The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today released its monthly Food Price Index for May, which said that world food commodity prices declined amid significant drops in quotations for most cereals, vegetable oils and dairy products.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as delivered by Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet, at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Pledging Conference, in New York today:

The Acting Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Yvonne Helle, today warned of repeated demolitions, settlement expansion and settler violence after a Palestinian herding community in the West Bank was dismantled Monday. The United Nations and its partners will continue to provide assistance.

Voicing solidarity and support to the Palestinian people, speakers today reiterated their calls for intensified efforts towards a just and lasting solution, as the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People held a high-level special meeting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Nakba.

Two months after Tropical Cyclone Freddy devastated Malawi, United Nations agencies continue to support the Government-led response. While humanitarian assistance has reached 1.4 million people, more funding is needed to continue this work and the flash appeal — only 21 per cent funded — is asking for $116 million.

In Somalia, the United Nations and the Government have just unveiled a revamped multi-donor trust fund in support of the country’s development priorities. The Somalia Joint Fund will provide flexible funding to address key challenges facing the country and its people.

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

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today elected its Vice-Chair and Rapporteur, as the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine updated the Committee on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and gave a briefing on the guidelines for opinion case submissions to the International Court of Justice.

Even as the holy days of Eid al-Fitr, Passover and Easter overlapped around the world, violence erupted in the holy sites of Jerusalem, the United Nations senior official in charge of the Israel-Palestine peace process told the Security Council today, urging all parties to recommit to the two-State solution.

​​​​​​​The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People: