Environmental issues and sustainable development

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s opening remarks at the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, in New York today:

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks at the opening of the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification (COP16), held in Riyadh today:

In Lebanon, the UN is focusing on the needs of displaced people who have begun returning home, those still displaced, host communities and those who never left impacted areas. The International Organization for Migration reports that in the first 24 hours of the ceasefire, nearly 580,000 people have begun returning home.

In Haiti, as the security situation deteriorates, essential UN personnel from agencies and its political mission remain in Port-au-Prince, ensuring continued delivery of critical humanitarian programmes and assistance and political support to assist Haitian-led efforts to successfully carry out the political transition.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, heavy rainfall caused flooding in multiple sites in Khan Younis and Gaza City where displaced families are staying. People’s tents and other belongings were damaged by the rains. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have been carrying out field visits to assess the impact of the latest rains.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, held in Busan, Republic of Korea, today:

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

Following is the text of UN Secretary General António Guterres’ video message to the International Finance Forum 2024 annual meeting, in Hong Kong, special administrative region of China, today:

The World Food Programme (WFP) today urgently appealed for $16.9 billion to address global food needs and the alarming gap between needs and resources. WFP’s Global Outlook 2025 shows that 343 million human beings across 74 countries are acutely food insecure, 10 per cent more than in 2023.

In Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that since the war began 19 months ago there, the first domestic UN flight travelled today from Port Sudan to Kassala. The WFP-managed flights will now offer regular flights to transport aid workers and light humanitarian cargo from Port Sudan to Kassala once a week.