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.
All right, good afternoon, it’s early, it’s only…
**Programming Note
Just a couple of programming notes. Today, at 3 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, the UN Peacebuilding Commission will hold its annual session. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peace building Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, will brief on behalf of the Secretary-General. And if you happen area in the Delegates’ Area, a Peacebuilding Exhibition is displayed along the Curved Wall. The exhibition will be there until 27 June.
Tomorrow at 10:15 a.m., there will be a press conference here by Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict on the annual report on Children and Armed Conflict.
**Security Council
In the Security Council this morning, the Secretary-General delivered remarks on the Council’s 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 9 of the 10 countries with the lowest Human Development Index 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 (SDGs), 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 the promises of the 2030 Agenda.
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. And Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant Secretary-General in the UNDP 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
Focusing now on the situation in Gaza, 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, and we are seeing that today.
Yesterday, a UN team visited the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, which, as you know and we’ve been telling you, is struggling to stay operational under relentless pressure and severe shortages of just about every item. Our colleagues from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (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 added that the hospital cannot expand its capacity because it lacks ventilators, it lacks monitors, it lacks beds, as well as staff to operate all of the hospital. Yesterday, WHO was able to deliver a minimum amount of fuel to the hospital, to power up its back-up generators.
OCHA reminds us that no fuel has entered the Gaza Strip for 110 days. Yesterday, we mentioned an attempt by our colleagues on the ground to retrieve fuel from the Al Tahreer station in Rafah. We can now confirm that the operation was indeed successful. About 280,000 litres of fuel were retrieved and transferred to a more accessible location in the Deir al Balah area. OCHA also tell us 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 plants, phone networks and other critical services will grind to a halt.
Meanwhile, OCHA also 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 that was set to identify where this fibre-optic line had been cut. As you’ll recall, this cut is impacting central and southern Gaza. Until the issue is resolved, people are cut off from life-saving information about where to find help, and our humanitarian teams are unable to properly coordinate and move about safely in Gaza which as you know is a rather dangerous area.
Meanwhile, you will recall that 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 this war, and shelter conditions are quickly deteriorating even further. Makeshift accommodations are concentrated in bombed-out schools, public lots and urban rubble, often far exceeding the site capacity and obviously without any basic infrastructure. We, along with our partners, have some 980,000 shelter items, including almost 50,000 tents, ready for prioritization and dispatch as soon as access is granted.
**Haiti
And turning to Haiti, our 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 this hurricane 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 human beings are living in makeshift shelters, and those, as we have been telling you, are 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 some 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 26 May suspension of operations due to insecurity. Missions have been carried out in a number of areas in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince zone 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 those zones.
**South Sudan
Turning to the situation in South Sudan which is not any better. I can tell you that we are deeply concerned about an increase in acute malnutrition and cholera cases in the country. Our humanitarian colleagues are telling us that between July 2024 and June 2025, the number of children under the age of five needing urgent treatment for acute malnutrition climbed 10 per cent. That is from 2.1 million children to 2.3 million 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 16 June. 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 for South Sudan is only 20 per cent funded, with $338 million in the bank out of the $1.7 billion needed. This dire situation is yet another stark reminder that we need funding urgently to expand food assistance, to expand nutrition and expand health services to those who need it the most.
**Humanitarian Reset
And speaking of humanitarian work, just a quick update for you on the Humanitarian Reset, which, as you’ll recall, our good friend, Tom Fletcher, the Head of OCHA, spoke to you about from this room about three months ago. Following a meeting this week of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which brings together major UN humanitarian partners and international NGOs, Mr. Fletcher says 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, all driving humanitarian needs even higher.
He stressed that the Humanitarian Reset — a bold global 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, which I think Farhan told you about a few days ago. We will save as many lives as we can, he said, with the resources we have, 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. More information on the interweb.
**Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean
Tomorrow is World Refugee Day. Noting how too many individuals, fleeing conflict or persecution, feel compelled to embark on dangerous journeys in many parts of the world, we are joining the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in remembering that one shipwreck that took place just two years ago stands as a stark memorial and illustration of the human cost of inaction on issues regarding refugees and migrants.
Just 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, in Greece. Till this day, hundreds of people remain missing, and their families are still awaiting 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 in 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 to be much higher.
**Global Foreign Direct Investment
I want to flag a report from our friends at the UN [Conference on] Trade and Development, otherwise known as UNCTAD. They 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 fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, where global leaders will address the widening gap between capital flows and development needs. UNCTAD notes that the findings underscore the urgency of reshaping investment and finance systems to support inclusive and sustainable development. More on the web if you are interested.
