The new Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations, Andres Montalvo Sosa, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres today.

Today, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is appointing a group of prominent experts to promote actionable policy solutions and galvanize political and public support required to resolve the debt crisis. This work will inform the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, an intergovernmental process facilitated by the United Nations, which will take place from 30 June to 3 July 2025, in Sevilla, Spain.

The General Assembly today adopted several resolutions on a variety of topics, including one stressing the need to return cultural property to countries of origin, with Member States emphasizing the importance of adhering to regulations safeguarding such artefacts, amid an unprecedented increase in trafficking and attacks against them during armed conflict.

The Security Council today decided to maintain the exemption of humanitarian aid providers from asset freeze measures imposed by the Da’esh and Al-Qaida sanctions regime — a decision that provides those personnel and entities with greater operational clarity and predictability, while maintaining systematic monitoring measures to prevent the carveout from being exploited by terrorist organizations.

In Haiti’s capital, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners have distributed more than 900,000 litres of water to more than 60,000 [displaced] people in 26 sites over the last week. The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided more than 95,000 hot meals to some 24,000 displaced people across four sites.

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

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for Human Rights Day, observed on 10 December:

While supporting the Secretariat’s request for $62.3 million to keep the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals running smoothly in 2025, some delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today voiced concerns with the uneven impact upcoming cutbacks would have on the Mechanism’s operations in Arusha.

Syria’s reported destruction or conversion of large quantities of chemical warfare agents and munitions prior to its accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention still cannot be fully verified, the United Nations’ disarmament chief told the Security Council today, noting that the unresolved 19 issues in the country’s declaration with respect to the elimination of its chemical weapons programme remain a serious concern.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at an informal plenary meeting of the General Assembly on the Secretary-General’s report on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, held in New York today: