Secretary-General / Travel, UNTMIS, Palestine & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

OK, perfect. Yeah. Put this one here. Hello, good afternoon, everyone. Sorry for the delay. We actually have a very busy day, so I will try to be as fast as I can. OK. Thank you so much. Today, our guests will be, once I'm finished here, our guests will be Nyaradzaia Gumbong Vianda, who is the Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support from the UN System Coordination and Program Results at UN Women, and also Sarah Hendricks, the Director of Policy, Program, and Intergovernmental Division, also with UN Women. They will join us here shortly to present the Secretary General's annual report on women, peace, and security. And then at 1 PM, there will be a briefing by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine with Erik Moos, who is the chair, and he will be briefing from Oslo. And also Pablo de Greiff, who is the commissioner, and he will be briefing here you in person. And tomorrow, we have a number of briefings for you as well, starting at 11:00 AM, where there will be a briefing here by Marianna Katsorova, who is the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of the human rights in the Russian Republic. And then at 1:00 PM, there will be a briefing by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel. And lastly, at 2:00 PM tomorrow, there will be a briefing by Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. She will brief you virtually. And I’m going to start.

Virtually?

Virtually, yes. But she will brief you virtually. At least this is the information I have. If it’s wrong, we may correct, but this is the information I have for now. But now I’m going to start with the Secretary-General’s visit to Egypt. As you know, he was in Egypt this weekend and he just concluded his visit to the country. Today in Cairo, Mr. Guterres met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss regional developments, including the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa. He also held a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Badri Abdelati. Speaking to the media in Cairo, which happened today, the Secretary-General called on all parties in the US-Iran conflict to exercise maximum restraint and pursue diplomatic solutions. He warned that if the saber-hattling, rattling we are witnessing now translates itself into a major mutual escalation, the situation in the region can get out of control. He also called for the full restoration of navigation rights and freedoms in accordance with international law in and around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab. The Secretary General also addressed students and diplomats at Cairo University, returning to the university where he had spoken just weeks after taking office nearly 10 years ago. As he approaches the end of his mandate, he reflected on the challenges of the past decade. including wars and conflicts that have devastated societies and displaced millions, the COVID-19 pandemic, the erosion of respect for international law, the climate crisis, and the rapid development of artificial intelligence. He underscored a central lesson from his decades as a Secretary General. Even as the world appears increasingly divided, our fates are more interconnected than ever. And on Sunday, the Secretary General also met with Nabil Fahmy, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, to discuss regional issues. He is expected to return to New York tomorrow morning. And I have a note from Somalia. On 31st of October, the UN Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia will complete its two-year transition and cease operations pursuant to Security Council Resolutions 2753 and 2809, and in line with the request of the Federal Government of Somalia. The mandated functions of the mission have been transferred to Somali institutions and UN agencies, funds, and programs reflecting Somalia's commitment to great national ownership of its peace building and state building agenda. The Secretary-General commends the progress achieved over the past decades towards building peace and security in Somalia. He commends the determination and resilience of the Somali people despite the many challenges they face, and acknowledges the tremendous efforts made on the country’s journey from conflict to recovery. The UN will continue to support Somalia through its resident agencies, funds, and programs, working in partnership with Somali authorities, the African Union, and other international partners to advance peace, stability, human rights, and sustainable development. The Secretary-General reaffirms the enduring commitment of the UN to the people of Somalia and to supporting Somali-led efforts to build a peaceful, stable, and prosperous future. His full statement has just been shared with you now, and it is also available online. And earlier today, just also in Somalia, a formal ceremony was held in Mogadishu marking the end of the mission's mandate, which was led by the officer in charge of the mission, Reza Donzenenga, and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia, Salah Jama. And also on traveling, the Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, is in Abuja, Nigeria, where she is the global keynote speaker at the Nigerian Economic Summit held under the theme Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity, and Shared Prosperity. On the sidelines of the summit, she met with senior government officials and members of the boards of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. During her meetings, the Deputy Secretary-General reaffirmed the UN's commitment to working with Nigeria and the private sector to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and deliver a future of opportunity for all in Nigeria and across Africa. The DSG will depart for New York tonight. And I also have another note here on traveling. This one from our Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. He visited Iraq over the weekend to highlight the importance of mine action and the work of the UN Mine Action Service, known as UNMAS, which he oversees. In Mosul, he met with UNMAS colleagues and partners and visited the old city, including the Al-Nuri Mosque, to see first-hand the results of AMAS and UNESCO's support for recovery and reconstruction efforts. He also met with the governor of Niwawa, Ninewa to discuss future cooperation. In Baghdad, Mr. Lacroix met with senior Iraq officials, including representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Security Advisor, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Discussions focused on the cooperation with AMAS, Iraq’s expertise in the mining, broader UN-Iraq cooperation, and prospects for Iraq participation in UN peace operations. And this morning, come close to here, this morning, our Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Frazier, and UNICEF's Executive Director, Catherine Russell, briefed the Security Council on children and armed conflict. Ms. Frazier highlighted the concrete results achieved on the children and armed conflict mandate, including more than 40 action plans signed with parties to conflict and the release of more than 220,000 children from armed forces and armed groups. At the same time, she warns that grave violations have reached record levels and urged Member States to turn verified information and existing commitments into action. UNICEF's Executive Director, Ms. Russell, said that today, children in conflict zones face worsening risks. She called on Member States to use their influence to end violations against children, strengthening adequately funded child protection mechanisms, and redouble efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts. This afternoon, the Security Council will reconvene. At 3:00 PM for a briefing and consultations on Iraq and Kuwait missing persons, Mari Yamashita, the Secretary-General’s Senior Representative to support the implementation of Security Council resolution 2792, will brief the members of the Council. And now turning to the occupied Palestinian territory. Our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs say that the UN and our partners are responding to new displacement in both Gaza and the West Bank. In the West Bank city of Hebron, our partners are supporting local authorities in meeting the needs of more than 3,000 Palestinians evacuated from their homes by Israeli forces following last week’s Palestinian shooting attack on Israeli soldiers. That figure comes from the Hebron municipality. Our humanitarian partners say most of those forced out of their homes are staying temporarily with relatives. Shelter, food, and cash assistance are among their most urgent needs. Our partners are also supporting alternative arrangements for education. 11 schools serving 4,700 students are in and around the affected area. And across Hebron Governorate, nearly 700 schools serving 2,500 students have temporarily shifted to remote learning because of the access and security concerns. Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement between towns in the area remain tight. Meanwhile, reports of settler attacks continued across the West Bank over the weekend, impacting the olive harvest. Since the start of 2026, more than 2,000 settler attacks have caused casualties or property damage, more than in any previous year on record. Our humanitarian partners remind us that Palestinians in the West Bank must be protected and that collective punishment is prohibited under international law. Turning to Gaza, today, the UN and our partners visited the Aishu Aishu'i area of Gaza City, where tents were set on fire last night. The team's initial assessment identified nine households that have lost their shelters. This follows another fire that was instigated at the site last week, triggering the displacement of about 200 families. Our colleagues have mobilized support for all of them, including new tents, tarpaulins, blankets, and hygiene kits, our humanitarian partners warned that families in areas along the so-called yellow line. continue to face reported arson attacks, recurrent shooting, and the placement of new yellow cement blocks by Israeli forces, which signal that the area is unsafe. In recent days, new blocks have been observed in Ashu'iya and parts of Deir al-Balah. And since Friday, a UN site in Darbala has come under fire. There has also been three separate shooting incidents in the vicinity of three UN schools and near a UN convoy. Our humanitarian partners say that they continue to support people amid ongoing security. And over the weekend, our partners working on safety and security recorded multiple airstrikes, shelling, shooting, and naval fire, including several incidents impacting civilians. And now turning to Lebanon, where our peacekeepers reported continued Israel Defense Force activities across their area of operation from Friday to Sunday, including frequent overflights, airstrikes, artillery, and mortar fire. On Friday, around 60 rounds of gunfire struck the protective barriers of a UN position near a village in Sector East. Subsequent controlled IDF demolitions caused minor damage to UNIFIL infrastructure. We remind all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and the security of peacekeepers and the inviolability of UN premises at all times. UNIFIL also reported recurring restrictions on freedom of movement in sector East, notably due to large boulders blocking roads south of Halta Foka and a locked gate near Bastaha in southern Lebanon. Also on Friday, the IDF informed UNIFIL it could not deconflict requested humanitarian movements to three villages in the south because of the current operational situation and requested that they be resubmitted later. And from Yemen, our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report that continued fighting is driving further displacement and deepening needs. Particularly in Taiz governorate, more than 280,000 people have now been displaced across the country since the beginning of August, almost half of them from Taiz. Health needs in Taiz City are becoming critical, with shortages of medicine, fuel, and water, as well as a buildup of uncollected waste, which is increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. Our humanitarian partners have delivered 30 metric tons of medicines and medical supplies to four health facilities in Taiz City to keep essential services running. Cholera cases continue to be reported across Yemen, including 14 reported cases in Marib city, one of home diets. Despite severe access restrictions, we and our partners have reached more than 200,000 people with emergency aid since August. In addition, 24 partners have provided health care to more than 70,000 displaced people, emergency water and sanitation assistance to over 72,000 people and emergency cash to nearly 125,000 people to allow them to meet their most urgent needs. Despite the ongoing conflict, desperate families continue to arrive in Yemen. Humanitarians have reached more than 20,000 migrants and nearly 1,500,000 refugees and asylum seekers with with assistance since August. Fear of arrest or detention is driving people seeking safety onto more remote and riskier routes with fewer services. Our partners are working to reach all those in need, but it remains challenging. We reiterate our call for safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access so that lifesaving assistance can reach everyone who needs it. And turning to Sudan, where our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs say that one year since the fall of El Fasher, the humanitarian situation remains devastating, with hundreds of thousands displaced, families separated, and survivors still facing immense suffering. Our humanitarian partners report that nearly 900,000 displaced people are sheltering in Tawila, where overcrowding and inadequate access to food, clean water, sanitation, shelter, and healthcare are putting enormous pressure on already overstretched services. Attacks on civilian infrastructure are also continuing. Drone strikes today reportedly hit power substations in Al-Faw and Al-Hawata in Gedaf states, causing widespread electricity outage. And over the weekend, strikes reportedly hit fuel and transport stations in Um Hawaba in North Kordofan. Our humanitarian colleagues stress that the international community must not turn away from the suffering of Sudan's civilians, and that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law must be held accountable. With less than three months remaining in the year, Sudan's nearly $2.9 billion humanitarian response plan is just over 46% funded, with $1.32 $3 billion received so far. And now, turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our senior Ebola coordinator, Julianne Harnis, has expressed outrage over the killing of a nurse working in the Ebola response in Bafoua-Sende in Tshuapo Province on Saturday, as confirmed by national authorities. Mr. Harnis The Secretary of Health, Dr. Arnes, stressed that the loss of a health worker is a blow to the Ebola response and an even greater loss for patients and communities affected by the outbreak. The health worker was reportedly attacked by protesters, while a school principal involved in the response was also seriously injured. Separately, a health center in Mangobo Health Zone in the provincial capital, Kinsangani, was looted today, according to local sources. During the incident, a health worker was reportedly assaulted and held against his will before being released. Medical supplies and equipment were stolen, and the facility was ransacked. These incidents highlight how violence and mistrust can undermine the Ebola response and limit access to essential health services. as the numbers of confirmed cases approach 10,000, according to national authorities. We are engaging with national and provincial authorities to follow up on these incidents, strengthen and protection of health facilities, and ensure that health workers and humanitarian personnel can continue delivering lifesaving assistance safely. I just have another couple more notes to go through, and then we open for questions. There have been some questions recently raised in the media about the Secretary-General's proposal regarding UNAIDS, and we want to offer you some clarifications. What is clear is that over the past three decades, UNAIDS has played an essential role in the success achieved in the fight against HIV and AIDS, supporting governments, people, and communities around the world. Recent funding cuts have put hard-won gains in jeopardy, and new surges in HIV at risk of being left behind. The Secretary-General's intention from the outset has been to preserve and protect the UN HIV response by transitioning the program work to its partners in the UN and civil society on the ground. A phased transition will allow for transfer of capacity and expertise with minimum disruption to the six lead UN co-sponsors, who have already been working with UN AIDS to deliver HIV/AIDS programs on the grounds. We are confident that a well-calibrated time-bound transition can safeguard critical expertise and capacity on HIV/AIDS and anchor it more firmly at country level with the UN country team as it works in the longer term to transition to national institutions and capacities. That's what this transition is about, protecting the gains we have made and ensuring that the HIV/AIDS response is accelerate, and it continues to reach the people and communities who need it most. And just to flag that the World Food Program has a new executive director, Luke Lindberg, who took office today. He marked it with a call to donors and partners to help sustain the agency's work, saying conflict is driving people into hunger, with extreme weather and maritime choke points making it worse. He also said that governments, business, and individuals need to stand with WFP and get food to people before it is too late. Okay, we have Some time for questions now before our guest and our next briefing. Edith, please go ahead.

