Secretary-General/Press Encounter, South Sudan/UN Peacekeepers, South Sudan/Humanitarian & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Alright, good afternoon. As you heard from this morning from the Secretary General, he noted that conflicts in different regions are converging on their impact on the world's most vulnerable people, mentioning ongoing attacks and the disruption of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, as well as the conflict following Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. The Secretary General's pointed out that these crises are choking arteries of global trade and squeezing global food systems especially hard. The Secretary General noted that in March he established a task force to develop a proposal, propose a practical mechanism including to address humanitarian needs triggered by the Strait of Hormuz crisis. He underscored that the mechanism would not authorize passage through the Strait or alter the rights and obligations of member states in terms of international law. He highlighted that sovereign decisions remain entirely with participating member states and that we would serve as a neutral facilitator. What is needed now, he said, is the cooperation and political will of the parties. The Secretary-General urged all concerned to engage seriously and constructively, adding that this mechanism is not a substitute for fully restoring navigational rights and freedom of navigation or for the political solutions needed to end these conflicts, but it should be a practical first step. I have some tragic and sad news to share with you from our colleagues in South Sudan, where earlier today, a UN patrol was ambushed in Jonglei State. Two of our peacekeepers were killed and seven other people were injured. Among the injured are three UN peacekeepers. two police officers from South Sudan and two civilian staff. The two peacekeepers who were killed were Ethiopian. The Secretary-General strongly condemns this attack in no uncertain terms. He extends his condolences to the families and loved ones of the fallen peacekeepers, as well as to the people and government of Ethiopia. The Secretary-General wishes a speedy recovery to all those injured. This brings to seven the excuse me, this brings to nine the number of peacekeepers killed in malicious acts since January 1st of this year. Our colleagues on the ground also tell us that the mission deployed a quick reaction force to the area to secure it and to help support the emergency response. And as we've said before, all too often and tragically, that attacks against U.N. peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. The Secretary General's Special Representative in in Ethiopia and head of the peacekeeping mission, excuse me, in South Sudan and head of the peacekeeping mission, Anita Kiki Gebeyehu also called on relevant authorities to conduct a thorough and prompt investigation to ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice. I do expect a more formal statement on this a bit later on today. Also from just a stay in South Sudan, I have a Ebola update for you from that country. Our colleagues at OCHA tell us that we and our partners continue to support the government-led efforts to prepare for potential spread of Ebola. No cases, thankfully, have yet to be reported or confirmed in South Sudan, but the Ebola outbreak in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and continued movement of people across the border means there is a risk of that virus. spreading. Readiness efforts are being led by the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute with support from us and our humanitarian partners. This includes surveillance, screening at points of entry, ensuring preparedness of health facilities, training of health workers, providing medical supplies, and raising awareness nationwide through radio and through social media. To assess the readiness of the Ebola response, our humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, Ramathan Balakrishnan, recently traveled to towns in central Equatoria state, that is a key point of entry from the DRC. And he also visited towns in western Equatoria to review the capacity of Ebola emergency operations there. The humanitarian coordinator, stress that humanitarian workers must be protected and able to safely deliver Ebola supplies to border areas. This comes after four humanitarian workers were abducted on 11 August by unidentified armed men while transporting critical Ebola supplies to Libogo. They thankfully were later released. And earlier today, the Security Council met on the situation in Sudan. Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding the council. She said the UN continues to support the efforts of the quad, which brings together the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE towards a humanitarian truce, but also working closely with the quintet partners, the African Union, EGAD, the inter, excuse me, the intergovernmental authority on development, the League of Arab States and the European Union, as well as the UN to help advance a viable political path. Rosemary Di Carlo said the personal envoy of the Secretary General for Sudan Pekka Haavisto is advancing his efforts amid a notably challenging context. In recent weeks, he stepped up his engagement with the conflict parties on the urgent need to cease hostilities as well as measures that could help build trust and de-escalate the conflict. He will travel to Sudan shortly to further advance his work. We will share with you those details as soon as we have them. Also briefing was Tom the Council. Ambassador Fletcher, our emergency relief coordinator. He told council members remotely. Excuse me. He spoke remotely from Istanbul and told council members of the desperate humanitarian situation in Sudan, he said. No, that no more than two thirds of Sudan's population is in desperate need of life saving support. Excuse me that more than two thirds, um, adding that humanitarians are seizing every opportunity to reach all those remarks were shared with you and as a programming note at 3 p.m. council members will reconvene in the chamber to hear a briefing this time on Ukraine Rosemary DeCarlo the undersecretary Rosemary DeCarlo and Tom Fletcher will again brief on Ukraine further on Sudan our humanitarian colleagues tell us that in recent months we've continued to deliver assistance to people in need in July alone the World Food Program reached 320,000 people across Cordofan the region with food and cash assistance. In North Kordofan, WFP resumed food distribution in El Obeid and surrounding areas last month, following earlier interruptions due to insecurity and the shortage of fuel. By the end of July, more than 58,000 people who were displaced had received food assistance. We and our partners are also providing about two million liters of safe water every day in El Obeid, reaching 733,000 people. We continue to urge donors to provide additional funding for the humanitarian response. This year's humanitarian response for Sudan is only 41% funded, with some $1.2 billion received against $2.9 billion needed. Turning to Myanmar, I can tell you that the Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the continued reports of airstrikes in that country, including a report of a military airstrike on August 21st on a monastery in the Sagaing region. That attack reportedly killed at least 14 civilians and injured many more. The Secretary-General condemns this loss of civilian lives. He reiterates his call on all parties to the conflict in Myanmar to end the violence and remind them of their violations under international law to protect civilians. Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, our colleagues from the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that a young child was reportedly among multiple people killed in Israeli airstrikes over the weekend, as civilians continue to be killed and injured in Gaza and the West Bank. Yesterday, three UN warehouses in Dar al-Bala were damaged in an airstrike, all three sustained damage, with one of them significantly significantly impacted. We've stressed repeatedly civilians and civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian facilities, must never be a target and must be protected. And also regarding Gaza, a new report by UNICEF, a new UNICEF survey highlights the impact of the ongoing conflict on children and mothers with families facing chronic malnutrition, poor diets and childhood illness. The survey was conducted between the 31st of May and June 15th of this year, following a substantial expansion of humanitarian assistance from October 2025 ceasefire. It shows that while acute malnutrition among children is accessible in accessible areas was relatively low. The longer term picture remains deeply concerning chronic malnutrition or stunting, which was an indicator of impaired linear growth, reflecting cumulative nutritional and health conditions over time affected 12.2% of Palestinian children under the age of five, while 4% were overweight. The coexistence of stunting, wasting and overweight points to poor dietary quality, simply a lack of food some 73% of children in Gaza between the ages of six and 23 months had consumed unhealthy food while only 22.4% received a minimum acceptable diet behind these numbers are children who are not getting diverse nutritious food they need to grow and stay healthy some programs to detect and treat malnutrition continued after the ceasefire but supplies and access needed to prevent children from becoming malnourished was we're not reaching them. We continue to call for sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, including for fuel, continued funding for nutrition, health, water and sanitation services, and open commercial markets so that children and families can get the food and essential services they need to prevent further deterioration. And a quick note from our Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohamed, who, as you know, is in Mongolia. Today, on behalf of the Secretary General, she addressed the high-level opening of the 17th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. She highlighted that up to 40 percent of the world's land is now degraded, undermining food production and livelihoods. She underscored that COP17 is a critical opportunity to turn global commitments into practical action on restoration, drought preparedness, and water and food security. The Deputy Secretary-General also participated in the ministerial dialogue on innovative financial mechanisms, where a number of announcements were aimed at closing the finance gap for land restoration and efforts to combat desertification. She also spoke at an event focused on scaling up the Green Wall Initiative. On the sidelines of the conference, Ms. Mohammed met with the President of Mongolia and the Prime Minister. She expressed a previous appreciation for Mongolia's support and longstanding support for the U.N., including Mongolia's contributions to U.N. peacekeeping and efforts to advance women's participation. She also welcomed Mongolia's leadership in hosting COP17 and its commitment to tackling desertification. Other meetings were held with senior government officials, civil society, indigenous groups, youth, and others. And yesterday, together with Mongolia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is also president of COP, the Deputy Secretary-General visited UN-supported projects in Mongolia that advance education in remote communities and also promote energy transition. He also met with a herder family to hear firsthand how land degradation and climate change are affecting their lives and livelihoods. Edie, you may practice your livelihood and ask me a question.

