UNSCOL posted the following post on its X account:
Tonight’s strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut generated renewed panic and fear on the eve of Eid Al-Adha. We again call for a halt to any actions that could further undermine the cessation of hostilities understanding and the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). Established mechanisms and diplomatic instruments are at the disposal of all sides to...
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The lack of food entering Gaza caused by ongoing Israeli aid restrictions is leaving increasing numbers of Palestinians “vulnerable to starvation”, with daily energy intake now well below what a human body needs to survive, the UN warned on Thursday.
The UN’s top disarmament official has welcomed signs of increased cooperation from Syria’s interim authorities in efforts to eliminate the country’s chemical weapons once and for all, as preparations move forward for a third round of inspections by international experts.
In Ukraine, overnight attacks continued into Thursday morning, resulting in 45 casualties and significant damage to civilian infrastructure, the UN has reported.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday urged world leaders to revive efforts toward a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning that there is no alternative.
A draft resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza failed to pass in the UN Security Council on Wednesday after the United States cast its veto – blocking the initiative backed by all ten elected members of the Council.
The United States has vetoed a new draft resolution on Gaza, standing as the lone vote against the text which called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas and others and the immediate lifting of all aid restrictions. Follow live coverage from our Meetings Coverage Section and UN News app users can follow here.
Amid reports of yet another deadly attack on a school in Gaza on Wednesday, the UN’s top aid official Tom Fletcher welcomed growing international calls for lifesaving aid work by established agencies to resume in the war-torn enclave.
Haiti has been gripped by spiralling gang violence ever since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The subsequent unrest has displaced one million people, more than half of them children, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
An aid convoy carrying life-saving assistance for the famine-affected area of North Darfur, Sudan, was attacked on Monday night, killing five humanitarian workers, injuring many more and damaging critical humanitarian supplies.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk has condemned new reports that dozens more Gazans were killed early Tuesday “trying to access paltry amounts of food” around a private aid hub in the south of the enclave run by the US and Israel.
Nearly 16 million people in Syria need urgent humanitarian health support, the UN warned on Tuesday, as aid deliveries continue amid escalating needs, deadly explosive hazards and a severe funding shortfall.
As Ukrainian and Russian delegations meet for a second round of preliminary peace talks in Turkïye on Monday, rural communities faced their own challenge: finding something to eat.
The UN Secretary-General on Monday reinforced his stand against all acts of antisemitism following the horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, at the weekend and vandalism in France targeting Jewish landmarks.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, began today a visit to Israel, where she is set to meet with senior officials.
The visit is part of the Special Coordinator’s regular consultations on steps to consolidate progress made since the November 2024 Cessation of Hostilities Understanding came into effect and to advance the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (...
A world in which algorithms determine the fate of soldiers and civilians alike is no longer hypothetical. AI-driven drones are reshaping warfare, raising deep ethical questions about autonomy in combat. As international policymakers scramble to set ground rules, the race is on to rein in this rapidly evolving technology.
“I stood helpless in the face of my son's hunger. I cried a lot and told him to drink from our little water to satisfy his hunger,” said Zeenat, a young Palestinian woman speaking to UN News from the battered Gaza Strip.
Amid disputed reports of Israeli forces firing on civilians near a new privatised aid distribution point in southern Gaza, the head of the Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, said on Sunday that lifting the months-long aid blockade of the enclave is the only way to avoid “mass starvation”.
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Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.
In Ituri, a province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), intensifying conflict, intercommunal violence and mass displacement are forcing hundreds of thousands of children out of school.
Mr. President,
When I last briefed this Council on developments in Ukraine exactly one month ago, there was cautious hope of progress on the diplomatic front to stop the fighting.
Regrettably, instead of steps towards peace, we witnessed a brutal surge in large-scale Russian attacks across the country.
This escalation comes after a relative reduction in the intensity of attacks, including the unilateral 72-hour truce declared by the Russian Federation from 8 to 11 May.
For three consecutive nights last weekend, Russian armed forces attacked Ukrainian cities and towns with record numbers of long-range missiles and drones, killing and injuring dozens of civilians.
Most of the casualties were recorded in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv, as well as in other densely populated areas.
On Monday, 26 May, at least six people were reportedly killed and 24 injured across the country, including in the Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
According to Ukrainian officials, with 355 drones, Monday’s attack was the largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
This topped the previous record from the night before.
