The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Alright, good afternoon. Thank you for your patience.
**Noon Briefing Guest
In a short while, we will be joined virtually by our guest, Inger Andersen, who, as you know, is the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). She will brief on the launch of the latest UNEP report, called “Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return”. The report finds that as global temperatures rise, the world must strive to return to below 1.5°C as soon as possible and simultaneously reduce the vulnerability of societies, communities and economies to climate impacts.
In a video message on the launch, the Secretary-General noted that humanity is speeding past the limit to avoid climate catastrophe. He pointed out that we are set to breach the 1.5°C limit within the next few years, and this summer’s scorching heat, raging wildfires and deadly floods are a warning of what lies ahead.
The Secretary-General warned that every fraction of a degree will cost lives, will destroy livelihoods, will deepen inequality and push ecosystems closer to irreversible damage. He stressed that we must make the overshoot as small and short as possible, limiting how high temperatures rise and how long they remain above 1.5, and that the fight for 1.5°C is the fight for humanity.
So, we will get Inger very soon, and Inger, I ask for your patience.
**Briefings/Tomorrow
Just a reminder that tomorrow, at 11:15 a.m., there will be a hybrid press briefing by Annalena Baerbock, the outgoing President of the General Assembly.
Then after the Noon Briefing, at 12:45 p.m., there will be another briefing here by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The guests will include Dylan Winder, the Permanent Observer to the UN of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and also Director of Humanitarian Diplomacy [and Communications]; Dr. Sian Proctor, geoscientist and astronaut; and Isabelle Granger, IFRC Global Lead, Disaster Law.
They will brief on the new IFRC latest disaster research and campaign launch, putting astronauts at the heart of push for world’s first international disaster treaty.
**Iran
Turning to the situation in the Gulf, I can tell you that the Secretary-General is gravely concerned by the renewed exchanges of fire overnight between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by reports of civilian casualties, including in a strike that reportedly hit a wedding ceremony in Iran.
The Secretary-General condemns all attacks against civilians. He recalls that all parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions.
As we have seen, few countries in the region are immune from this escalation, with airspace and critical shipping routes continuing to be heavily impacted.
The Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate cessation of military action and urges all concerned to exercise restraint and refrain from actions and rhetoric that could further escalate already high tensions.
Further escalation, as you can imagine, would have devastating consequences for civilians and for the wider region and beyond.
The Middle East escalation has had a devastating impact on civilians and added further pressure on humanitarian needs and operations across the region and beyond. In a region already facing many humanitarian crises, this risks further deterioration at a time when humanitarian operations are already overstretched and underfunded, as we tell you repeatedly. Despite the challenges, we and our humanitarian partners continue to respond with life-saving assistance wherever we can, and whenever we can.
The Secretary-General urges the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran to return urgently to diplomacy. A comprehensive and durable settlement can be achieved only through dialogue and negotiations.
**Occupied Palestinian Territory
Turning to the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Our OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) colleagues tell us that they remain deeply concerned over the safety and welfare of Palestinian civilians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) said today that in Gaza, three boys and girls aged 3 to 13 had reportedly been killed in the preceding 24 hours, with at least 5 other children injured. UNICEF said that to protect children, the use of explosive weapons and indiscriminate fire must be avoided.
Yesterday in Gaza City, three guards contracted by one of our humanitarian partners were slightly injured during armed clashes happening in their vicinity. And in Deir al Balah, the outer wall of two guesthouses used by our colleagues sustained some damage after being struck by a projectile. An Israeli quadcopter was observed nearby.
All civilians, including aid workers, as well as the facilities they use and civilian infrastructure, must always be protected.
This morning, for the second day, about 1 million people in Gaza who depend on the Israeli water grid were affected by reduced water supplies, with the distribution of water from other sources by truck only partly compensating for the reduction of what was coming in through the pipes.
Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, our humanitarian colleagues are continuing to be very concerned by reports that the entire community of Khirbet at Tabban was destroyed today by Israeli forces.
Home to dozens of people, this is 1 of 13 herding communities in the Masafer Yatta area of Hebron, home to over 1,000 people, who are all within the 18 per cent of the West Bank that the Israeli authorities have declared as “firing zones” and allocated for military trainings.
These communities face longstanding demolition orders issued against all structures for being unlicenced, although Israeli authorities do not issue the necessary permits for Palestinians in that area. A dozen settler outposts have been established within the same area over the past two years, with settler violence adding to pressures on this and other Palestinian communities, pushing them to leave.
Our humanitarian partners are now mobilizing response efforts in support of those newly displaced, while also supporting vulnerable communities, who are under pressure to leave across the West Bank, in sustaining their livelihoods.
In this context, our colleagues at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) tell us that herders in the West Bank have received 3.3 million vaccine doses from FAO, in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture. All this to safeguard livestock and their income over the past two years.
**Syria
And turning to Syria, our humanitarian colleagues and partners tell us that they have reached an average of 2.5 million people each month between January and July of this year with food, healthcare, water, sanitation support, shelter assistance and other life-saving aid across more than 4,700 communities.