Thank you very much, Shereen. Excuse me. Does the Secretary General have any comment on the results of the two major elections yesterday in Serbia and in Brazil?

I can tell you that in Brazil, the Secretary General takes note of the peaceful and participatory conduct of the second round of presidential elections held on 25th of October, which was yesterday, and the Brazilian civic engagement and commitment to the democratic process. The UN reaffirms its readiness to continue working with Brazil on issues of shared interests on the international agenda, including sustainable development, human rights, climate action, and peace and security. And the Secretary General, sorry, and the Secretary General also takes notes of the election you mentioned, the other election you mentioned in Serbia, and he also commends the people of Serbia for the elections.

Thank you for the briefing. You mentioned the first day of Luke Glimberg, the new EDIAT World Food Program. Is there any sense of what the priorities are? They were different than the past presidents. How he will change the mandate of both Cindy McCain, of David Beasley, and is there a chance to get a briefing here?

We can definitely try. We work on that to get a briefing for you. I would say that WFP will continue to do its very important work it does around the world, helping people in very vulnerable situations. And I recommend you also to get in touch with our colleagues from WFP on any further comments.

Great. Thank you.

Abdelhamid.

Thank you for the briefing. First, I want to ask you about the collective punishment that the Israelis are imposing on the West Bank tomorrow. They're closing the whole West Bank. Don't you see that as a collective punishment and should be clearly condemned, not only mentioned in the briefing?

As you know, as I just described to you now, for all of you now, I just read all these notes here for you, and very extensive also in detail what the SG, the Secretary-General, said today in relation to the West Bank. As he has previously said, he is also deeply, he is alarmed by the Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, and he condemns that. But I have nothing, I recommend you to have look to his remarks, he, you know, for to the press conference today he had of your colleagues in Cairo.

I read it thoroughly. And in one of his statement in the speech in Cairo University, he said that the independent team of inquiry in the West Bank, occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel, he said that it reached disturbing conclusions. That what he said. But he didn't say what the conclusion that team had found, that there is a genocide in Gaza. Why he didn't mention the conclusion? Is it only disturbing conclusion? Why he didn't mention?

