HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 19 JUNE 2025
SECURITY COUNCIL
The Secretary-General said at today’s Security Council meeting on poverty, underdevelopment and conflict that sustainable peace requires sustainable development. The flames of conflict are too often lit and fed by persistent poverty and growing inequalities, he said, adding that it’s no coincidence that nine of the ten countries with the lowest Human Development Indicators are currently in a state of conflict.
Mr. Guterres said that 40 per cent of the 700 million people living in extreme poverty live in conflict-affected or fragile settings, and the situation is only getting worse. Ten years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, he said, two-thirds of the targets are lagging. And the world is falling short by over $4 trillion annually in the resources developing countries need to deliver on these promises by 2030.
The Secretary-General said that the fourth Conference on Financing for Development, starting next week, will be an important moment for the world to fix and strengthen this essential engine.
Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant Secretary-General for the UN Development Programme, also briefed Council Members. She noted that climate change has been a crisis multiplier forcing people to flee their homes around the world, from Nigeria to Myanmar and beyond.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that widespread bombardment, shelling and shooting continue, resulting in reports of scores of fatalities and even more injuries, including among those seeking aid.
Yesterday, a UN team visited Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which is struggling to stay operational under relentless pressure and severe shortages. Our colleagues from the World Health Organization (WHO) and OCHA were there following the arrival of hundreds of casualties, including many who were reportedly attacked while waiting for food. WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, said the hospital was hosting twice as many patients as it can handle.
Dr. Tedros said the hospital cannot expand its capacity because it lacks ventilators, monitors and beds, as well as the staff needed to run them. Yesterday, WHO was able to deliver a minimum amount of fuel to the hospital, to power backup generators.
OCHA reminds us that no fuel has entered the Strip for 110 days. Yesterday, we mentioned an attempt by the UN to retrieve fuel from the Al Tahreer station in Rafah. We can now confirm that the operation was successful. About 280,000 litres were retrieved and transferred to a more accessible location in Deir al Balah.
OCHA notes that while this buys a bit of time, it is far from enough. To keep life-saving operations going, fuel purchased outside must be allowed to enter Gaza. Unless this happens very soon, hospitals, ambulances, water desalination, phone networks and other services critical to survival will grind to a halt.
Meanwhile, OCHA tells us that efforts to repair a fibre-optic cable that was damaged are being hindered, causing a major telecommunications outage for the third day in a row. Today, Israeli authorities initially approved but then impeded the movement of a team set to identify where the line had been cut. As you’ll recall, this is affecting central and southern Gaza. Until the issue is resolved, OCHA warns that people are cut off from life-saving information about where to find help, and our humanitarian teams are unable to properly coordinate or move safely.
Meanwhile, no shelter materials have entered Gaza since 1 March, before the Israeli authorities imposed a full blockade on aid and any other supplies for nearly 80 days. While some commodities have subsequently been allowed in small quantities, tents, timber, tarpaulins and any other shelter items remain prohibited.
Almost everyone in Gaza has been displaced multiple times during the war, and shelter conditions are quickly deteriorating. Makeshift accommodations are concentrated in bombed-out schools, public lots and urban rubble, often far exceeding site capacity and without basic infrastructure.
The UN and its humanitarian partners have some 980,000 shelter items, including almost 50,000 tents, ready for prioritization and dispatch as soon as access is granted.
HAITI
Turning to Haiti, the Humanitarian Country Team in the country is sounding the alarm on the need for enhanced preparedness ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season. Amid severe funding shortfalls, contingency stocks are at their lowest levels ever.
Despite forecasts indicating an above-average season, Haiti begins the season with no pre-positioned food supplies and no available funding to launch a rapid response.
This comes as 5.7 million people in the country face severe food insecurity and more than 230,000 displaced people are living in makeshift shelters, highly exposed to extreme weather. Our colleagues also remind us that Haiti is one of only five countries worldwide with people in famine-like conditions.
With support from national and international partners, our humanitarian partners have pre-positioned limited stocks of hygiene kits, tarpaulins, trauma supplies and nutrition support, and plan to deliver anticipatory cash transfers to vulnerable households. However, additional funding for relief efforts is urgently needed.
Haiti’s Humanitarian Response Plan remains only 8 per cent funded, with just $75 million received of the $908 million required for this year.
Meanwhile, OCHA has been leading missions with UN agencies and our partners to see how aid operations can be resumed in areas of high need following the May 26th suspension of UN operations due to insecurity.
Missions have been carried out in Canaan, Croix-des-Bouquets, and Cité Soleil in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, with further deployments planned along Route Nationale 1, which connects the capital to the north of the country. These efforts aim to secure safety guarantees and enable the safe resumption of humanitarian operations in severely affected zones.
