HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY FARHAN HAQ,
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 23 MAY 2025
HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
The Secretary-General spoke by telephone with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. The Secretary-General extended his heartfelt congratulations to His Holiness and expressed his commitment to build on the long legacy of cooperation between the United Nations and the Holy See to advance human dignity, human rights, peace and justice in the world.
The Secretary-General extended a standing invitation to His Holiness to visit the United Nations. He looks forward to meeting with His Holiness to discuss joint efforts to promote common values in our troubled world.
SECRETARY-GENERAL / GAZA
The Secretary-General, in a press encounter this morning, said that after nearly 80 days in which aid to Gaza had been blocked, a trickle of aid has finally crossed over. In recent days, almost 400 trucks were cleared for entry to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. But supplies from only 115 trucks have been able to be collected, he said, and nothing has reached the besieged north.
The Secretary-General said that all the aid authorized until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required.
Mr. Guterres pointed to the need for safety and security mitigation measures to be in place for our convoys. Our staff’s lives are at risk if we continue to be prevented from distributing food parcels and wheat flower directly to the people in desperate need, he warned.
At the same time, he said that 80 per cent of Gaza – or four fifths of the territory - has been either designated an Israeli-militarized zone or an area where people have been ordered to leave.
The Secretary-General reiterated that the United Nations will not take part in any scheme that fails to respect international law and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Regarding U.N. operations in Gaza: Yesterday, we moved another batch of around 100 full truckloads to Kerem Shalom and picked up about 35 from the Palestinian side of the crossing to bring them closer to where people need them in Gaza. As a reminder – supplies we collect usually reached the crossing a day or two earlier, because of the time-consuming procedures at Kerem Shalom. And the truckload sizes don’t exactly match: Inside Gaza, our teams stack an extra layer of pallets on each truck to make the most of the space. Yesterday’s deliveries included more flour, nutrition items and medical supplies.
Today, the World Food Programme said that 15 truckloads of critical food supplies were looted last night on their way to bakeries. WFP said that hunger, deprivation and anxiety over whether food aid is coming in are all contributing to rising insecurity. WFP appealed for support from Israeli authorities to get far greater volumes of assistance into Gaza – faster, more consistently, and transported along safer routes, as done during the ceasefire. They stressed that the number of bakeries and sites where Gaza’s population can access food must not be limited.
Even with all the challenges, our teams on the ground say that the little aid that's getting through is already reaching people in need. A handful of bakeries managed to fire up their ovens yesterday, using flour and fuel we provided, and our partners already picked up the bread for direct distribution. And, in the south, a field hospital has received a much-needed batch of medical supplies this week.
The World Health Organization warned yesterday that the intensification of hostilities has brought Gaza’s already weakened health system to a breaking point.
This follows yesterday’s attack on Al Awda hospital, in North Gaza, where patient triage tents, including one provided by WHO, caught fire, burning all medical supplies in the warehouse and destroying vehicles in the basement. WHO’s attempt to reach the hospital yesterday was impeded. And as of earlier today, sources at the hospital tell us that the fire had not been fully extinguished.
Over the past week alone, four major hospitals have had to suspend medical services because of hostilities, attacks or displacement orders in their areas. That’s Kamal Adwan, Indonesia, Hamad and European Gaza hospitals.
WHO tells us that 4 per cent of nearly 700 attacks on health care in Gaza since October 2023 were recorded over the past week alone. That’s 28 attacks – or four times the average number of attacks per day. At least 94 per cent of the hospitals in Gaza are now damaged or destroyed, and half of them are no longer operational.
Turning to the West Bank, OCHA reports that continued high levels of settler violence are having an alarming impact on Palestinians. Just yesterday near Ramallah, an entire Bedouin community of more than 20 Palestinian households started dismantling their homes to move somewhere safer. That’s about 60 adults and 60 children from Maghayer ad Deir. And this comes after Israeli settlers set up an outpost less than 50 metres away on Sunday; since then, attacks have escalated. Over the past week, settlers have stormed the community, threatened residents, broken into animal shelters and set fires.
And in the town of Bruqin, in the Salfit area, nearly 150 masked settlers torched Palestinian vehicles yesterday. Eight residents were injured – most of them sustained burns while trying to put out the fires.
Between 13 and 19 May, OCHA recorded at least 28 settler attacks that resulted in casualties, property damage or both.
CHAD
In Chad, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, yesterday allocated $2.5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to urgently respond to the massive influx of refugees and returnees in the east of the country from Sudan. This brings CERF's total allocation to Chad this year to $16 million.
Since April, more than 55,000 Sudanese refugees and 39,000 Chadian returnees have arrived in Chad’s eastern provinces, mainly to Wadi Fira and Ennedi East. The majority are women and children, and many are traumatized by the violence they experienced and witnessed. Many unaccompanied children, pregnant women and older people are also among the refugees and returnees.
This new CERF funding will help us and our partners scale up operations and provide life-saving assistance to those who have just arrived in Chad, as well as to continue supporting refugees and host communities in eastern Chad impacted by the crisis in neighboring Sudan.
SOUTH SUDAN
Today, Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan following a sharp increase in hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech in the country since February.
Mr. Türk urged all parties to uphold the 2018 peace agreement, ensure protection of civilians and civilian objects and facilitate humanitarian access in line with their obligations under international law.
He also urged the authorities to grant the UN Mission in South Sudan access to National Security Service detention sites to assess the welfare of the detainees held there.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our colleagues at the World Food Programme warned today that the sheer scale of people displaced from their homes due to escalating conflict is pushing food insecurity to crisis proportions and deepening an already strained humanitarian response.