Ambassador, I have nothing to add more than the words from the Secretary-General. I think the Secretary-General is the best. We try to speak for him here, but no one can speak for himself better than him, and he did spoke extensively on the issue of Israel and Palestine. Third question behind. Thanks.

Thank you for the briefing. On possible trilateral meeting between the US, Russia, and China. over the APEC summit. I was curious, does the SG think that this meeting could help to settle the Ukrainian crisis? And would he be willing to support any conclusion out of this meeting?

We welcome any efforts that can bring this conflict to an end, and the Secretary-General has always made his good office available as requested.

If I may, please, one more on France. The protests in France have been going for over a month, with last huge protest this weekend. Does the SG think that French authorities are doing enough to calm down the situation and tackle the looting and all the mess around it? Thank you.

General said even last week speaking to you, you know, whether it's in France or anywhere in the world, people who have grievance should be able to demonstrate safely and peacefully.

Thank you for the briefing. My name is Sylviane Zahid.

Thanks, Sylviane.

Following the UN Commission of Inquiry's report on alleged crime against humanity in the West Bank, what steps can the UN take to investigate these allegations and ensure accountability under international law?

We always emphasize here, the Secretary-General also emphasizes the need for accountability in any case of attacks against civilians and so on.

I have another question.

Okay, please go.

On Lebanon. What diplomatic leverage does the United Nations have to ensure that both Israel and Lebanon meet their commitments, given the United States' leading role in the negotiations?

As the Secretary-General has been very clear, the Sorry. We hope that all parties to this conflict will understand that the most important thing right now is to end this conflict. The territorial integrity of Lebanon needs to be respected by its neighbors, including Israel, and the monopoly of the use of force, the monopoly by the Lebanese army of its territory and its security services also needs to be respected.

Thank you. I just have an in-house question. When does the Secretary General come back? When he’s coming back to New York?

He’s going to be back here tomorrow morning. That’s the information I have, the Secretary General. He’s returning from Egypt today, and he’ll be back here tomorrow morning.

Thank you.

Linda.

Thank you. Apropos of the SG’s speech today, he mentioned Security Council resolution 2803 ending the Gaza war, and that important parts of it have not yet been implemented by either side. And I was wondering if you could just shed some more light or be exact in what he meant.

I like the same thing I just said to Abdelhamid and Linda. I have nothing to add apart from what the SG, the Secretary General, said today on his remarks. I think he really spoke in depth on the issues, both at the University and today speaking to your colleagues, and I have nothing else to add. Thanks. At the back, please.

Thank you so much. On Syria, the media reports showed that in a town called or Talabyad in Arabic, crowds attacked Kurdish families who had returned to reclaim their houses. They burned their cars and left around 100 families sheltering in a government building for hours. And this is a second attack on Kurdish returnees there since August. Does the Secretary General have a message for Syrian authorities? And does the UN play any role in these returns?

I haven't really seen these reports, okay? But as we have said here many times, it's important that everyone of the nationalities, the minorities, religious minorities, ethnic minorities in Syria feel safe in their country. And this is the responsibility of the interim authorities, the authorities to ensure that this is the case. Yes, Abdelhamid. I can take one more before we go to our guests, because they are waiting. I'm sorry about that. We can continue this.

Yeah, exactly. I think three days ago, there was a hate crime committed in Paris. And when the person was arrested, he said, "I was targeting blacks and Arabs." Such a hate crime, how it could pass without being condemned by the office of the spokesperson? Thank you.

As you know, Abdelhamid, we condemn any hate crimes and we always being very spoken about that. With that, I'm gonna call our guest to brief you. Just give me a second, please don't go away.

Hi, hello.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Yeah. Yeah.