In July alone, our partners provided food to more than 700,000 people, supported over 1.2 million medical procedures and reached 2 million people with water, sanitation and various hygiene services. They also provided protection assistance to more than 250,000 people, including through mine action, gender-based violence prevention and response and child protection.
We will continue to support the humanitarian response wherever the needs persist in Syria, but funding remains a major challenge, as it always is.
The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Syria is just over 30 per cent funded, with $889 million received against the $2.9 billion that is actually needed.
**Nepal
Turning to Nepal. Just a week after devastating floods, we and our partners are supporting Government-led relief efforts, with a Flash Appeal that we expect to be launched in the next few days.
We and our humanitarian partners are delivering food, clean water, hygiene kits and medical supplies, alongside UNICEF's therapeutic food and nutrition experts. The FAO has provided veterinary care for about 300 injured animals and is assessing agricultural losses.
The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is conducting rapid infrastructure assessments, mapping isolated communities, identifying logistics bottlenecks and sharing real-time data with various coordination teams.
Meanwhile, WHO (World Health Organization) tells us that seven health facilities have been damaged, with four completely destroyed and two hospitals remaining very difficult to reach.
**Sudan
Moving to the African continent, to Sudan, our colleagues warn that continued fighting is forcing thousands of people from their homes and disrupting humanitarian operations, especially in the Kordofan region.
In a statement today, the World Food Programme (WFP) strongly condemned an aerial attack that hit two marked trucks carrying its food assistance in South Kordofan on Sunday. More than 50 metric tons of food were destroyed, which is enough to assist 5,800 people for a month. The trucks were heading to the state capital, where WFP is supporting nearly 58,000 people facing severe food insecurity.
The needs are growing. Local authorities in South Kordofan note that more than 9,800 people have arrived in Abassiya, with food and essential household items as part of the most urgent needs.
In neighbouring North Kordofan, 8,700 families have arrived in Sheikan in the past three weeks, putting more pressure on already overcrowded shelters and on basic services, which are stretched extremely thin.
Despite all of this, we and our partners are stepping up the efforts to curb the spread of cholera in North Darfur and other affected areas. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF are supporting Sudanese health authorities with vaccination campaigns, which launched this week in North Darfur, South Darfur and West Kordofan, and aim to protect nearly 928,000 people.
We also once again call on all parties to protect civilians, to protect civilian infrastructure, humanitarians, humanitarians’ supplies, and to allow for the free and unfettered access for humanitarian goods.
**Democratic Republic of the Congo
Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, over the past week, our Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Peacekeeping Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), James Swan, together with the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, visited Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda as part of our ongoing efforts to support a durable peace in eastern part of DRC and coordinate the various regional peace efforts.
During the visit, Mr. Swan briefed senior Government officials on the Peacekeeping Mission support for ceasefire monitoring and verification, that being done under the Doha process, as well as for the disarmament, demobilization and repatriation of the FDLR forces in relation to the Washington process.
Mr. Swan and Mr. Xia reiterated our support for African Union-led mediation efforts in the Great Lakes and called on all parties to comply with Security Council resolution 2773 and implement their commitments under the ongoing peace processes.
Meanwhile, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that schools have reopened in areas of the DRC-impacted Ebola outbreak, a critical step for communities already grappling with conflict, displacement and disease.
To help ensure that children can return to school safely, we and our partners continue to support infection prevention, water and sanitation activities, and school-based awareness campaigns. A first group of trainers has completed training and will now roll out Ebola prevention sessions for more than 18,000 teachers and school personnel.
However, significant challenges remain; more than 490,000 children are out of school due to conflict-related disruptions, and education is the least-funded sector of the humanitarian response, having received less than a quarter of the funding required. We urge donors to give to that sector and any other sectors.
**Ukraine
From Ukraine, our colleagues at the OCHA tell us that over the past two days, attacks across the country have caused significant civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including in large urban centres such as Kyiv and Odesa, which are farther from the front line.
Matthias Schmale, our Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, underlined the growing toll of attacks on civilians as the pattern of strikes on shopping malls, warehouses, railway and energy infrastructure has expanded, stressing that such attacks should never be normalized.
OCHA says that humanitarians have not been spared. In recent days, a missile strike damaged the humanitarian warehouses and vehicles of an NGO (non-governmental organization) partner in Sumy, while a drone strike damaged an evacuation bus operated by another local NGO in the Donetsk region.
Our partners continue to provide medical and psychological aid, hot meals, as well as shelter materials, to support the humanitarian response.
**Nicaragua
I was asked earlier by one of your colleagues, who is not here, about the Secretary-General’s reactions to the latest political developments in Nicaragua.
I can tell you that the Secretary-General is closely following developments in Nicaragua and is concerned about the continuing erosion of civic and political space in that country. He recalls that authorities have a responsibility to uphold human rights and the rule of law and ensure that all citizens can participate freely and can participate safely in public life, including by exercising their right to vote in elections that allow for the guaranteeing of free expression and the will of the electorate.
