Artificial Intelligence, Finances & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Okay.
All right.
Good afternoon.
There's still a bit more work for you to do after this briefing, as you will have a briefing at 1:00 from Ambassadors Nanukugo and Gay, the primary representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who will be here in his capacity as president of the Security Council for the month of July, he will talk to you about the program of work.
There will be interpretation, French to English, English, French.
Um, but the briefing will be in person only.
Obviously, you can still follow on UN web TV if you just want to watch.
And listen.
As you heard from the Secretary-General a few minutes ago, when he introduced the preliminary report on the Independent Scientific Panel on AI, he reminded us that the panel, which is made up of 40 experts from around the world, is the first global fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of artificial intelligence across economies and societies.
Report will inform the discussions taking place next week at the first global dialogue on artificial intelligence governance, which is taking place in Geneva, as I mentioned.
As he announced himself, the Secretary-General will be in Geneva on Monday to take part in the dialogue and deliver a keynote address.
He's also scheduled to hold a number of bilateral meetings with leaders who will be attending the AI summit.
Um, the Secretary-General in a statement we issued last night welcomed the decision by the General Assembly to reform the financial rules that were putting the organization's stability at risk.
By its actions, the Assembly has agreed to introduce on a four year trial period, new methodology to ensure that unspent funds are returned to member states only when they are backed by cash.
The Secretary-General said this decision will allow us to manage resources, especially for regular peacekeeping budgets in a more predictable and responsible way and to better deliver on the mandates given to us by those very member states.
The Secretary-General added that he had been calling for this change since very early in his mandate.
And as he just said to you an hour ago, he is grateful to member states for taking the important action, which will greatly benefit the incoming administration and contribute to the financial stability of the organization for a number of years.
We also shared the statements by the President of General Assembly yesterday that also welcome the action.
And I think you had a pretty interesting briefing from our controller, Mr.
Chandro a while ago.
And on peacekeeping colleagues add that without the change approved by the General Assembly, the UN would have been forced to return $224 million now and another nearly 900 million by June of next year.
The change, together with payments in full and on time by member states will allow peacekeeping missions to continue implementing their mandates and reverse some of the negative impact of the contingency plans implemented during the recently concluded budget cycle.
Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix thanked member states for their efforts and the time they devoted to reaching these agreements.
He said that we will continue working to improve performance and efficiency so that we can deliver the greatest possible impact for the people and communities we serve, including by helping to protect civilians, monitor and maintain ceasefires, and advanced solutions for lasting peace.
Our Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed is in Geneva today, where on the margins of the 58th meeting of the UN AIDS Program coordinating board, she participated in discussions with various stakeholders, including member states and civil society.
While there, she also met with senior UN officials from across the system as part of the broader UN AD consultation process.
The Deputy Secretary-General is heading back to New York tonight.
Um, I don't sorry, turning to Lebanon, Our colleagues from the Humanitarian Affairs Department tell us that according to authorities and the International Organization for Migration, approximately 40% of over 1 million people displaced by conflict have returned to their home areas.
While this marks an important step towards recovery, thousands of people remain displaced and continue to rely on humanitarian assistance.
We reiterate that returns must be safe, they must be voluntary, they must be dignified, and people who return must have the access they need to humanitarian goods.
Meanwhile the World Food Program and its partners yesterday delivered much needed assistance to hard to reach areas across southern Lebanon.
We continue to stress that humanitarian access must be granted to all those who need it.
A quick update for you on Sudan.
Where human rights colleagues continue to document drone strikes in E Abid, resulting in further civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including schools, a site hosting internally displaced people and fuel stations and fuel tankers.
Damage to fuel and other critical infrastructure is affecting the provision of essential services, including electricity, water supplies, and all further constraining access to healthcare.
Human Rights Office, again, calls on all parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations.
Under international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution, civilians and civilian objects must not be targeted.
These are not new laws.
They have been in place for a long time.
And just to flag that Human Rights Council will hold an urgent meeting on Friday to address the human rights situation in El Obaid and High Commissioner Volker Türk is scheduled to deliver a statement.
Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory, our OCHA colleagues tell us that humanitarian partners today called for the protection of civilians in Gaza, including along the so called yellow line.
In a statement issued today, the humanitarian country team, which brings together the heads of UN agencies and NGOs working in the OPT, warned that continuing expansion of areas under Israeli control since the cease fire of October of last year is intensifying risk to civilians and further constraining humanitarian efforts.