Thank you so much. Okay, I want to, first of all, thank you so much, say thanks so much for our guests and thanks for your patience for waiting. I know we're a bit late here today. Our guests are Niyadazya Gumbonzawanda. I'm sorry if I don't, maybe you can help me with your pronunciation of your name, and who is the Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support from UN System Coordination and Program Results at UN Women, and also Sarah Hendrix, who is the Director of Policy Program and Intergovernmental Division, also with UN Women. I'm going to give you the floor and then we'll open for questions. Thank you so much. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Before I begin, I want to honour the lives lost to war, the women, men, boys and girls whose futures were taken from them, and our own colleagues in the United Nations who lost their lives while trying to save others. Every day, war and violence unfold before our eyes, on our phones, on our television screens, in an endless stream of images of destroyed homes, Grieving mothers, injured children, families fleeing for their lives. We see it all. And yet, we are not seeing the whole picture. Today, the report we are launching, this UN Secretary-General's report on women, peace and security, puts evidence behind those images and confronts us with the devastating reality. War is getting deadlier for women and for girls and for civilians, and the world is allowing it to happen because war is preventable. Last year, more than 37,000 civilians killed were killed in armed conflict. One in four was a woman or a girl. That proportion has doubled since 2021. At least 25 women and girls killed every day. Today, More than 750 women and girls live within 50 kilometers of an armed conflict. For them, war is not something they can scroll past. War is outside their door. War follows women into maternity wards, into classrooms, into kitchens, into the places where families should be safe. Bringing a child into the world should never be a death sentence, but for a woman giving birth in a conflict-affected country is five times more likely to die from maternal causes than a woman giving birth in a stable country. In Gaza, the destruction of hospitals and maternity facilities and the collapse of access to essential supplies have contributed to a 41% decrease in life births and a 300% increase in miscarriages. Across crisis affected countries, girls who are two and a half times more likely to be out of schools. In Afghanistan, the world's most severe women's rights crisis in the world today, girls are being denied the education that could transform their lives. And we must not forget the wars and crisis that rarely make the headlines. the conflicts that have disappeared from our screens, but not from the lives of women and girls enduring them. And for women and girls who survive wars, the burden is relentless. Finding food when markets have been destroyed, finding water when infrastructure has collapsed, caring for children older relatives, and the wounded when health systems no longer function. In conflict-affected countries, women and girls spend five times as many hours on unpaid domestic care work as men and boys. And then is the violence that often goes unseen. In 2025, the United Nations verified 9,788 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, more than twice as many as the previous year, almost four times as many as in 2022. And we know the real number is far higher. In Haiti, reported cases of sexual violence rose by 163%. These are women and girls whose bodies have become targets of war, whose suffering continues long after the attacks. Women are paying the price of wars they have also no power to end. Women are also showing us what peace building looks like. They mediate disputes before they turn into violence. They negotiate safe spaces for families trapped in fighting. They protect survivors of sexual violence. Women hold communities together when institutions collapse. Yet, When peace negotiations begin, when ceasefires are drafted, when the future of their countries is decided, women are not part of the conversations. In 2025, women made-up 5% of negotiations across 57 peace processes. Not one of the 13 ceasefire agreements explicitly prohibited conflict-related sexual violence. Today, we are seeing so much suffering that we risk becoming numb to it. But we cannot allow the extraordinary scale of human suffering to become ordinary. We cannot scroll past the suffering of women and girls as though it were inevitable, and those with power to stop it cannot look away. We cannot have security measured by weapons a country possesses. But by whether a girl can walk safely to school, a woman can live free from violence, and families can go to sleep without fear or fall. The numbers in this report are shocking, but they are not inevitable. They are results of decisions, decisions about who to protect, whose voice we hear, whose lives we value, and where we are, and where we put our resources, our message Today is simple: End the wars. Stop the killing of women, girls, and all civilians. Uphold international law. End impunity. Bring women into every peace negotiation as decision-makers. And fund the women’s organizations that are saving lives and building peace every day. The world does not need more statements about the suffering of civilians. It needs more action to stop that suffering. The United Nations Charter, our charter, was born from the devastation of war. Its promise was that future generations would not have to endure the same horrors. We cannot honor that promise whilst accepting endless war as the world's new normal. War is a human choice. So is peace. And our call is for peace, for every woman, for every girl, for every civilian, for every family, in every country and without exception. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you so very much, Deputy Executive Director and your Adzai, for your powerful but also comprehensive account of what war looks like through the lived realities, through the lives of women and girls. I'd like to share with those who are present today some additional facts that are found in the Secretary General's report, which is indeed being launched today, and what it makes clear. In 2025, just last year, the world recorded more than 185 conflicts, including 65 state-based conflicts. And what's important about this statistic is that this is the highest number recorded since the year 1946. In essence, wars are multiplying, the ways that wars are fought are changing, and it is women and girls who are paying the price. Indeed, drones and long-range weapons are increasingly targeting populations. They're targeting populations in the very places where women and girls live their lives, in schools, in markets, in hospitals. All of these are increasingly coming under attack and also through deliberate forms of attacks. AI-enabled military technologies are introducing new risks at the very same time that we see the respect for international law actually eroding. And of course, a school should be a place where girls go to learn, not where they fear for their lives. A hospital should be a place where new mothers go to give birth in safety, not where they struggle indeed to survive or risk being killed. Yet in too many conflicts, even the places where women and girls should actually be safest have become the very places of danger themselves. And while these threats grow, the world's priorities actually tell us another very deeply troubling story. And again, here I'm going to bring a data point to you. And that is that in 2025, global military expenditure reached almost $2.9 trillion. And to put this into context, that's 776 times the annual regular budget of the United Nations, $2.9 trillion. International assistance this last year also fell by 23%, and we expect the projections to be quite dire with further falls due this year. And funding for women's rights organizations and women's movements in conflict settings fell to just about $168 million. last year. Again, to put that into context, this is a fraction of what the world spends on a daily basis on the weapons of war. When funding disappears the way it has, when that funding disappears, the violence doesn't actually stop. The changes, the needs of women don't actually stop. What stops is the support being provided to those very same women and girls. So what does this mean? What does it mean for the daily lived realities of women and girls living really in the shadow of war? What it means is that there are fewer services available for survivors of violence. It means that there are fewer shelters actually operational. for women who are victims of violence. It means that women whose livelihoods have increasingly disappeared in the context of conflict, fewer of them are able to repair and restore those livelihoods. It also means that there are fewer women at the very, very decision making tables where peace and war actually decided upon. UN Women's latest research shows that 45% of women's organizations in humanitarian settings have about six months left of funding to be operational, to be meaningful on the front lines, to carry on their very brave and mission-oriented work. And 77% of those organizations have already lost staff. They've already closed their doors to many of their staff. These are the very organizations that are the first responders to women in need. They are the very organizations who are reaching women when others cannot, the organizations that are protecting women, that are safeguarding women, that are keeping essential services running, that are holding communities together when institutions collapse. And at the very, very moment when women and girls need them most, when wars are escalating and compounding around the world, we are actually dismantling the lifelines to those organizations themselves. The world, I think, cannot claim to stand beside and behind and with women and girls in conflict, while at the very same time cutting the funding that is the lifeline that enables them to stand at the front lines beside those women and girls. I will say there are some bright lights. I know we like to hear about bright lights, so let me point one out. And one of them is that Just last year, in 2025, 38% of UN entities actually drove funding to women-led and women's rights organizations on the ground in conflict and in crisis. What's important about that is that this is a figure that climbed from 25% just the year before. I think we need right now, we need action. We need governments to reverse their cuts, donors in particular, to reverse those cuts. We need to protect funding for gender equality. We need more to invest and make decisions to invest directly and sustainably in local women's organizations in conflict and crisis. I think women are not just living through these wars, that's often how they're characterized, that women are surviving, they're living through these wars, they're actually holding their families together. They are, in fact, sustaining communities, and they are the ones, as Inyaradza has highlighted, who are building the very foundations for peace. I do want to conclude by just reinforcing the last words of our Deputy Executive Director, who said that war is a choice, and so is peace. We cannot allow the extraordinary scale of human suffering to become ordinary. The figures are shocking. Every day I look at them and I think, my goodness, how much worse can it be? The figures are absolutely shocking. They make us all stop in our tracks. But the important thing to recognize is they're not inevitable. They are the result of human choice. War is a human choice, so is peace as a human choice. And it's time, we believe, as UN women, to make a very different choice. We know how much the world is prepared to spend on war. The question is, how much are we prepared to invest in peace and in the women who make that peace possible? With this, thank you so very much.