Thank you, Steph. Two follow-ups. First, on the South Sudan killing of two peacekeepers, are there any more details on this patrol on what the patrol was doing and how this happened.

Uh we we're trying to get a bit more details they were attacked by un unidentified uh armed gunmen these are part of regular patrols uh that the UN has been doing in in trying to help uh the um the constant insecurity in the area.

And secondly a followup on the Secretary general's outline of the proposed new mechanism to try and get fertilizer shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. What's the next step? Is it waiting for reactions from the Iranians, the Americans, the Israelis?

As the Secretary General said, this idea had been floated initially earlier this year. Since then, Our colleague, Jorge Moura da Silva, who heads UNOPS, has been having multiple contacts with the parties in the region and beyond. He had traveled to the region. He's been meeting people in capital. The interest in this mechanism has fluctuated with the higher interest from member states when things are kind of blocked. When things are flowing, there's less interest. So we're continuing to push. You know, this kind of stuff, the things that we know how to do, it can be deployed. The necessary technical staff can be deployed pretty quickly, but we need a political commitment, political green lights, and Mr. Da Silva and others are continuing to push in that direction. Gabriel.

Thank you, Steph. Another follow up on South Sudan. I know there's an investigation going on, but you called it an ambush. So that's safe to assume that this was an intentional attack.

I think from everything that we've been gathered, yes, they seem to have been targeted. Okay. Yes.

And the seven that are injured, you said two were police and two were civilians. Were they working under the auspices of the UN?