Our human rights colleagues have verified the killing of 196 people, including 18 women and 43 children between October 10th and April of this year in Israeli attacks reported near areas where Israeli forces are deployed.
The statement noted that many people were reportedly killed while moving through areas lacking clear demarcation on the ground and that Palestinian civilians are now concentrated in increasingly limited areas, living amid insecurity and violence with limited access to services.
The statement also called for safe, unimpeded humanitarian access into and throughout the Gaza strip.
Meanwhile, on water and sanitation, UNICEF says yesterday that this week said yesterday that this week partners temporarily restored wastewater infrastructure serving Gaza City, enabling the pumping to resume after being non operational for the past two years.
So that is good news.
This reduces public health risks.
A humanitarians and partners tell us that more than 80% of families struggle to access safe and clean sanitation facilities.
And in the West Bank, yesterday, Deputy Special Coordinator Rami Akbarov led a field visit to more than 20 with more than 20 diplomats who met communities impacted by demolitions, evictions and threat of forcible transfer movement restrictions and other longstanding humanitarian concerns, all of that in the Jerusalem governoorate.
Speaking from Augusta Victoria Hospital, doctor Alek Baroff underscored the importance of sustained international attention to East Jerusalem, highlighting the vital role that hospital plays in providing specialized health care for Palestinians.
Also, he noted that so far in 2026, about 360 people have been displaced and over 150 structures demolished in East Jerusalem.
And turning to Venezuela, our humanitarian partners are scaling up assistance for search and rescue operations, our colleagues at OCHA tell us that in LaGuara, the support includes management of temporary shelter sites, installation of tents and of beds, primary healthcare, mental health, psychosocial support, child friendly spaces, and water and sanitation services as well.
The World Food Program has provided ready to eat food rations that is supporting community kitchens, while UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration, UNHCR UN Population Fund, the Pan American World Health Organization, and others are assisting with shelter services, healthcare, hygiene support, and other basic necessities.
OSHA has also coordinated the Rapides assessment with humanitarian partners to identify priority needs to help inform the next phase of the response to these earthquakes.
Our humanitarian colleagues note that international support remains significant with 53 urban search and rescue teams from 29 countries already supporting national authorities.
As rescue efforts continue, humanitarian organizations are preparing for the transition to broader relief and recovery activities.
Um, And from Ukraine, our colleagues at the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that between June 26th and this morning, hostilities and strikes killed and injured several civilians, including children in Dnie Pro Japaritzh Kharkiv regions were among the hardest hit, and civilians across Sumi, Kerson, Donets, and Chernihv also continued to be impacted by attacks.
That's what local authorities are telling our colleagues.
Um, our social excuse me, our humanitarian organizations supported by UN agencies alongside first responders and municipal authorities have provided first aid and psychological support.
They've also distributed, um materials and water and food.
New resident coordinators to share with you.
One is Dmitri Shlapachenko of Ukraine, who the Secretary-General has appointed as resident coordinator in Azerbijan and Xo Jun Grace Hwang of China as resident coordinator in Turkmenistan, both started today.
We welcome them and congratulate them and forgot to flag a note from Central African Republic.
Where the head of our peacekeeping mission there, Valentin Rugwabiza strongly condemned an attack carried out yesterday by members of an armed group in Amdafk on the border with Sudan, as well as gunfire targeting a peacekeeping temporary operating base there.
Three of our Zambian peacekeeping colleagues were injured, including one seriously, as they were conducting a patrol to protect civilians.
The injured peacekeepers were lifted to appropriate medical facilities.
They are in stable condition, and we wish them a quick recovery.
As you are aware, attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.
Chris, you better stand up.
We have two quizzes for you today.
Besides being the last day of the month, what is August 31st? It is the deadline to get your colleagues to register for media passes for UGA.
If you are currently holding a valid trespass, you do not need to apply.
But all of your colleagues, camera people, producers, anchors with big egos who want to show up the day before don't have a pass a credit to them before the 31st.
The other one is we have a payment, and this country is an archipelago consisting of 33 natural islands and an additional 50 artificial islands created from land reclamation projects.
It is in the Middle East.
Sorry.
No, ma'am.
No, it is the smallest country by area in the Middle East.
Its word means its name means two seas, I'm told in Arabic.