On Sunday, 25 May, 12 people, including three children, were reportedly killed and more than 60 others were injured when missiles and drones hit Kyiv and other locations in the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy, and Poltava regions.
More than 80 residential buildings were reportedly damaged.
On Saturday, 24 May, at least 15 people, including two minors, were reportedly injured in a Russian strike on Kyiv. Elsewhere, at least 13 people were reportedly killed – four people in the Donetsk region, five in the Kherson and Odesa regions, and four in the Kharkiv region. The Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions were also hit.
In addition, Sumy region in the northeast of Ukraine has been hit particularly hard by continuous cross-border heavy shelling.
On 17 May – only hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul – a Russian drone strike on a civilian bus in Bilopillia in Sumy region reportedly killed nine people and injured seven others. Among those killed were three members of the same family – a mother, a father and their daughter.
In total, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, at least 13,279 civilians, including 707 children, have been killed. The confirmed number of civilians injured stands at 32,449, including 2,068 children.
The overall security situation so far in 2025 is significantly worse than in the same period last year. Civilian deaths in the first quarter of this year are 59 percent higher than in the same period of 2024.
Mr. President,
Since my last briefing, Russian regions bordering Ukraine also reported civilian casualties.
According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nine civilians were killed, and 117 were injured because of Ukrainian strikes from 19 to 25 May.
The Ministry also reported that from 12 to 18 May, 17 Russian civilians were killed, and more than 100 others were injured, following Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions, bringing the total for the month of May to 59 killed, including five children, and more than 400 others injured, including 21 children.
The United Nations is not able to verify these reports.
However, if confirmed, these figures serve as a vivid reminder of the rising civilian toll of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, most egregiously in Ukraine, but also increasingly in the Russian Federation itself.
Let me reiterate clearly: attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.
They are unacceptable and indefensible – wherever they occur – and must stop immediately.
My colleague, Lisa Doughton, of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will provide updates about the impacts of the renewed attacks on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and our response to deliver life-saving aid to all those in need.
Mr. President,
The latest dangerous escalation follows some significant diplomatic developments.
On 16 May, Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul for the first direct negotiations in three years.
We welcome these talks and commend the important role of Türkiye and the United States in facilitating these discussions.
While the talks did not result in the much-needed, complete, immediate and unconditional ceasefire that the Secretary-General has called for, it is encouraging that the sides have reportedly agreed to continue the process.
We also welcome an important result of these talks – the recently completed phased exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.
We hope that all remaining prisoners of war and civilian detainees will soon return home.
Mr. President,
Throughout the war, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported on the human rights violations in the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation.
The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to investigate alleged violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law in Ukraine.
Just yesterday the Commission reported on allegations of systematic drone attacks by Russian forces targeting civilians in Kherson.
The impact of the war on children is particularly heartbreaking: More than 5.1 million children have been displaced from their homes.
One in five children has lost a relative or friend since 2022. And the fate of Ukrainian children reportedly deported to the Russian Federation remains a question of deep concern.
Mr. President,
The massive wave of attacks over the weekend is a stark warning of how quickly this war can reach new destructive levels.
Further escalation would not only aggravate the devastating toll on civilians but also endanger the already challenging peace efforts.
The longer the war continues, the longer its regional and global impacts will be felt, and the more difficult it will be to find a peaceful resolution.
The United Nations position has been and remains principled in support of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders.
We continue to call for peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions.
In February, the Security Council adopted resolution 2774 (2025) – the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – imploring a swift end to the conflict and urging a lasting peace.
And soon after passage of the resolution, after more than three years of brutal, illegal war, the global community was heartened by what appeared to be the first sprouts of a potential peace process.
However, anticipation and excitement quickly gave way to frustration around the world and more suffering in Ukraine following the recent and massive Russian attacks.
The hope that the parties will be able to sit down and negotiate is still alive, but just barely.
Serious, demonstrable and good faith efforts are needed – now – to get back on the road that could lead to a just peace. A full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire is such an effort, if only an initial one.
A peace process will not be easy, and it will take time. But it must not wait. The people of Ukraine, especially, cannot wait.
Thank you.
A glimmer of hope for peace in Ukraine has been overshadowed by a devastating new wave of Russian attacks, UN officials told the Security Council on Thursday, warning of soaring civilian casualties and a worsening humanitarian crisis that could derail a diplomatic end to the war.
Desperate hunger drove crowds of people to overrun a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, reportedly leaving two dead and several injured in a chaotic scramble for food.
The United Nations honoured staff serving at its field missions through several events to mark the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Thursday.
The United Nations honoured staff serving at its field missions through several events to mark the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Thursday.
In 2022, the war in Ukraine, the rollback of gains in Afghanistan, worsening violence in Haiti and continuing conflict in Myanmar, Syria and Somalia, among others, took a staggering toll on hundreds of millions of people. Meanwhile, growing global tensions further strained an already weakened multilateral system.
Unquestionably, DPPA continued to face challenges that at times may seem insurmountable. But even in a global political environment beset by tensions and division, we know that
Global tensions impact our resources too. There was a call for increased investment in prevention, peacemaking, and peacebuilding, even as resources are curtailed globally. Last year, the Department adapted its work to a landscape of economic and financial contraction, prioritizing areas where it could have a tangible impact.
DPPA continued to rely on financing through the Multi-Year Appeal (MYA) and recorded positive results in 2022. Against a volatile funding environment, a record high level of contributions of $36.4 million was received from 31 donors. This is the highest of all MYA contributions in past years and shows a 22 per cent increase compared to 2021.
The MYA also became more agile, allowing us to deploy when and where it was the most needed. The level of earmarking decreased by 17% compared to the previous year, expanding our ability to respond quickly and with flexibility to requests for support. With 60% of its funding unearmarked, DPPA was able to balance demands for crisis response with the need to invest in long-term prevention, peacebuilding and sustaining peace.
The present report shows how effective operational deployments and engagement with the right partners and actors can make a difference, all at relatively low cost. The MYA critically augments DPPA’s capacities. As a funding mechanism, the MYA is exponentially increasing our ability to deliver on our mandate. Its booster effect is simple:
The value dimensions of the MYA are demonstrated in the graph below, highlighting the activities and the capacities funded by the MYA with $1 million.
DPPA continued to lead over 24 field missions around the world. MYA funding provides vital operational support to Special Representatives and Special Envoys.
Our support drawn from the MYA was instrumental to mediation efforts in Yemen leading to a truce in April 2022. While the truce has lapsed, there has not been a major escalation in military conflict. In Sudan, MYA funding allowed DPPA to provide support in critical areas, supporting the ceasefire monitoring mechanism established by the Juba Peace Agreement. And in Colombia, we expanded our support to peace consolidation by verifying two transformational areas of the 2016 Peace and by offering good offices support for resumed talks with the National Liberation Army.
In a world of growing polarization, DPPA maintained its recognized role of mediator, fielding 400 deployments around the world to support mediation, peacemaking and electoral processes. We deployed staff or senior mediators of our Standby Team more than 132 times at short notice to assist peace negotiations. Deployments are made throughout the world.
DPPA always looks at electoral assistance with a prevention lens. We provided electoral support to around 50 Member States last year.
We were innovative in the search for lasting solutions to peace and security threats and drastically increased the development of initiatives using new technologies, investing 7% of our MYA resources into new ideas and approaches.
Investments under our women, peace and security window reached new heights, with close to 20% of the MYA portfolio dedicated to activities in pursuit of the agenda. Investment in the Local Peace Initiatives window grew steadily as we continued to channel resources to grassroots peace initiatives to complement broader national processes. Inclusion, particularly of civil society, women’s and youth groups, remained a key focus of investment under this window.
When we and our partners speak with one voice, we are better able to encourage conflict parties to pursue a negotiated solution. Partnerships with Member States, regional and subregional organizations, and civil society are all supported by voluntary contributions. In 2022, DPPA worked with regional and sub-subregional organizations in more than 55 of its mediation engagements, to address pressing challenges.
The nine liaison offices, all funded by the MYA, are essential in our preventive and peacemaking work. For example, our liaison office in Ukraine, provided real-time monitoring and analytical support to DPPA.
DPPA recently issued its Strategic Plan, accompanied by a new Multi-Year
Appeal, calling for a total of $170 million for 2023-2026.
Voluntary funding is more important than ever. It continues to demonstrate its relevance, augmenting DPPA’s capacities to be more operational and funding all our work in thematic areas at the heart of Our Common Agenda and the New Agenda for Peace, such as climate security, women and youth and peace and security, and new technologies and innovation.
As of today, $7 million has been received for 2022, out of the $41 million called for. With a funding gap of 83%, the MYA urgently needs your support this year.