Thank you so much, Sara. Edie, please.

Thank you both very much on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association for doing this briefing. My name is Edith Lederer from the Associated Press. A couple of follow-up questions. What do you attribute this serious growth in conflict-related sexual violence to? And secondly, you mentioned that donors cut their contributions to $168 million. What is UN Women asking for now and how much has it received for 2026? Thank you.

Thank you so much for that question. I will speak to the attribution for the conflict-related sexual violence, and I will ask my colleague, our Director, Sarah Hendricks, to speak to the numbers in terms of resources and funding to UN Women. Women's bodies are the matrix of war, today and before. And we need to say this is not a new phenomena, but the increase is very evident and very visible. And this is also because of the context within which women have less power within their communities. and the importance that is placed on the value of women within society. Because when you rape somebody's daughter, somebody's mother, it actually also raises the issue of disrespect to the other. So it's not just about the women themselves, it's actually a targeting of a group of people against the other. So this is why the issue of sexual related violence is critical. It's also because there's impunity. Because we have impunity on addressing the issues of justice when women are sexually violated in conflict and in war, and therefore an assumption that nothing happens anyway. This is why the work that we do together, including with SRSG Pramila Paton's office, is very important, is really those key issues we continue to raise in the Security Council, why the Commission on the Status of Women this year focus on the issues of justice, that we must address the issues of justice in addition to the issues of prevention, because we need both the prevention aspect, but also we need the justice aspect in order to end the impunity, which is perpetuating the trend that we see on the numbers. I will ask my colleague, our director, to respond to the impact on funding. Thank you.

Thank you so very much, Edie, for your questions. And indeed, your question is an important one in terms of what is UN Women asking for. So women, peace, and security is our largest area of expenditure across UN Women's strategic plan. On an annual basis, our expenditure is about $144 million. But of course, that does not reflect the scope or the scale of the need. UN Women's work in women, peace, and security spans a number of critical areas. And this includes, critically, the areas of amplifying the voices of women and girls in crisis and conflict, ensuring that their voices are heard right at the Security Council, but also in their own communities. Secondly, we investigate and document atrocities committed against women and girls in conflict with our funding. Third, we invest in women-led initiatives to build peace, to ensure security is promoted, to ensure that there is social cohesion also post-conflict. Fourthly, we work with governments to support policy reforms. The fact that there are now 118 governments with national action plans on women, peace, and security is largely the result of UN Women's direct funding that it receives and the way in which we work across security and justice sectors and all decision-making platforms to prioritize the WPS agenda. And importantly, we also collect and share data, ensuring that there are global knowledge products, that there is enhanced awareness. I will say that part of our advocacy is also around the investment needs itself. And the Secretary General's recommendation is that 1% of all ODA, of all overseas development assistance in conflict affected countries is actually channeled directly to women's organizations. And that is the existential crisis we're raising the room on now. The current average is 0.4%. Some donors, very, very few, have surpassed this 1%, but we need many, many more to do so in order for there to be real change for women and girls. Thank you.

