Source: United Nations (Video News)
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/ Chief Executives Board
– Sudan
– Sudan/ Food Assistance
– South Sudan
– UNRWA
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– UNIFIL
– Haiti
– Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
– Senior Personnel Appointment – Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia
– International Day
SECRETARY-GENERAL/ CHIEF EXECUTIVES BOARD
The Secretary-General is in Denmark, where today he is chairing the biannual session of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, also known as the CEB, which brings together the heads of the UN system organizations.
During their biannual session, the Chief Executives Board Members will reflect on current world affairs as they affect and are related to the UN system. They will also engage in deliberations on ‘Adapting to New Realities: Leveraging the UN80 Initiative’ and ‘Upholding Respect for International Law’.
SUDAN
A statement we issued last night expressed the Secretary-General’s grave concern that recent drone attacks in Port Sudan, the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Sudan, threaten to increase humanitarian needs and further complicate aid operations in the country. The Secretary-General warns that this major escalation could lead to large-scale civilian casualties and further destruction of critical infrastructure.
The Secretary-General is alarmed at the expansion of the conflict into an area that has served as a place of refuge for large numbers of people displaced from the capital, Khartoum, and other areas.
The Secretary-General reiterates that all parties to the conflict must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law. They must not direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects; must take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event to minimize, incidental civilian casualties; and must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.
The Secretary-General calls on the parties to engage constructively with the mediation support mechanisms already in place to assist the parties to reach a political solution, underscoring the United Nations’ continued support to help find a way out of this crisis. He renews his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and stresses that dialogue is the only way to achieve the peace that the people of Sudan demand. The full statement is online.
SUDAN/ FOOD ASSISTANCE
And further on Sudan, our colleagues at the World Food Programme are saying that in Tawila, families who fled horrific violence in El Fasher have received vital food and nutrition supplies.
WFP says that the Agency supported more people than originally planned as needs are overwhelming with hundreds of thousands displaced, and more aid is on its way in the coming week.
SOUTH SUDAN
Moving to South Sudan, where our mission, UNMISS, and partners—the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development or IGAD, and the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, have jointly called on South Sudan’s leaders to cease ongoing hostilities immediately and urgently progress inclusive peace implementation.
They urged swift, thorough and impartial investigations into security escalations so that responsible parties can be held to account and public trust, restored.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=08%20May%202025