Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Secretary-General - Trip Announcement

All right, good afternoon. A quick trip announcement. No surprise that the Secretary-General will be heading back to Belém, to the COP30.

During his visit, he will meet with negotiating parties, including various regional groups and ministers. He will also engage with civil society representatives, indigenous peoples and youth.

The Secretary-General has called for COP30 to ignite a decade of acceleration, a decade of implementation, given the serious gaps in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. While in Belém, he will reiterate his call for parties to provide a clear plan for doing so.

We do expect him to have some sort of a press encounter in Belém, and we will keep you posted.

**Jesuit Refugee Service

Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General delivered remarks at an event marking the forty-fifth anniversary of the creation of the Jesuit Refugee Service. He said that since its creation, the Jesuit Refugee Service has been coming to the aid of people uprooted by conflict and persecution, accompanying them in their suffering and providing them with vital services.

The Secretary-General said that our world keeps turning its back on those in distress, but he added that giving refuge to people in peril is more than a tradition, it's a moral and practical necessity. He called on all to work together to uphold the right to seek asylum, which is a pillar of international law, insist on the shared responsibility to provide international protection and summon the political will to resolve conflicts. His full remarks were shared with you this morning.

**Ukraine - Humanitarian

From Ukraine, our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that a large-scale attack overnight on the capital and hostilities across the country by the Russian Federation has resulted in several civilians killed and injured. Multiple residential buildings and several health facilities were damaged, while parts of the city of Kyiv were left without heating. This is what local authorities have been telling us.

The Secretary-General joins the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, in condemning this attack, noting the ongoing pattern of massive civilian harm caused by such strikes during the cold winter months. The attacks reflect an alarming increase in civilian casualties.

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, civilian casualties between January and October were nearly 30 per cent higher than during the same period last year, and the toll of casualties for the first 10 months of 2025 has already exceeded the total for all of 2024.

Following the latest attacks, humanitarian organizations, including UN agencies and national and international NGOs, swiftly mobilized to assist people impacted in Kyiv and across Ukraine. They are providing hot meals, emergency shelter materials, blankets and hygiene items, as well as psychosocial support.

**Occupied Palestinian Territory

Turning to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially Gaza. Our humanitarian colleagues report from there that, sadly, hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters were flooded due to today's intense rains that had a harsh impact on people across the Strip. We fear that thousands of displaced families are now left fully exposed to the harsh weather elements, increased by these health and protection concerns.

Our partners working to provide shelter support have deployed rapid response teams today and, for many weeks, have been doing everything possible to lessen the impact of anticipated rains on people across Gaza.

Just yesterday, about 1,000 tents were distributed to families in Deir al Balah, as well as Khan Younis. And between Sunday and Wednesday, partners provided about 7,000 blankets to more than 1,800 households; some 15,000 tarpaulins to more than 3,700 households; and winter clothing to more than 500 households. That's among other essential items. In the same four-day span, they collected more than 16,000 tents and 10,000 additional blankets from the crossings to further scale up the response. Since the ceasefire, they have distributed over 15,000 tents.

Meanwhile, our partners leading on water and sanitation report recent progress in repairing sewage pumping stations, which, thanks to that, decreases the risk of sewage overflowing into areas where people are sheltering and obviously lessens the risks of water-borne diseases.

At the same time, our partners working on shelter stress that proper flood prevention requires equipment not available in Gaza, including tools to drain water away from tents and to clear solid waste and rubble. Millions of urgently needed shelter items remain stuck in Jordan, Egypt and Israel as well, awaiting approvals to enter Gaza.

Since the ceasefire began on October 10^th, the Israeli authorities have rejected 23 requests from nine of our partners to bring in nearly 4,000 pallets of critical supplies, including tents, sealing and framing kits, bedding, kitchen sets and blankets.

The dire living conditions are also increasing people's exposure to explosive ordnance, with children among those most at risk. Some people have been injured while collecting firewood; others are having to pitch tents near areas suspected of containing unexploded ordnance simply because they have no safer options.