In the eastern provinces of DRC, the number of people facing acute food insecurity, or IPC Phase 3 and above, has risen from 6.6 million to 7.9 million. Some 2.3 million of these people are in IPC phase 4.
WFP is scaling up its efforts to ensure that aid reaches displaced communities, but assistance is not keeping pace with the growing needs.
Our colleagues have reached 1.1 million people in the eastern provinces of DRC with food and cash assistance between January and March of this year. That assistance included daily school meals and take-home rations given to 115,000 schoolchildren, treatment and nutrition supplements delivered to 340,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding women and girls, as well as livelihood support programs for about 14,000 people.
WFP urgently requires US$433 million to sustain emergency operations in the DRC through October 2025. Without immediate support, millions risk being cut off from lifesaving assistance, further deepening the humanitarian crisis both at the country and regional level.
MOZAMBIQUE
The UN Refugee Agency today said that more than 25,000 people have been newly displaced in Mozambique in a matter of weeks. They join close to 1.3 million people who have been uprooted by the armed conflict, back-to-back cyclones and drought. The UN Refugee Agency pointed out that attacks by non-state armed groups on civilians and infrastructure continue in Cabo Delgado Province, forcing people to flee and disrupting efforts toward solutions and development. UNHCR added that the renewed intensity of the conflict is also impacting areas that were previously considered relatively stable, with hostilities now spilling over into new provinces. With critical funding running out, UNHCR, like other humanitarian organizations, is raising the alarm and said that its ability to protect and assist those in urgent need is being pushed to the limit. So far this year, the UN Refugee Agency said that it has only received 32 per cent of the required $42.7 million.
MYANMAR
The UN Refugee Agency is gravely concerned about reports of two boat tragedies off the coast of Myanmar earlier this month, with estimates that 427 Rohingya perished at sea.
This would be the deadliest tragedy at sea involving Rohingya refugees attempting to find safety this year. With the annual monsoon season having already arrived in the region, these boats were travelling at a particularly dangerous time, reflecting the desperation of those making such journeys.
And some sobering statistics. Nearly 1 out of 5 people attempting perilous sea movements in this region have been reported as dead or missing so far this year, making the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal waters amongst the deadliest in the world.
UNHCR calls on authorities in the region to take urgent action to prevent future tragedies. The agency also calls on the international community to stand in solidarity with the countries in the region that have been hosting Rohingya refugees.
UNHCR requires $383 million this year to stabilize the lives of refugees and their host communities across Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and those displaced inside Myanmar. So far, only 30 per cent of this amount has been received.
COLOMBIA
From Colombia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that the number of people impacted by non-State armed group fighting continue to increase.
In the first quarter this year, 750,000 people have already been affected – this is four times more than in the same period last year.
Our humanitarian colleagues note that as of 15 May, more than one million people have been newly impacted by conflict, violence, mobility restrictions and natural disasters across the country.
We, along with our partners, remain on the ground and continue their work, despite the serious funding crisis. In February this year, we allocated $3.8 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to support the response to the crisis in the Catacumbo region.
The Colombia Humanitarian Fund allocated $3.5 million to local organizations to support the emergency response across the country. The 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan, which seeks $342 million to help 2 million people, is only 14 per cent funded, with nearly $49 million received.
With this amount, the humanitarian community was able to respond to less than a third of emergencies related to mass forced displacement, confinement and climate-related disasters. Our colleagues estimate that funding shortfalls may leave 1.4 million people without assistance this year.
The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Colombia, Mireia Villar-Forner, said earlier today at a Member State briefing in Geneva that it is the time for the international community and donors to step up their support for Colombia, especially as needs are growing.
RESIDENT COORDINATOR - ALGERIA
We have an update from the Development Coordination Office. The Secretary-General has appointed Savina Ammassari of Brazil as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Algeria, with the host Government’s approval, starting today, 23 May.
Ms. Ammassari brings to the position 30 years of international development experience acquired across more than 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, both at the United Nations and externally. She most recently served as UN Resident Coordinator in Gabon.
INTERNATIONAL DAYS
I have a number of International Days to flag. Today is the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula which is a condition caused during childbirth. This year's theme is “Her health, her right: Shaping a future without fistula.”
Tomorrow is the International Day of the Markhor. The markhor is an iconic and ecologically significant species found across the mountainous regions of Central and South Asia.
And Sunday, appropriately enough, is World Football Day. It is a universal language spoken by people of all ages, transcending national, cultural, and socio-economic boundaries.
On Sunday also, the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories starts. More on that online.
AFRICA DAY
And Sunday is also Africa Day.
In his message, the Secretary-General said we celebrate a continent rich in heritage, vibrant in diversity and remarkable in its contributions to our global community.
Yet, he added, the legacies of slavery, colonialism, apartheid, and systemic racism still cast long shadows, and entrenched inequalities affect Africans and people of African descent to this day.
This year’s theme calls for confronting these shameful legacies.
On this Africa Day, the Secretary-General calls on all of us to recommit to not only addressing past wrongs, but also to building a sustainable future for the people of Africa grounded in peace, dignity, and opportunity for all.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Botswana has made a full payment to the Regular Budget. This payment brings the number of fully paid-up Member States to 108.
**Programming Note
The UN Headquarters will be closed on Monday, 26 May for the US holiday, Memorial Day. We will return to our regular Noon Briefing on Tuesday, 27 May.
The guests at the noon briefing on Tuesday will be Li Junhua, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, together with High-level representatives from France and Costa Rica. They will be doing a “Curtain Raiser” briefing for the UN Ocean Conference.