Abderhomi.

Thank you so much for the briefing. My name is Abdulhamid Sayam from the Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, and I have two questions. First, I want to thank you for mentioning Gaza. But I also have a question. Why no one from UN Women dared to visit Gaza? Neither the executive director or anyone from the senior. leadership of UN Women, and you know what happened in Gaza, you mentioned some of it. And the second question related to that, that you normally talk about the crime, but not the criminal. You talk about victims, but not the victimizers. You talked about destruction of hospitals and schools. We don't know who did it. Always the criminal or the doer is absent in this most of the UN briefers, including two today in the Security Council talked about children in armed conflict, but Gaza was not mentioned. Thank you.

Thank you so much for those very important questions. I take the last is also in encouragement and in advice to us that it's not enough to have the perspective of the victims of crimes and victims of violence and of war, but an important mentioning of the perpetrators of war. So as we look into the Secretary-General's report, I think this is very important for us to look into the details. Yes, UN Women is present in terms of the response to Gaza. We have a huge program and we are part of the humanitarian leads in the response to the crisis in Gaza. But what we are specifically mentioning is a visit, it's a specific visit. So we take that also as advice to continue to say we need to continue to have our physical presence. We have the physical presence, we have our response and our interventions in the country and in Palestine in the region from Egypt and Jordan. So, yes, we really appreciate the strong focus that you are emphasizing in terms of the need for the UN, but UN leadership has been in Gaza. It might not be UN Women, but we also are very conscious that we work in an integrated way as the United Nations system, and therefore, even the report of the Secretary-General is not just a report of the work of UN Women, it is also the work and the response of the UN is assisting. But thank you so much for your comments and for your advice.

And allow me just to complement what our Deputy Executive Director has highlighted. Indeed, as Inyaraza has highlighted, UN Women is present in Gaza through our Gaza sub-office, as well as together with Palestinian colleagues who continue to work, as you know and as you imagine, under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. remaining by women and for women in a place of deep, egregious rights violations. We also work through women-led and women's rights organizations that are in Raza to provide protection, to provide cash assistance, to provide essential services and support for women's participation in humanitarian decision-making. And I'm very thankful to be able to report to you that our Chief of Humanitarian Action indeed did visit Raza just this year. Just some months ago, she traveled through Raza from Jabalia in the north to Al-Mawasi in the south, and our team continues to document the experience of women and girls right across Raza and indeed across the State of Palestine. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any further questions? Pam, please.

I don't know if this -- there it is. Thank you.

You got it.

Just a quick follow-up. Quick follow-up, Pamela Falk from U.S. News and World Report. There seems to be, and this may be non-UN data, a stagnation of women ambassadors numbers. throughout the UN. If that is true, I guess it's hard to rely on that for the question, but what to what do you attribute, it's sort of a follow-up on Edie's question, the short, the reduction of funding on UN women's issues and How to, I mean, you said it doesn't have to be that way, but how are you reversing it? I mean, public information, anything else? Thank you.

Thank you so much. UN Women is established with that resolution in 2010, and therefore, our main ask is to the member states. We, the people. includes we, the women. It includes those first committee of the United Nations, including the Committee on the Status of Women. Therefore, it's at the heart of the imperatives of the United Nations. So our ask is to the Member States to continue to invest resources on that which they decided on, because it is the decision of the Member States to establish UN Women, to have the Convention, to end all forms of discrimination, to have the Beijing Conference that ushered in a profound political commitment of the Member States. So it's about prioritization. As we said in our initial briefing and as Director Sarah Hendricks emphasized, It's not that the world is less, it's a question of choice. So we are asking the member states, we are asking the donors to say in making that choice, it's the choice around resourcing and putting funding to improving the status of women, their protection, Including an end to war is an important investment in the lives of women and their families, the important prioritization that we need for protection of their rights. of women, for access to justice, the funding that is needed to the community level interventions by the women's organizations. So yes, it's funding to UN Women, but ultimately the critical funding is to the interventions in the countries, in the communities, that is responding to the status of women and children, and to the status of girls. Because that is an obligation that exists, and we are also grateful for the many donors who have continued to stand with UN Women, who continue to support the efforts of the organization, who continue to put resources through our trust fund, the Violence Against Women Trust Fund, or the Women, Peace, and Humanitarian Fund. and/or through the Peacebuilding Fund or the SDG Fund. So yes, it's not adequate, it's not sufficient, but we also want to recognize those who are really standing up in the midst of all these pressures that we have to say these issues on women, peace and security, remains a priority. There are much more. I was born in war. I grew up in war. understand what it means when women in the villages, in our community say, we are looking up to the international community. When they say we are looking up to the United Nations, it means those structures within the United Nations that reach and call to the international community must really be resourced because there are people out there sleeping under a bridge, walking long distances, who are looking up to us the international community. And therefore, this is very important, not only for saving lives from a humanitarian point of view, but from really ensuring peace, because that's what they are asking for. And indeed, they are also asking for justice, for end of impunity, because as was the earlier question, we also know that perpetrator anonymity sustains impunity, and this requires resources for there to be investigations and to be the necessary support to respond to these issues. Again, thank you for your question.