Since the ceasefire, our colleagues working on mine action have recorded more than 10 injuries from explosive hazards. This risk is further compounded by Gaza's extremely limited geographical size, which leaves little room to avoid areas where there may be unexploded ordnance. The density of the population and the proximity of civilian infrastructure to potential hazard zones mean that even minimal contamination can have widespread and devastating consequences.

Since the ceasefire, our partners have responded to more than 70 requests for explosive-hazard assessments, supported 32 inter-agency missions, and delivered risk education sessions to over 49,000 people across Gaza. The UN Mine Action Service says it could do much more as soon as teams get access to detectors, spare parts and equipment needed to safely dispose of explosive hazards.

We underscore the need for the full and sustained opening of existing and additional crossings, clearance of further critical items and equipment for entry, and comprehensive facilitation of our work and the work of our NGO partners.

**Lebanon and Israel

I was asked yesterday and I think it was Adla about reports of new barriers erected by Israel in southern Lebanon. As you will have seen, our peacekeeping colleagues at UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] issued a statement on that today.

A UNIFIL survey conducted last month confirmed that a concrete T-wall erected by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) south-west of Yaroun crossed the Blue Line, making more than 4,000 square metres of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the local population. UNIFIL informed the IDF of its findings and requested that the wall be removed.

And the peacekeepers also noted that a section of an additional wall is being erected south-east of Yaroun likewise crossed the Blue Line.

We underscore that the Israeli presence and construction on Lebanese territory constitute violations of Security Council resolution 1701, as well obviously as Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

**Syria

Moving to Syria next door, and an update on the humanitarian situation there, which we haven't touched upon in a bit. Our humanitarian colleagues on the ground tell that, despite significant funding shortages, we and our partners continue to support response efforts in southern Syria. The $3.2 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only a quarter funded, which means that we have [$823 million] in the bank.

Despite these constraints, assistance is reaching more than 350,000 people every month in Syria. Our colleagues at the World Food Programme deliver about 400 metric tons of flour each week to sustain public bakery operations. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has helped rehabilitate schools in Sweida Governorate. And partners working in water, sanitation and hygiene have been supporting water-trucking in Dar'a and Sweida governorates. In October alone, they delivered more than 19,000 cubic metres of potable water and 78,000 litres of fuel to operate essential water and sanitation facilities in both of those governorates.

Humanitarian organizations and local authorities are also working to stabilize essential services, including the rehabilitation of electricity networks. However, our humanitarian colleagues warn that the limited funding and access challenges caused a 68 per cent drop in the number of people reached in Sweida, Dar'a, and Rural Damascus in October compared to September.

The security situation remains unpredictable, with more than 180,000 displaced people in southern Syria facing sporadic incidents that disrupt mobility and access, particularly in the rural areas.

On top of all that, like other places, explosive ordnance remains a serious threat for both host communities and displaced families. In October, partners reported 15 casualties from explosive-ordnance incidents. Humanitarians are continuing to survey, to clear and also to deliver risk educations activities as security conditions and funding allow.

**Sudan

Turning to Sudan. Our Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, is continuing his travels in Darfur region. He met with families that had fled the brutal violence that we've been telling you about that has been taking place in El Fasher.

In the town of Tawila, which is hosting hundreds of thousands of human beings displaced by hostilities in North Darfur State, Tom Fletcher visited a malnutrition treatment centre run by our partners. He met with the mothers and caregivers of malnourished children who recently escaped El Fasher, as well as those who fled the famine-stricken Zamzam displacement camp in April and May.

Conditions in arrival areas are, as you can imagine, dire. Families are lacking food, they lack water, they lack shelter, and they lack medical care.

At another site hosting displaced people in Tawila, the Under-Secretary-General heard from women who survived horrific sexual violence as they fled El Fasher in recent weeks.

Mr. Fletcher stressed the need to stop these atrocities and ensure accountability for the perpetrators. He stressed that the international community has a responsibility to protect civilians and prevent this brutality. And we hope to have Mr. Fletcher brief you on his travels to Darfur and Port Sudan on Monday.