**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, used to torture, and used to repress, and it’s scarring bodies, it’s scarring 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.
**Resident Coordinator — Tunisia
Also, I want to flag that our colleagues from the UN Development Coordination Office tell us that today, 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 experience, working for United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, and UN peacekeeping and special political missions. Before that, she served as a Team Leader and the senior Peace and Development Adviser for the UN in Kenya, and we congratulate her.
**Refugees
And sorry, I should have mentioned this with the note on refugees, but in honor of World Refugee Day, UNHCR is hosting a showcase of refugee-made products in the General Assembly lobby to spotlight the contributions that refugees make when they are included and given opportunities for self-reliance. UNHCR’s MADE51 initiative connects refugees to the global market place, enabling them to earn income, preserve cultural heritage, and share their skills around the world. They are also giving out a limited number of bracelets, handmade by refugee women in South Sudan, Kenya and Egypt, I’ve got one, but you can go buy stuff, my birthday is coming up, it’s never too late to start Christmas shopping. Speaking of Christmas shopping, Edie.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thank you, Steph. Does the Secretary-General have any comment on tomorrow’s meeting in Geneva between the Foreign Ministers of the UK, France and Germany and Iran’s Foreign Minister? And will the UN be monitoring or participating?
Spokesman: We will not be participating. We’ll obviously be following it. As we said yesterday, for the Secretary-General, for us, it remains clear that diplomacy is the only and best way forward. Let’s see what comes out of this meeting, but the fact that there is a dialogue between Iran and those three European Union countries is positive in itself, but obviously, we’ll have to see what the outcome is. Dezhi?
Question: A follow-up. Yesterday, obviously, multiple reports suggest that the US President [Donald J.] Trump has already green lighted the plan to strike Iran, but has not yet made the final decision. In such circumstances, who has the Secretary-General been in contacted with? And is there, like, a possibility that he could talk to the US interlocutors with him?
Spokesman: Well, we’ve been in touch with the US Mission here for the last few days and passed on the message privately that we have said publicly. I think as we were very clear yesterday, we worry about any additional internationalization of the conflict.
Question: Did they listen?
Spokesman: Well, I think we will leave it to journalists to analyse the situation.
Question: Okay. A total different topic about the UN aid initiative. We know that last week happened to be the week those entities, are submitting their plans. So, is cutting staffs, I mean, 20 per cent inevitable? Have you got the plans already?
Spokesman: This process is ongoing. It is across the board in the Secretariat, and including in the Secretary-General’s own office. I think his own office is not exempt from it. I spoke to Guy Rider yesterday, and we hope to have him, and other senior colleagues come and brief you in person.
Question: Is the Spokesperson’s Office also included?
Spokesman: The need to reduce is across the board, and no office is exempt. Abdelhamid.
Question: Thank you. Another 22 Palestinians were killed while waiting for food. And again, I didn’t hear that number coming in the briefing. I will keep asking about numbers. Palestinians are not only just scores, or a number of Palestinians were killed.
Spokesman: I’m not debating that with you. In the note that I just read, we talked about the fact that people continue to be wounded and continue to be killed while doing what is the most basic human need, trying to get food, trying to get the most basic supplies. No human being should be killed trying to feed themselves or trying to feed their family.
Question: In Israel, the US Ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, he suggested to President Trump to bomb Iran with a nuclear bomb. Any comment?
Spokesman: I haven’t seen those particular comments, but I have seen a lot of unhelpful rhetoric around this conflict, including around use of nuclear weapons. I think the Secretary-General has spoken out a lot in the last year about the issue of dangerous rhetoric around nuclear weapons. As we were very clear yesterday, we do not want to see a further internationalization of this conflict. We want the military action to stop, and we want to return to diplomacy.
Question: But, does the Secretary-General see there is a rise of fascism in the world of today?
Spokesman: I think the Secretary-General has spoken about the rise of extremism and xenophobia for quite some time, in fact, since the beginning of his tenure. Stefano then Mr. Bays, and then we’ll go that way.
Question: Thank you, Stephane. What does the Secretary-General expect from Berlin, for their conference tomorrow on Libya. There is a conference tomorrow on Libya.
Spokesman: I think anything that would advance the cohesiveness of the Libyan political leadership and help move the political process forward would be welcome.
