HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
TUESDAY, 17 JUNE 2025
SECRETARY-GENERAL/G7
The Secretary-General is about to arrive in Kananaskis, in Canada, where he will attend an outreach session of the G7 leaders’ summit.
As we mentioned yesterday, he has been invited to take part in a discussion on energy security, with a focus on diversification, technology and investment to ensure access and affordability in a changing world. This session will include G7 and other leaders invited to the outreach segment of the summit.
Later today, the Secretary-General will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders attending the summit, including with Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada and G7 President.
Yesterday, in Calgary, the Secretary-General attended a dinner organized by the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, for the outreach leaders.
The Secretary-General will be back in New York tomorrow.
GAZA
The Secretary-General condemns the loss of lives and injuries of civilians in Gaza who are once again being shot at while seeking food. It is unacceptable.
The Secretary-General continues to call for an immediate and independent investigation into all such reports and for accountability to be established.
The basic needs of the Palestinian population in Gaza are enormous and remain unmet. Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law to agree to and facilitate humanitarian relief for all civilians who need it. The unimpeded entry of humanitarian assistance at scale must be restored immediately. The UN and all humanitarian actors must be allowed to work in safety and security under conditions of full respect for humanitarian principles.
All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally.
The Secretary-General continues to call for an immediate permanent ceasefire.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Meanwhile, our colleagues with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that today, partners working on health reported that more than 60 people were killed and over 280 injured, some critically, while waiting for aid in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its troops shot at a crowd and that the incident is under review.
The casualties were brought to Nasser Medical Complex, where emergency and intensive care units are already overwhelmed, and medical teams are operating with extremely limited supplies. Seventy of the injured were referred to field hospitals, primarily to the International Medical Corps’ Field Hospital.
According to the Ministry of Health, as of yesterday, 338 people had been killed and more than 2,800 injured while trying to access food near distribution sites, referring to non-UN militarized hubs.
Jonathan Whittall, the Head of OCHA’s Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, who is currently in Gaza, said today’s mass casualty incident was part of a chilling pattern where, repeatedly, survivors recount being attacked as they try to reach the aid they need to survive. OCHA reiterates that civilians must never be targeted, let alone those seeking food amid ongoing starvation.
Against this backdrop, our humanitarian partners continue to report that fuel stocks in Gaza have reached critically low levels. Without immediate resupply, essential services – including the provision of clean water – will grind to a halt very soon. As we mentioned yesterday, in southern Gaza, diesel supplies needed to operate critical equipment are nearly exhausted.
The World Health Organization says that no fuel has entered Gaza for more than 100 days and that attempts to retrieve fuel stocks from evacuation zones have been denied. …/
Highlighting the impact on the health system in Gaza, the agency stressed that 17 hospitals, seven field hospitals and 43 primary health centres — which are currently running on minimum amounts of daily fuel — will soon have none left.
The UN and our humanitarian partners call once again for immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access – to our aid supplies, to families in the Gaza Strip, and to our fuel stocks.
Our partners working on telecommunications report that the fiber optic cable on the Al Rasheed Road between Khan Younis and Gaza governorate has been cut off due to hostilities. As a consequence, there are no Internet and landline services in the central and southern areas of the Strip. This fiber optic was just fixed yesterday.
Meanwhile, Israeli displacement orders are compounding an already unbearable situation — particularly for children. Child protection partners report that several child protection centres have been forced to close due to these orders, increasing overcrowding in the few that remain operational.
OCHA tells us that in the West Bank, Israeli forces have intensified strict movement restrictions between Palestinian cities and villages through its network of more than 800 physical checkpoints, gates, roadblocks and other barriers. This lockdown has effectively splintered the West Bank, isolating communities from essential services and sources of livelihood.
Meanwhile, Israeli operations in the northern areas are intensifying, causing further displacement and destruction.
Today for the second consecutive day, Israeli forces continued a large-scale raid in Askar camp in Nablus. This has involved house-to-house searches and arrests.
The Israeli authorities informed the Palestinian District Coordination Office that at least 15 residential buildings were to be evacuated, ahead of a planned 48-hour operation by Israeli forces. This has displaced about 75 people.
SYRIA
This morning, Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, Najat Rochdi, briefed Security Council members on the situation in Syria. Referring to the escalation between Israel and Iran, Ms. Rochdi warned of the risks of such escalation in the region on the progress toward peace and recovery in Syria.
She added that the Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, continued his meetings with Syrian officials in Damascus. Discussions focused on the importance of a genuinely inclusive and credible political transition in the country.
For her part, Joyce Msuya, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that we and our partners continue to do what we can to provide critical assistance to the people in need.
She underscored that we need more funding to keep this work going, saying that nearly halfway through the year, our humanitarian appeal has received only $260 million – just 14 per cent of the requirements for this period.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that a wave of overnight missile and drone attacks struck cities across Ukraine, killing at least 17 civilians and injuring around 160, according to local authorities.
The Humanitarian Coordinator, Matthias Schmale, strongly condemned the attack, noting the devastating toll the war takes on civilians.
