SECRETARY-GENERAL
Tonight, the Secretary-General will travel to Paris, where he will attend a Summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.  
In his remarks at the Summit, he will reiterate his call for ambitious reforms to the international financial architecture, and for immediate steps - including his proposal for an SDG [stimulus] - to better support developing and emerging economies and put us back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Secretary-General is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron; the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, as well as other officials.  
While in Paris, the Secretary-General will participate in an open discussion with students, alumni and academics at Sciences Po university and share his perspective on the state of world affairs. 
The opening ceremony of the Summit, as well as the event at Sciences Po will be webcast live on UN WebTV.  
The Secretary-General will be back in New York on Friday, June 23rd.  

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Head of the Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic, Valentine Rugwabiza, briefed the Security Council this morning. She told Council members that important progress was made in the implementation of the peace agreement, adding that the dissolution in April of two armed groups as well as factions of three other armed groups – all signatories of the peace agreement - were a significant development in the peace process. 
But, she added, combatants affiliated with these armed groups must be quickly disarmed and reintegrated for this dissolution to have a meaningful impact. She called on the partners of the Central African Republic for additional support for the effective reintegration of disarmed and demobilized armed combatants.
Turning to the security situation, Ms. Rugwabiza said that increasing tensions and the rapidly deteriorating security at the country’s borders with Chad, South Sudan and Sudan represent renewed security and humanitarian challenges.  As we have mentioned here, Ms. Rugwabiza reminded Council members that following the outbreak of violence in Sudan, the [country] is facing an influx of refugees and returnees in urgent need of protection and assistance.
Her full remarks were shared with you.
And I might add that this afternoon, the Security Council will also hear from Nicholas Haysom about the UN Mission in South Sudan.

SUDAN
Turning to Sudan, the humanitarian community continues to deliver. As of today, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has facilitated the movement of at least 388 trucks carrying life-saving assistance to various parts of the country. 
The World Food Programme (WFP) says that the agency has reached more than 1 million people with emergency food assistance in the six weeks since it resumed operations in Sudan.  This includes reaching more than 375,000 people in North, South, East and Central Darfur. 
People continue to seek refuge from the fighting in Sudan in neighbouring countries. The UN Refugee Agency says that more than 500,000 people have now fled across Sudan’s borders to escape the violence. 
And you may have seen that, yesterday, donors announced more than $1.5 billion in support of the humanitarian response in Sudan, and in the region, during the high-level pledging event co-hosted by the UN, together with the Governments of Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the European Union.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, thanked donors for their generosity.

NIGERIA
In Nigeria, we have allocated $20 million to urgently ramp up the response to the alarming food security and nutrition crisis in the north-east of the country.
With $9 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and $11 million from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund, we will support the Government-led response efforts across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. Assistance includes food, ready-to-eat food, access to clean water, health care and agriculture support.
According to humanitarian partners, almost 700,000 children under five are likely to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition this year in this region and more than half a million people may face emergency levels of food insecurity during the lean season from June to August.
The emergency funding will help jumpstart the response, but humanitarian partners need more to prevent widespread hunger and malnutrition. 
The $1.3 billion humanitarian response plan for Nigeria is only 26 per cent funded.

MIDDLE EAST
A statement we issued yesterday said that the Secretary-General was deeply troubled by the decision by the Israeli Government to amend settlement planning procedures. He was also deeply alarmed by the anticipated advancement next week of over 4,000 settlement housing units by Israeli planning authorities. 
The Secretary-General reiterates that settlements are a flagrant violation of international law.  They are a major obstacle to the realization of a viable two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. 
The Secretary-General urges the Government of Israel to halt and reverse such decisions and to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to fully respect its legal obligations in that regard. He further calls for concrete steps to be taken to implement the commitments made in the Joint Communiqués in Aqaba and Sharm al-Sheik.
 
LEBANON
According to a new report, UNICEF revealed that families in Lebanon are barely able to meet their most basic needs despite cutting down drastically on expenses.
The Children’s Fund estimates that a growing number of families are having to resort to sending their children – some as young as six years old - to work, in a desperate effort to survive the socio-economic crisis engulfing the country.
UNICEF urges the Government to invest in education through reforms and national policies to ensure that all children have access to inclusive and quality education, that will help mitigate the impact of the crisis.

UKRAINE
A new report released today by the UN Development Programme and the World Bank shows that the Ukrainian energy system remains extremely vulnerable and continues to operate in emergency mode with a reduced and limited safety margin, grappling with damage costing more than $10 billion.
According to the report, compiled just before the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, an alarming 42 out of 94 high-voltage transformers in government-controlled territories have been damaged or destroyed due to missile or drone strikes since the beginning of the current stage of the war. More than half of these transformers have endured repeated attacks, thwarting attempts at repair. 
The report notes that power generation capacity has been reduced to nearly 50 per cent of its pre-2022 levels.  The situation is aggravated by the significant decline in manoeuvring capacities, including the loss of more than 67 per cent of thermal power generation capacity. 

COUNTER-TERRORISM WEEK 
As you are aware, the third UN Counter-Terrorism Week is underway in New York, with 40 side events on various issues related to countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism.
The first segment of the conference - the High-level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of Member States - concludes today. 
The closing session will be chaired by Vladimir Voronkov, the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism. And at about 4:45 pm, the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is scheduled to deliver remarks during this session. 

WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Today is World Refugee Day. 
This year’s theme is “Hope Away from Home.” More than 100 million people living in countries rocked by conflict, persecution, hunger and climate chaos have been forced to flee their homes. 
In his message, the Secretary-General says that this Day reminds us of our duty to protect and support refugees, and the UN Refugee Agency calls on governments to increase resettlement opportunities for refugees who are desperately in need.
Also in a message, the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said that this year he is marking the Day in Kenya, meeting refugees brimming with strength and ambition despite escaping conflict, drought, and other horrors. 
The High Commissioner for Refugees said that he was using the visit to highlight to the rest of the world that we can – and must – do more to offer such hope, opportunities, and solutions to refugees, wherever they are and whatever the context, adding that Kenya shows that this is possible.