Well, the police officers were from the Sudanese, South Sudanese police service. I'm trying to get some indication of who the civilians worked for. This happened just a few hours ago, so we're trying to get more operational details. Thank you.

Thank you, Steph. In Ramallah, the settlers today, under the protection of the army, entered the city and burned a factory of aluminum. What do you say to that?

We've been updating you on what our colleagues on the ground have been seeing, and I think we've been very clear in condemning, repeatedly condemning the central violence, repeatedly condemning the violence that Palestinians have been subject to with increased frequency recently, and this is something we continue to raise locally with our interlocutors.

And in Gaza, few children raised the height -- kites. Prime Minister threatened that area where he saw the kites coming in the air to evict the people there, targeted assassination and invasion. I mean, that is apparently the for him is weapons of mass destruction. So have you heard this?

I mean, we've seen, we've seen the, we've seen the reporting on it. What we need to see is a reduced Israeli military presence in Gaza. We need them to, as it was agreed to, to reduce the area in which they're banning Palestinians, Palestinians from living in. Lenka, then Namo.

Thank you, Stefan. reports that the Trump administration is planning to send $725 million to the UN regular budget. I was just curious, have you been notified?

We've seen these reports. We are in very close contact. Our controller and his office are in very close contact with the US government. I'd rather not say anything on this at this point.

One more question, please. The UN Secretary-General got four months left or about this time. Is he planning to take any active role on Ukraine, maybe to organize some meeting during the UN General Assembly or having some phone calls? Thank you.

Well, the Ukraine is an issue that he is following very closely. As it was reported, he had a phone call with President Zelenskyy last week. Our colleagues in various parts of the system continue to be there, all working with one goal, is to see an end to this war, for just a sustainable and just peace in line with the charter and the relevant UN resolutions.

But nothing concrete planned.

As soon as I have something to share with you, I will.

Thank you.

Thank you, Stefan. On the mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz, just a couple of follow-up questions. Can we assume that this depends on Iran consenting? If Iran doesn't consent, it will not launch, right?

Obviously, the parties in this conflict and the member states that border would have to agree. I mean, this is not... This is not a peace enforcing mechanism we're proposing. This is a mechanism to facilitate the transport of food and other goods through the Strait. I mean, I think as the Secretary General was very clear today in the impact that the conflict is having on the world's most vulnerable and the fact that the choking of the Strait of Hormuz, the choking of traffic in the Black Sea, who pays the price for these conflicts, the people who can least afford it. But the mechanism would not not subtract member states from their own obligations under international law, including navigational issues in both the Strait and the Black Sea.

And why now? Is the Secretary General hopeful that -- does he have more hope that Iran might agree to this at this point, given the economic sanctions?

Given the current situation, I think it was a wise move to reiterate the fact that this mechanism exists and to highlight the efforts that our colleagues that UNOPS and others have been making.

One last question. Iraq has proposed a joint security coordination council with Saudi Arabia and Iran. Is the Secretary-General aware of this?

And is this complementary?

He may be aware. I haven't seen it, so I can't comment on it. Thank you. Evelyn, did you have a question?

No.

Okay. Abu Sufyan.

Thank you, Steph. Again, on Rohingya crisis. Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of Rohingya crisis. Bangladesh has been hosting the Rohingya community in the country for the past 10 years. Its Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Shama Oved, called for international efforts to ensure that the Rohingya refugee 10 years stay in Bangladesh does not become 20 years. What are the UN's efforts to resolve Rohingya crisis?

Look, as you said, this marks, it's a grim anniversary, but it is also a moment to restate the welcoming hospitality that Bangladesh and other hosting, refugee hosting countries have been showing. Bangladesh, which has a number of its own humanitarian challenges, has welcomed these refugees and as have other countries. The fact is, is that   they're not in a position to return home voluntarily, safely, and with dignity, which is required under international refugee law. For his part, the Secretary-General has appointed, as you know, Julie Bishop to be his point person on issues of Myanmar. She's continuing to interact with regional and as well as people, as well as officials inside Myanmar. But any resolution to this crisis requires a concerted and unified effort by the international community to encourage the leadership in Myanmar to create those conditions where everyone in Myanmar, regardless of their ethnicity or their religion, can feel welcome and can live in peace and harmony. Okay, sorry, Evelyn and then Mona, please.

On me and more issue getting in any help from Asian nations in the area?

Well, she's in constant contact with members of ASEAN and others.

But are they helping?

Well, I listen this, this it's this is part of an ongoing diplomatic efforts, but they have been they have been supportive of her role. Mona.

Thank you, Stefan. Just one more question on the Strait of Hormuz. Are you hearing from the parties an understanding of the urgency of keeping essential goods moving?

Listen, I'm not going to speak for the parties, but we're also hearing the rhetoric and we're hearing it very loudly, which doesn't seem to be pointing in the right direction. And the right direction is an end to the hostilities, a restoration of navigational rights inside the Strait, and the free flow of goods both coming in and coming out of this critical waterway. Okay, thank you all. Happy remaining Monday.