**Financial Contribution
Chris, we have a quiz today. This country’s railway lines could loop around the world twice! It spans, the country, in its width, more than 5,000 kilometres and it operates on just one time zone. [response: “China!”]
Yes, thank you. We thank our friends in Beijing for their latest payment, which has them paid now in full to the Regular Budget. China’s payment brings the number of fully paid-up Member States to 133. China’s share of the regular budget is $641,361,387, and we thank them for that money, which will come in handy, if I may say so myself. Please.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. So, as you said, China has paid its UN assessed contribution for this year. Given the Organization’s severe liquidity crisis, how significant is this payment for the UN current financial situation? And does the Secretary-General hope other major contributors will now follow by paying their assessments in full and on time?
Spokesman: Yes, yes, yes and yes. China had already paid partially its budget dues. Today's payment brings them up to date for this year. Obviously, China being the second contributor to the regular budget, as you can imagine, now having the full amount is extremely helpful to the ongoing liquidity crisis. And I think, as the Secretary-General often said, we've said we encourage all Member States to honour their treaty obligations by paying into the regular budget. Edie?
Question: A quick follow-up on that. The United States has said that it's going to make a payment to the regular budget, I believe, of more than $700 million. Has that been received?
Spokesman: It is in the pipeline. We're monitoring its position in the pipeline. All indications that it will emerge from the pipeline, and that will be a day that will make us happy. When that money is confirmed in the bank, I will let you know.
Question: Two questions. First, listening every day to this dire situation of UN appeals for countries — around the world, really — and some in dire situation, I wonder when was the last time that a UN appeal was 100 per cent funded or even 90 per cent funded?
Spokesman: That is a very good question. I don't have the answer off the top of my head. I know in the past, our Ukraine appeals have been the most funded, but we'll get our OCHA colleagues to crunch some numbers for you, Edie.
Question: Okay. question ahead of high-level week: Is the Secretary-General planning any event focused on artificial intelligence and the guardrails he's been seeking?
Spokesman: As far as I know, he's not participating in any AI events. We're still putting together the list of all the side events, but as far as him, I'll check again, I don't believe that he is. Which should not be a signal that he doesn't care about it. As you know, he's participated in events in London and most recently in Geneva, and this is something close to his head and his heart.
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, he warned all airlines, including civilian ones, that the presence of Ukrainian drones could make the skies dangerous in Russia. Any comment on this?
Spokesman: Well, I think we are always concerned about the expansion of this conflict, and it is important that in this conflict, as any other, all precautions must be taken not to do harm to civilians or civilian infrastructure.
Question: And another topic, on GA, is the Secretary-General going to meet American President [Donald] Trump?
Spokesman: I have no doubt that he will, as he always meets the President of the host country, usually on the first day.
Question: But nothing scheduled yet.
Spokesman: No, but I have no doubt… I mean, if you can spare a thought for our colleagues who handle the Secretary-General's schedule, the request for bilaterals, and try to please everybody, I would ask you to have a thought for them, because it is extremely stressful. But I have no doubt that there will be a bilateral with the President of the United States.
Question: And last question on AI, follow up on Edie. What AI programmes is the [Secretary-General] using? Is he using ChatGPT, Grok? Is he using anything?
Spokesman: Nothing to share with you on that. Islam?
Question: Thank you, Stéphane. A year ago today, the [United States] began striking small boats in the Caribbean. According to the reports, since then, the [United States] has conducted nearly 70 strikes, killing 227 people, while labeling them narco-terrorists without any due process. Does the Secretary-General have any message on this day? Does he consider the [United States] actions, these strikes, violate the international law?
Spokesman: Look, I think this is a situation that may have gone a bit under the radar, but he has continued, as we did in the beginning, we expressed our concern about potential violations of international law. There is a need to combat the traffic in illicit drugs, which is doing great damage in countries of origin, countries of transit, countries of consumption — and often, sometimes, one country can be all three. But it should always be done within the framework of international law and existing treaties.
Question: And second question on Gaza. The Israeli Defence Minister, [Israel] Katz, said today that Palestinians will ultimately leave Gaza. In quote: “There's no real solution for Gaza in the end without migration. The moment will come.” He also referred the possibility of military action. Considering the Israeli official’s statement today, the reality also on the ground, does the Secretary-General worry about the trajectory there, and also will he do anything at the upcoming high-level week?
Spokesman: Of course, we're worried about their trajectory. And I mean, we speak about it. We speak about it every day in very clear terms, in terms of the continuing suffering of the Palestinian people, the lack of security for many Israeli civilians, as well. We will still continue to push for a two-State solution, despite the fact that obviously the reality on the ground is what it is. Yes, sir?
Question: Thank you. I'm slow on numbers. The figure you mentioned in the announcement is the overall assessment for China, right? China paid in two batches. Do you have the figure?
Spokesman: For today, they paid $126 million. They had paid the bulk of it before, but as you know, we flagged the payments only when we get them… Let me put it this way, there's a quiz only once we get the payments in full.
All right, on that note, I don't see any other questions. We will go to our guest, please.