Since El Fasher was taken over by the Rapid Support Forces late last month, nearly 100,000 people have been displaced from El Fasher and surrounding villages in the last two weeks, seeking safety in other parts of North Darfur and neighbouring states. Three quarters of the newly displaced had already been forced from their homes before, primarily from Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps and unsafe neighbourhoods in El Fasher.

The conflict has also reached other parts of western Sudan, including North Kordofan, where conflict has uprooted almost 50,000 people in recent weeks, many of whom had already fled previous waves of fighting. UNHCR and our partners are scaling up aid and protection efforts but urgently call for humanitarian access, protection of civilians and international support.

And you will have seen that at the Human Rights Council today, our High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, spoke at the special session held on the situation in El-Fasher. Volker highlighted that the siege and fall of El Fasher have led to extreme famine and violence with civilians suffering and deaths mounting. He called for urgent action to protect civilians, ensure accountability for violations of international law, stop those profiting from the conflict and uphold justice, while preventing Kordofan from facing a similar fate as North Darfur.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

Just south, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, our humanitarian colleagues are sounding the alarm over rapidly deteriorating conditions across more than 60 displacement sites in Ituri province. Nearly 280,000 people in these camps, mostly women and children, are living in increasingly dire conditions.

The situation has sharply worsened since October, when funding cuts forced our humanitarian partners to halt their camp management work.

These activities were essential for the functioning of displacement sites, ensuring access to protection and coordinating essential services such as safe water, sanitation, healthcare, emergency education and shelter.

Without site managers, displaced families are being left to preventable protection risks, and the equitable, accountable delivery of life-saving aid is being compromised.

We urgently call on donors and international partners to mobilize resources to restore these life-saving activities.

By the end of October, authorities estimate that more than 1 million people remain displaced in Ituri province.

**Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security

I just want to flag a report from our friends in Rome at the Food and Agriculture Organization. They said that disasters have inflicted an average of $99 billion in annual agricultural losses worldwide, roughly 4 per cent of the global agricultural GDP.

The report, titled "Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security", provides what FAO describes as the most comprehensive global assessment to date on how disasters are disrupting food production, livelihoods and nutrition.

FAO identifies digital transformation as a game-changer for agricultural disaster risk reduction. Emerging tools such as artificial intelligence, remote sensing, mobile connectivity, drones and sensors are now enabling hyperlocal, real-time insights on improving early warning and anticipatory action.

**Department of Safety and Security

I mentioned yesterday but I will mention again. Today, we celebrate the twentieth birthday of our Department of Safety and Security, UNDSS.

The Department was created in the aftermath of the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, when we lost 22 of our dear colleagues to a terrorist attack. Today, DSS operates in over 120 countries and finds ways to keep the UN working safely, from Headquarters to the most dangerous parts of the world.

This morning, there was a ceremony to celebrate this and to discuss 20 years of UNDSS enabling UN operations to serve people in need.

The Secretary-General pays tribute to all the women and men of UNDSS and other security departments for their work over the last two decades.

**International Days

A couple of international days to flag.

Today is World Diabetes Day. Diabetes affects 422 million adults globally. While chronic, it can be managed and its complications delayed through healthy diet, physical activity, medication and regular screening.

Tomorrow is the International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organized Crime, highlighting the need for global cooperation to disrupt criminal networks.

Sunday, be nice to each other because it is the International Day for… […] Close enough. Tolerance. Needless to say that tolerance means respect, acceptance and appreciation of our diverse cultures and helps safeguard our human rights.

Be nice. Go ahead, Edie.

**Ukraine

Sorry, I was given a statement which I need to read into the record, which is a statement on Ukraine.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns today's large-scale missile and drone attacks by the Russian Federation on several Ukrainian regions, reportedly killing at least six people in the capital Kyiv and two people in the city of Chornomorsk. The attack is also reported to have caused many injuries among civilians and damage to residential and energy infrastructure, as well as damage to the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Kyiv.

Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. They are unacceptable, wherever they occur, and must end immediately. The Secretary-General recalls the principle also of the inviolability of diplomatic premises.

