HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
WEDNESDAY, 16 JULY 2025
INFORMAL MEETING ON CYPRUS
Following the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format that was held in Geneva on 17-18 March this year, the Secretary-General is convening another meeting that will get underway later today and tomorrow with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders as well as representatives of the guarantor powers of Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. The informal meeting will start with a Welcome Dinner this evening, here at headquarters
The meeting will provide an opportunity to continue the dialogue and exchange views on the progress made since the meeting in March.
Tomorrow morning, the Secretary-General will hold bilateral meetings with the heads of delegations. This will be followed by a plenary meeting and a working lunch. The concluding session will take place tomorrow afternoon.
I also want to flag that this evening, at 6:50 p.m., there will be a photo opportunity ahead of the welcome dinner. If any of your photographers or camera people want to cover it, they have to go to MALU offices at least 30 minutes in advance. There will also be another couple of photo opportunities tomorrow, which will all be in the media alert that will go out.
SYRIA
The Secretary-General is alarmed by the continued escalation of violence in Suweida, which has reportedly claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including civilians, and injured and displaced many more.
The Secretary-General unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, including reports of arbitrary killings and acts that fan the flames of sectarian tensions and robs the people of Syria of their opportunity for peace and reconciliation after fourteen years of a brutal conflict.
The Secretary-General extends his heartfelt condolences to all Syrians and reiterates his call for an immediate de-escalation of violence and urgent measures to restore calm and facilitate humanitarian access.
The Secretary-General does take note of the statement issued earlier today by the Office of the Presidency of Syria condemning the violations and committing to investigating and holding to account those responsible for them. We reiterate the Secretary-General’s appeal for transparency in this process.
The Secretary-General further condemns Israel’s escalatory airstrikes on Suweida, Daraa and in the center of the Syrian capital, Damascus, as well as reports of the Israel Defense Forces’ redeployment of forces in the Golan. He calls for an immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for respect of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.
The Secretary-General reiterates that it is imperative to support a credible, orderly and inclusive political transition in Syria in line with the key principles of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).
SYRIA/HUMANITARIAN
The Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, is working the phones in the midst of this crisis, and his deputy, Najat Rochdi, is in Damascus and is actively in communications with various parties.
On the humanitarian front, colleagues are warning that the deadly hostilities continue to put civilians at risk, with ongoing reports of significant displacement and damage to critical infrastructure, including water, electricity and telecommunications networks.
Our Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, said that we and our humanitarian partners plan to send a delegation to assess the needs and provide essential assistance in Suweida, as soon as the conditions allow, and in full cooperation with the relevant authorities.
UN humanitarian colleagues also warn that access to the impacted areas remains severely constrained due to insecurity and due to road closures. Civilians are reportedly unable to reach facilities designated as collective shelters.
In parallel to this, our partners warn that medical services are overstretched, including in neighbouring Daraa Governorate, where hospitals are almost at capacity. The World Health Organization has dispatched emergency medical supplies to Daraa to support trauma care that exists there. Deliveries to Suweida remain pending obviously due to security access.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that small quantities of fuel entered Gaza yesterday via the Kerem Shalom crossing. Severe supply shortages continue to threaten the halt of our operations to support vital facilities such as hospitals, medical points and other type of equipment, including telecommunications, water, desalination plants, and sewage treatment plants.
Yesterday, in northern Gaza, our partners rehabilitated a well, to try to address the critical water shortages. Although this will hopefully support patients and medical staff with hundreds of cubic metres every day, it is far from sufficient to meet people’s needs.
We and our partners also reiterate that hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel are critically needed every single day to help alleviate the crisis and address the dire situation that we tell you about every day.
Meanwhile, our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also warn that amid the ongoing hostilities and deepening hunger, people are still risking their lives to access the trickle of food and other essential items allowed in for their survival. Just this morning, we've seen horrific reports of dozens of people killed or injured at one of the Israeli-militarized food distribution hubs.
In the past week, severe injuries continued to be reported among people seeking aid. The World Health Organization reported one instance where a 21-year-old man was paralyzed for life after being shot while trying to collect a bag of flour from one of these militarized food distribution hubs. That’s only one heartbreaking story, as you can imagine, there are so many others.
Meanwhile, months of escalating hostilities have increased risks for the most vulnerable, including people with disabilities and older people, who struggle to access what they need to survive and become even more isolated.
More than 80 per cent of people with disabilities in Gaza have lost wheelchairs, they have lost hearing aids, they have lost walkers and many other devices that they need to live their lives. This is what a survey by one of our partners is telling us. With their mobility restricted, the denial of access to humanitarian aid, discrimination, stigmatization, and exposure to explosive ordnance are only some of the many challenges vulnerable people face.
Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund warns that domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse are on the rise. Several safe spaces, which offer shelter, psychological support and coping mechanisms for women and girls, have shut down or are functioning at reduced capacity.
UNFPA tells us that the conditions in Gaza are harrowing for women and girls. Pregnant women are delivering their babies in the dark, with no electricity or no skilled care to address potential complications.
This week, in Al Mawasi and Gaza city, our partners treated more than 1,200 pregnant and breastfeeding women and children with severe and moderate malnutrition in their clinics.
Our colleagues on the ground tell us that after four months of sweeping Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, nearly all displacement sites report people sleeping in the open, with no means of protection. No shelter supplies have been allowed to enter in this period.
We once again underscore that this catastrophic situation must end. A ceasefire is long overdue. We need massive amounts of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza now and we need to see all of the hostages released now.
SECURITY COUNCIL
At 3 p.m. this afternoon, the Security Council will convene for an open briefing on the situation in Middle East.
Tom Fletcher, our Emergency Relief Coordinator, will brief the council, as will Catherine Russell, the Executive Director of UNICEF.
They will update on the humanitarian situation.
MH17 TRAGEDY
Tomorrow, we will mark the 11th anniversary of the downing of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Eastern Ukraine and the 298 lives tragically lost on that day.
The Secretary-General stands in full solidarity with the families of the victims and he honours their memory. Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2166, the Secretary-General urges all States to extend their full cooperation to ensure that those responsible are held to account, following the important work of the Joint Investigative Team.
SUDAN
In Sudan, the threat of the spread of cholera and other diseases is looming large in parts of Sudan, as childhood immunization rates are plummeting to their lowest levels in decades.
According to data published this week by our colleagues at the World Health Organization and UNICEF, more than half of all infants in Sudan, that’s at least 880,000 babies and toddlers, missed last year their first doses of vaccines to protect children against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.
Our colleagues are sounding the alarm, saying this is the lowest immunization rate in the country in over 40 years. Vaccine coverage has dropped from 94 per cent in 2022 to just 48 per cent last year. From 94 per cent to 48 per cent.
This sharp decline, driven by the ongoing conflict, obviously, is fueling outbreaks of deadly but preventable diseases such as measles and polio.
Despite the enormous access challenges, UNICEF delivered 16 million doses of vaccines for children under the age of one in the first half of this year, including more than 3.5 million doses that went to Darfur. But far more is needed to avert a deepening public health catastrophe.
Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues warn that the cholera outbreak in North Darfur State is intensifying. In the locality of Tawila, which hosts about 330,000 human beings displaced from Zamzam camp that were displaced since April, more than 300 cases have been reported in just over two weeks, according to our partners on the ground. With limited treatment facilities, the rising number of severe cases is overwhelming health workers.
In the locality of Um Keddada in North Darfur State, a separate suspected cholera outbreak linked to contaminated water has already reportedly claimed five lives. To make things worse, there are no treatment centres left in the area, and health facilities are not functioning. The ongoing movement of people raises the risk of further spread, including towards West Kordofan State.
And worsening the situation even further, severe funding shortfalls are depriving the most vulnerable in Sudan of the much-needed support. In Northern State, the closure of two mobile clinics at the border between Egypt and Sudan on July 14th left displaced people without access to basic healthcare. The clinics had served some 2,700 people since mid-May, but the funds needed to keep them open have now run dry.
We continue to call for urgent funding to help scaling up the required assistance and in responding to the growing humanitarian needs across Sudan.
As a reminder, Sudan is in the midst of the rainy season, which obviously increases fears of the spread of diseases, but also the lean season, when already devastating levels of hunger could rise further.
HAITI
Turning to the situation in Haiti, where the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs once again warns that hunger continues to deepen across the country. The food crisis is compounded by ongoing violence, which is disrupting local food production in areas such as the commune of Kenscoff and the Artibonite department. These regions are often referred to as Haiti’s breadbaskets.
As we mentioned, as of May, more than 5.7 million people in Haiti are estimated to be food insecure, with many unable to meet their basic food needs. That’s what our humanitarian colleagues are telling us.
We and our partners are responding wherever and whenever we can. Between January and May, more than 1.1 million people have received emergency food distributions, while nearly 247,000 others received support to restore their agricultural livelihoods or strengthening their resilience. In addition, 242,000 people sheltering at displacement sites received hot meals.
But overall, we have been able to reach just 38 per cent of the people we aim to support on food security this year – that’s 1.33 million out of 3.4 million in total. This is due to ongoing violence, to insecurity, severe underfunding of the response, and the obvious access challenges.
As of today, Haiti remains, unfortunately and sadly, the least-funded of the many humanitarian appeals that we coordinate. Funding shortfalls for food security in Haiti are even more extreme – with just over 2 per cent of the $425 million we need received to date.
OCHA continues to work closely with partners to scale up food assistance. However, we just need more money to do our work to reach those people who need it.
MYANMAR
In Myanmar, we continue to be deeply concerned over the plight of civilians caught up in an intensifying conflict.
Over the weekend, a displacement camp was reportedly hit by an air strike in Northern Shan State, resulting in casualties.
Last Friday, an airstrike reportedly struck a monastery in Sagaing Township, killing 22 people and injuring at least 50 others. The monastery had been providing shelter to displaced people who had fled nearby villages.
These incidents are part of a broader pattern of attacks affecting people across Myanmar. There are frequent reports of people being killed, injured or displaced by violence – as well as increasing attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The insecurity obviously impacts our ability to deliver humanitarian assistance to people in need.
Humanitarian needs are on the rise, with one in three people in Myanmar now facing acute hunger, and the current monsoon season having caused flooding.
We urgently, and once again, call on all parties to respect human rights and international humanitarian law.