Question: We’ve seen people fleeing Tehran. We’ve had lots of reports of people who are thinking of leaving Tehran. What is the UN monitoring population flows in and out of Iran? Are you seeing large numbers of people? And what are you preparing, I mean, particularly, I mean, of the neighbouring countries? I mean, the UN has a large footprint in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Are you making preparations?
Spokesman: I mean there are contingency plans being updated all the time. We’re obviously concerned, beyond the military action, we’re seeing on the regional impact that this conflict would have, it can have, and including on mass movements of people into countries that some of them are better equipped than others in terms of receiving mass, a large number of people.
Question: And do you have any figures of people. I mean, for example, Afghans returning to Afghanistan.
Spokesman: No. We can try to get some of those.
Question: Okay. And one final from me. What’s up with the escalators?
Spokesman: Well, we were waiting for you with your toolkit. We’ve been waiting for you to start repairing them, James.
Question: Honestly, I mean, they’re old escalators. They’re an iconic part of this building. But, you should have them, if they go wrong a lot, you should have all the spare parts ready. What are you waiting for? Just a quick follow-up.
Spokesman: I will not entertain a follow-up on an escalator question. I’ll come back to you. Volodymyr, please take me someplace else.
Question: Thank you, Stephane. According to a report by Japan’s NHK, North Korea, a military ally of Russia, may deploy up to 20,000 workers to its run factory in Yelabuga, Russia, to help boost Russian drone production. The goal appears to be to train North Koreans in manufacturing and operating drones. What would you say?
Spokesman: We don’t have any independent verification of that report. But, I think whether it’s the conflict you’re speaking about or any other, further internationalizing any conflict, I think, takes us away from the end of that conflict. Yes?
Question: On tomorrow’s meeting on Iran at the Security Council, who will brief the Council?
Spokesman: I expect the Secretary-General to give opening remarks, and Rosemarie DiCarlo will likely also brief. Evelyn and then Yvonne.
Question: Thank you. I’m not sure if I missed something along the months on South Sudan. When you mentioned it, with the cholera and so forth, has the United States put more migrants there?
Spokesman: I don’t think one is linked to the other. I don’t know. That I can’t answer. I don’t know.
Question: Right. And also, it’s Juneteenth here, which stands for freedom, the symbol for freedom, even if not always the reality.
Spokesman: Yvonne?
Correspondent: Thank you. It’s just about the escalators. No, I’m joking.
Spokesman: The Irish gift of humour.
Question: So, my question is, does the Secretary-General look at the events going on in the Middle East and Israel’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and think that this could, do actions like this, encourage countries, in his view, to acquire their own nuclear deterrent?
Spokesman: I think it’s a very valid question. What we want to see is a reinforcement of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, not a weakening of it. We want to see fewer nuclear weapons. But, what we want to see, in any conflict, is the full respect for international, the full respect from the Charter. And we are seeing that being gnawed at by so many countries around the world. Dezhi, please.
Question: Not escalator. A follow-up of James’ first question. Did UN itself have any contingency plans in both Israel and Iran to evacuate?
Spokesman: Yes, and we’re dealing with that. We’re ensuring that our staff is safe.
Question: The process started, or…?
Spokesman: It’s ongoing. Stefano and then Edie.
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. President Trump repeated that he doesn’t know yet if he’s going to attack Iran or not. He’s going to take a decision and can go either way. If President Trump called today the Secretary-General Guterres, and ask him if, you know, advice, what would it be?
Spokesman: What do you think the Secretary-General’s advice would be if two options were presented?
Question: Exactly. Can we know properly?
Spokesman: I mean, I think that answer is pretty obvious.
Question: How will he convince him?
Spokesman: I’m not going into hypotheticals, Stefano, but I think from what I said today, what I’ve said yesterday, the message from the Secretary-General is clear. Stop the military action. Too many people have been killed. Return to diplomacy, and avoid any cost of further internationalization of this conflict.
Question: Did he try to call him? I mean, the vice versa means, the Secretary-General. Did he try to call?
Spokesman: There has been no update on that. Ms. Lederer?
Question: Thank you, Steph. On fixing the fibre-optic cable, changing the subject dramatically.
Spokesman: Yes. Thank you.
Question: What reason did the Israelis give the UN for not, for first approving, and then disapproving?
Spokesman: I’m not sure we’re given any detailed reason, but they control the conflict theatre, and they are not giving us the approvals. And I can’t stress how urgently we need communications to make sure that we can operate in the safest possible environment, in an environment where that is primarily not safe. Okay. On that note, no questions on the inter web. So, I shall leave you with great sadness.