-level stocktaking event. This event will take place at 10 a.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber and will bring together Member States, UN entities, youth leaders and civil society.  

Later that day, the United Nations Youth Office will convene a Peace Circle as part of the campaign, “Hear Us. Act Now for a Peaceful World”.  

INTERNATIONAL DAYS 

Today is the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. In his message, the Secretary-General underscores that genocide is a horrendous crime, and that it is the solemn duty of all States to prevent and punish it. But prevention is also a shared responsibility. By standing united against genocide, we honour its victims and uphold the right of all people to live in safety, dignity and peace. 

Today is International Anti-Corruption Day. Corruption weakens institutions, harms economies and fuels instability. With 1.9 billion young people worldwide, combating corruption is essential to protect their future. 

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION 

The Russian Federation paid its full dues to the Regular Budget. This brings the number of fully paid-up Member States to 146.