In progress at UNHQ

Noon Briefings


Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, telling students at Tsinghua University in China that the Paris Agreement on climate change was a great start for countries to commit to lowering emissions, said she was counting on young people to hold leaders accountable to ensure a secure future for themselves and future generations.

The Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Pierre Krähenbühl, praised the Agency’s donors in Amman today for collectively helping to reduce its $446 million budget shortfall to $21 million.   The Agency was able to open its 711 schools on time as a result.

The World Health Organization’s World Malaria Report reveals that in 2017, there were about 219 million cases, compared with 217 million in 2016.  About 70 per cent of all cases occurred in 10 African countries and India.  To boost prevention and treatment, WHO and partners launched a new country-led response.

Marking International Day of Tolerance, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded its UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize to social entrepreneur and filmmaker Manon Barbeau of Canada, and to the Coexist Initiative, a non-profit organization working to end violence against women in Kenya.

In Paris, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is having three days of events to mark World Philosophy Day, including a Night of Philosophy, a presentation of digitized philosophy archives and a talk about Barbara Cassin, initiator of the International Network of Women Philosophers.

In Nigeria, the United Nations and business leaders are launching a joint humanitarian initiative.  Several private Nigerian companies will join the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund and contribute money and expertise to expand the aid response in the country’s north-east, where a major crisis has affected millions of families.

The United Nations refugee agency today called upon countries to take faster and more resolute action to help end statelessness.  High Commissioner Filippo Grandi urged politicians, Governments and legislators around the world to take and support decisive action to eliminate statelessness globally by 2024.

The High Commissioner for Refugees is extremely concerned about the impacts of intensified conflict in Yemen’s Hodeidah Governorate on civilians and aid operations. In October alone, 94 civilians were killed and 95 injured.  The World Food Programme is dramatically scaling up to meet growing need throughout the country.