The Secretary-General reiterates his call for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as a first step towards a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace in Ukraine, one that fully upholds Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders in line with the United Nations Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions.

**Questions and Answers

Spokesman: Sorry. Go ahead.

Question: Thank you, Steph. Has the Israeli Government given the United Nations any reason why the Rafah crossing still has not been opened?

Spokesman: No. And I think that's a question to be asked to both the Israelis and the Egyptians.

Question: And secondly, Iran seized a tanker flagged by the Marshall Islands in the Strait of Hormuz today. Does the Secretary-General have any comment on this seizure?

Spokesman: Well, we hope the ship is released as quickly as possible.

Linda.

Question: Thank you, Steph. Apropos of the US draft resolution on Gaza, we now know that there's a competing Russian resolution. And I was wondering if the SG has any comments or concerns that there are now, you know, seem to be big differences about the future of the [United States President Donald J.] Trump 20-point plan.

Spokesman: Look. I think the Secretary-General supported the peace plan put forward by President Trump. He's been very clear about that. And I think he was clear, when the issue was raised, in his press conference earlier this week that we're in a fragile time, right, and that the ceasefire needs to be upheld. He wants to see negotiations for the second phase move forward as quickly as possible. That being said, the Security Council is a deliberative body. There are discussions ongoing. I don't think it would be helpful for us from this podium to inject ourselves in that. But as always, I think it is always better when the Security Council speaks with one strong voice.

Dezhi?

Question: Yes. My question on Sudan. Today, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution without a vote calling for urgent inquiry into recent alleged violations of international law committed in and around El Fasher. Does the Secretary-General has any response to this resolution?

Spokesman: Well, it's not for him to respond to the resolution, but I think the resolution echoes what the Secretary-General and the high commissioner have been saying is that there needs to be accountability into the horrific violence we're seeing in Sudan, notably in North Darfur State around El Fasher. I mean, I think you, Dezhi, have seen the videos that we've all seen. I mean, they're beyond words. And the path to accountability needs to go through some sort of investigation, so we very much welcome the resolution.

Question: But does Secretary-General still have direct contact with RSF generals?

Spokesman: We have been, various people in the UN have been in touch with both parties, including the Secretary-General Special Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra.

Question: What I mean, what did they communicate?

Spokesman: Well, I mean, the message is the same. I mean, to put it very simply, stop the fighting.

Correspondent: Okay.

Spokesman: Right?

Question: Oh, one last question. Yesterday, SG posted this on his X of the situation in Sudan. He said the flow of weapons and fighters from external parties must be cut off. I was just wondering what's the difference between the situation in Gaza and the situation in El Fasher region. Why he said the weapons from external parties must be cut off, but not Gaza?

Spokesman: We have always said that all those who export weapons have a responsibility in how those weapons are ultimately used. When talking about Sudan, about the civil war that is going on in Sudan, I think the Secretary-General has been very clear. He has also called out repeatedly what is going on in Gaza and the use of the weapons there.

Yes, sir.

Question: Thank you, Steph. As a follow-up on Sudan. As Mr. Tom Fletcher is in Sudan, is there's any possibility that he meet with the leaders of RSF?

Spokesman: As I said, we've been in touch with both parties. I think I will let Mr. Fletcher speak on Monday to the contacts that he's had.

Yes. Volodymyr,

Question: Thank you, Stéphane. As you mentioned in the statement today, Russia carried out one of the largest attacks in Kyiv and that the Embassy of Azerbaijan was also hit. This follows earlier incidents, including the downing of an Azerbaijani passenger plane and strikes on Azerbaijani owned facilities in Ukraine. What could your reaction be to this?

Spokesman: Look. We were very clear about what happened today in Kyiv. It is not for me to speak to whether the premises of Azerbaijan were targeted or not. We know that they were damaged. The issue of the plane, from what I've read, is being settled directly between the Russian Federation and the [Azerbaijani] Government.

Okay. Any questions online? If not, class dismissed. See you on Monday.