SOUTH SUDAN
Turning to the humanitarian situation in South Sudan. The UN is deeply concerned about an increase in acute malnutrition and cholera cases in the country.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that between July of 2024 and June of this year, the number of children under the age of five needing urgent treatment for acute malnutrition climbed by 10 per cent, that is from 2.1 million children to 2.3 million of children suffering from acute malnutrition.
This is happening against the backdrop of the world’s worst cholera outbreak this year. Nearly 74,000 cases and at least 1,362 deaths were reported across nine states as of June 16th.
Despite access constraints, we and our humanitarian partners have scaled up the response and, as of today, approximately 6.9 million doses of oral cholera vaccines have been administered.
The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only 20 per cent funded, with $338 million received out of the $1.7 billion required.
This dire situation is a stark reminder that we need funding urgently to expand food assistance, nutrition and health services to the most vulnerable people.
HUMANITARIAN RESET
An update on the Humanitarian Reset. Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said following a meeting this week of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which brings together UN agencies and our NGO partners, that we are in a doom loop, with a transactional, inward-looking and less generous era, making it a tough time to be a humanitarian. Meanwhile, political polarization, the climate crisis and conflict are on the rise and will drive humanitarian needs even higher.
He stressed that the Humanitarian Reset – a bold agenda to regroup and reform the aid system – is in its next phase, which includes the hyper-prioritization of our appeals to support humanitarian work.
We will save as many lives as we can, with the resources we have, Mr. Fletcher said, stressing that we need just one per cent of what the world spent on defence last year to reach millions of people in direst need around the world.
SHIPWRECKS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
Tomorrow is World Refugee Day. Noting how too many individuals, fleeing conflict or persecution, feel compelled to embark on perilous journeys, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) remind us of a shipwreck that stands as a stark memorial of the human cost of inaction.
About two years ago, one of the deadliest shipwrecks in the Mediterranean in recent memory claimed the lives of some 650 refugees and migrants when a fishing trawler capsized off the coast of Pylos, Greece. Till this day, hundreds remain missing, and their families still await answers.
UNHCR and IOM stress that this tragedy, and the profound pain it left behind, must not be forgotten. The UN Agencies point out that while arrivals to Europe have declined since 2024, the numbers of lives lost at sea remain high. At least 3,500 people were reported dead or missing on maritime routes to Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus last year. The real toll is likely much higher.
REFUGEES
And in honor of World Refugee Day, UNHCR is hosting a showcase of refugee-made products in the General Assembly lobby to spotlight the contributions refugees make when they are included and given opportunities for self-reliance. UNHCR’s MADE51initiative connects refugees to the global market place, enabling them to earn income, preserve cultural heritage, and share their skills with the world. UNHCR also tell us that they will be giving out a limited supply of bracelets, handmade by refugee women in South Sudan, Kenya and Egypt, most of whom are single mothers or caregivers.
INTERNATIONAL DAY
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. In his message, the Secretary-General said sexual violence is a grotesque tactic of war, used to brutalize, torture, and repress, scarring bodies, minds and entire communities.
The focus of this year is the deep and lasting intergenerational wounds of conflict-related sexual violence. To break the cycle, the Secretary-General said, we must confront the horrors of the past, support the survivors of today, and protect future generations from the same fate.
And there was an event this morning to mark the day, co-organized by our colleagues in the Offices of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
GLOBAL FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
The UN Trade and Development today released a report showing that global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) fell by 11 per cent, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows. The World Investment Report 2025 comes ahead of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), where global leaders will address the widening gap between capital flows and development needs. The UN Trade and Development notes that the findings underscore the urgency of reshaping investment and finance systems to support inclusive and sustainable growth.
RESIDENT COORDINATOR – TUNISIA
The UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) says that on 19 June, Rana Taha of Jordan took up her new assignment as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Tunisia, with the host Government’s approval.
She brings over 20 years of diverse experience, working for United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, and UN peacekeeping and special political missions.
Prior to this appointment, she served as a Team Leader and the senior Peace and Development Adviser for the United Nations in Kenya and has held several positions in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations at UN Headquarters.
PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION
Today, at 3:00 P.M. in the ECOSOC Chamber, the UN Peacebuilding Commission will hold its annual session.
Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, will brief on behalf of the Secretary-General.
A ‘Peacebuilding Exhibition’ is displayed along the Curved Wall in the Delegates’ Area. The exhibition will be there until June 27th.
BRIEFING TOMORROW
Tomorrow at 10:15 a.m., there will be a briefing here by Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, on the annual report on Children and Armed Conflict covering 2024.