Residential buildings, schools and health facilities across the country sustained significant damage, with the biggest impacts reported in the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk, according to local authorities.
In Kyiv, authorities report that strikes destroyed or damaged multiple apartment blocks and a school, claiming at least 14 lives and injuring more than 100 others. In Odesa, attacks reportedly killed one person and injured 17; a kindergarten and a centre for disabled children were among the damaged sites. Health facilities, including Odesa’s Infectious Diseases Hospital, also reported damage but no casualties among patients or staff.
The UN’s humanitarian partners, alongside first responders and local services, are providing emergency first aid, psychological support, shelter materials and child protection assistance in the hardest-hit areas, including Kyiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia.
MOZAMBIQUE
Turning to Mozambique, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is concerned about a sharp increase in non-state armed group attacks on civilians in Cabo Delgado province. The ongoing situation is aggravating the humanitarian crisis and restricting humanitarian access to vulnerable populations.
More than 134,000 people have been impacted by the violence in the month of May alone, including 10 people who have been killed and at least 45 people who have been abducted – many of them children. Insecurity is also disrupting essential services: between April and May, mobile health teams suspended operations and schools closed in the districts of Ancuabe, Montepuez, and Nangade.
Despite growing needs, this year’s $352 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Mozambique is currently 17 percent funded with $61 million received. Our humanitarian colleagues note that recent funding cuts have forced the suspension of critical water, sanitation and hygiene projects, leaving approximately 260,000 people in Cabo Delgado without access to essential services. This is just one example, as our collective ability to respond to people’s needs is compromised across all sectors.
Additional funding is urgently needed to sustain life-saving assistance, particularly in conflict-affected areas of Cabo Delgado.
COLOMBIA
Turning to Colombia, the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the past week has been one of the most violent the country has faced this year, with civilians exposed to escalating risks. On June 10th, more than two dozen armed attacks were reported across Cauca and Valle del Cauca, marking the most violent day of the year in these departments. In 13 municipalities that were impacted – including Cali – eight people were killed and more than 80 injured, including children, due to explosive devices, car and motorcycle bombs, sniper fire and drones. Authorities implemented a range of measures to protect civilians, including hospital alerts, school evacuations, and temporary suspensions of classes and public transportation.
So far in 2025, more than 471,000 people have been impacted by violence in the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca alone – accounting for more than a third of the national total. OCHA continues working to maintain humanitarian access in places with security concerns.
Our humanitarian colleagues in Colombia also continue to engage with partners to monitor the situation, assess response capacity, and prioritize support to the most affected communities. Nine out of 42 municipalities in Cauca have been identified as areas where there is a high risk of violence. OCHA’s efforts to coordinate the humanitarian response remain focused on scaling up preparedness in key sectors, including shelter, child protection, health and food security, in collaboration with local authorities and ethnic community leaders.
However, additional funding is urgently needed to support this critical work. This year’s highly prioritized humanitarian response plan for Colombia is less than 16 per cent funded, with just $54 million received to date of the $342 million required.
AFGHANISTAN
Turning to Afghanistan. A report released today by UN Women shows that Afghan women are falling significantly behind global standards for human development. The Afghanistan Gender Index points out that Afghanistan has the second-widest gender gap in the world, with a 76 per cent disparity between women’s and men’s outcomes in health, education, financial inclusion, and decision-making. According to UN Women’s report, nearly eight out of 10 young Afghan women are excluded from education, jobs, and training. The secondary school completion rate for girls will soon collapse to zero, following bans on secondary and tertiary education – including in medical education – for girls and women.
Afghanistan still has one of the largest workforce gender gaps in the world, with only 24 per cent of women participating in the labour force, compared to 89 per cent of men. The financial divide is equally stark, with men nearly three times more likely than women to own a bank account or use mobile money services, according to the new Index.
SDG FUND
The UN Joint SDG Fund, which aims to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, released its 2024 Annual Report.
It shows that last year the Fund helped mobilise $1.6 billion in additional resources through various financing mechanisms, under Resident Coordinator leadership. These resources supported 129 new programmes in over 90 countries, reaching more than 10 million people in 2024 alone, by expanding access to health, education, digital services, and social protection.
To date, the Fund has mobilised a cumulative $6.6 billion across all its financing instruments and partnerships.
RESIDENT COORDINATOR/BOTSWANA
On 14 June, Wenyan Yang of China took up her new assignment as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Botswana, with the host Government’s approval.
Ms. Yang brings more than 30 years of experience in economic and social development.
Prior to this role, she served as Chief of Branch in the Division for Inclusive Social Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), where she focused on the social dimension of the sustainable development agenda, addressing poverty, inequality, employment, and social inclusion issues to advance the well-being of all people.
INTERNATIONAL DAY
Today is the International Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. The theme this year is “Restore the Land. Unlock the Opportunities.”
In his message, the Secretary-General says that repairing the damage we have done to our land offers huge benefits, including a great return on investment. It can reduce poverty, create jobs, safeguard water supplies and protect food production.