Sarah.

Sure, and thank you also, Pam, for highlighting, I think, the realities of what we're seeing around the context of women in diplomacy. And you are correct that what we see is that the dominance of spaces that are dominated by men is indeed reflective in senior diplomatic roles, where men hold the majority of permanent representatives, about 83% here in New York, 72% in Geneva, 69% in Vienna, as of about May of this year. And I think this is a concentration of power that limits the diversity of perspectives shaping decision making. It limits the diversity of inputs, and it ultimately weakens peace processes and post-conflict recovery. But importantly, the Secretary General's report today really drives home a point that it is the absence of women's political leadership and power, that needs to change, both in terms of diplomatic posts, but also of women who are leading countries. And we see that this is also quite grave in the context of conflict, where women hold just about 22% of cabinet positions. That is 20% of cabinet positions, that way below the average for the world when you look at conflict. And that for conflict-related sexual violence, we see that gaining speed in the very places where women are not heading ministries of defense, where women are not heading ministries of finance. I think the report puts an emphasis on global military expenditure for a reason, because the world is spending so much money on war and neglecting investing in what actually prevents it, which is women's leadership, which is power in women's hands. And as we see armed conflict reaching its highest level in 80 years, we are seeing at the very same time a underinvestment into women's political leadership, including in conflict settings, including at the peace table. And this, we believe, needs to change. Thank you.

Thanks. I think we have one more question here, please.

Thank you so much. My name is Nathan Kuma. And I'm a Doug Hammerschmidt Fellow. We come from the same country, I'm from Zimbabwe. So my first question, I just have two short questions. So my first question is that there have been like documented incidents in which they've been deceptive. There have been like women and young people being recruited through receptive methods into military related roles through like fake job offers and study offers. And so I just wanted to know, are there any action plans to raise awareness against this? And also, given that, ma'am Hendricks, from your presentation, given that women and girls are disproportionately affected by armed conflict, So how is the United Nations, like UN Women, pushing for safeguards on AI warfare to protect women and girls from issues like algorithmic bias and wrongful targeting? Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I will respond to your first question around recruitment of young people. And I'll ask Director Sarah Hendricks to speak to the AI, to the IA question. It is unacceptable that recruitment should be by coercion. The rule of the international law related to how war is conducted has to be respected. I mean, if people have to fight a war, they are part of the formal security sector. The recruitment of young people by coercion, by fake job offers, it's unacceptable because that in itself is leading to vulnerability for young people. What is needed is security for young people, employment, jobs, so that they are not at risk this recruitment, it is very important that protection measures that we are talking about is also protection measures around cohesion into military, into any military related activities without full consent or full knowledge, or only to discover that that is what they are involved in. And for us, this is also very important focusing on girls, that at times, girls and young, for young women and girls, Such recruitment results at times in the sexual violence that we are talking about, in the forced marriages, in the rape that at times is undocumented within these military groups. So thank you so much for that very important question around how protection needs to go also to looking at the situation of young people. And this is why the youth, peace, and security agenda is very important in how in our work on women, peace and security, we make a clear and direct linkage with the youth peace and security agenda. Thank you very much.

Thank you also for your second question around artificial intelligence and new technologies. Indeed, AI and new military technologies are changing the ways in which wars are fought. They're changing the very nature of wars, the increasing use of drones, the increasing use of long range weapons, and AI enabled military systems really raises serious concerns about civilian protection, about the way in which the very spaces where women and girls inhabit on a daily basis, whether that's markets, hospitals, schools, how those are increasingly being deliberately targeted. and what this means for women and girls' lives. As we've highlighted in this briefing, just this last year, one in four civilians killed in armed conflict was actually a woman or girl. And this is double the proportion of just four years earlier, which is a significant concern. And while we cannot directly attribute that this increase to women's vulnerability is due to AI or due to drones, I think the risks are increasingly clear, and the risks are such that we need to face them very soberly and squarely on. Technology does not remove human responsibility. Technology is not an escape card for the fact that war is a human choice. The deliberate consequences of war are indeed the result of human choices, and therefore we need stronger safeguards around artificial intelligence and new military technologies. We need full compliance with international humanitarian law. We need independent and effective monitoring and accountability for unlawful attacks. And in particular, we need to ensure that the protection of women and girls is never a sideline issue, that it means ensuring that they have equal power in the very decisions that matter for their very lives, for their very survival in the context of conflict, about the technologies that are being developed, about the technologies that are being designed and deployed, including technologies that affect decisions on peace and security. There, too, we need women and girls at the table. The future of war essentially cannot be shaped without the voices of those who bear the gravest and most severe consequences of war, and that is, of course, women and girls. Thank you for your thoughtful question.

Thank you so much. I don't think we have any further questions in the room. I want to thank our guests very much for bringing us information, such an important report. Thank you very much. And you now have a very short, we have a briefing with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. Thank you.