Very good.
Finally.
All right.
So we thank our friends in Mana for regular payment, 119 and they've sent us $1,599,795, which we accept.
All right.
Gabriel.
Steph.
In the SG's remarks about the AI report that came out, he said that soon he will set out proposals to help countries build the capacity to adequately deal with this technology.
When he said soon, what's the timeline on that? What's the thinking on when he's going to give some Thank you.
You'll hear a bit more of that in his remarks in Geneva on Monday.
Okay.
And that's it for now.
Thanks.
That's it for now.
Okay, Noreen.
Following up on Gabriel's question about the Secretary-General remarks about the AIA panel and the report that's come out and what he said about setting out proposals to help countries build capacity to deal with AI technology.
Will he also use that time to also advocate for putting in proper regulations or governance over the use of AI in the military domain? Because that is not something that is covered in the panel itself.
Is something he's spoken about already a while ago about unmanned autonomous weapons that are powered by AI without any human control, and he has called for the banning of such weapons and will continue to do so.
But is that enough? Because we can see just in the context of current conflicts today that parties to conflicts, whether they are non state actors or non state actors are using AI not just in weapons use, but in other domains, in other sectors as well through cyberattacks or even in the creation of propaganda.
Is that something that the Secretary-General will bring forward in his discussions to member This is something he has raised.
I mean, as you know, the Secretary-General doesn't have the authority to implement such regulation, but he will continue to call for the banning of such weapons and for member states to agree on an international level on the proper regulation.
Yes, Ahmed, then we'll go there.
Thank you, Steph.
We now know that the Lebanon Israel Framework Agreement does not immediately call for the withdrawal of Israeli authorities from Southern Lebanon, but instead outlines a sequenced process contingent on the disarmament of Hezbollah.
That sounds, of course, a lot like the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
We know the Secretary-General has expressed concern about Southern Lebanon facing the same fate as Gaza.
Does he believe this agreement risks creating those same conditions that he's warned about? Look, I think You know, in Lebanon, we already have Security Council frameworks, Security Council resolutions that call for the government of Lebanon to have the sole monopoly on the use of weapons, to have the sole monopoly on the authority of its own country.
This is what UNIFIL has been and will continue to work with the Lebanese armed forces in that regard.
Our special coordinator's office continuing to work with the Lebanese on that regard more on the political track, we will continue to push that.
People, you know, every member state and every group needs to respect the sovereignty of Lebanon and needs to respect the authority of its government.
Yes, ma'am.
And then we'll go.
Thank you.
This is Tui with China Central Television.
I have two questions about AI.
So the UNICEF has called for children's safety and rights to be placed at the center of the issue.
And how does the Secretary-General will build this call? Yeah, I mean, the Secretary-General fully supports UNICEF in that regard and the report, and I think this is an issue that was also mentioned by both Joshua and Maria during the briefing.
And my second question is about China will host the 2026 World AI Conference and the high level meeting on the global AI governance in Shanghai later this month so that the Secretary-General see this is as an important opportunity to advance international cooperation on the AI governance.
Secretary-General and his staff will seize any and every opportunity to enhance the global dialogue.
Will he attend? We don't have any travel to announce it at this point.
Era then pan the am Hold on your microphone.
There we go.
It isn't working.
Yeah.
Thank you.
US Ambassador Jeff Bartos yesterday at Unra's pledging conference, essentially argued that continuing to fund Unwra means continuing to fund a system that has been infiltrated by Hamas subsidizing terrorism.
My question is, why is the security General asking countries to put more money into that system rather than investing in the Board of Peace alternative, which has been endorsed by the Security Council? Well, I mean, a couple of points.
One, I think if you look back at the actions taken by Christian Saunders, by Philippe Lazzarini in taking strong action when they were presented with facts about a potential infiltration of people aligned with terror within Unoa.
I Unwa doesn't operate sort of immaculate conception.
It is there because there is a mandate given to it by the General Assembly, so we continue to fulfill that mandate.
It has a very important role to play on the humanitarian front.
And, you know, you mentioned the Board of Peace.
The resolution adopted by the Security Council supporting the Board of Peace, very clearly in black and white, calls on the UN to deliver on humanitarian goods and to take the lead on humanitarian activities in Gaza, and Unwa is part of that system.
You may.
Also, the UN watch has asked the Secretary-General to waive Filippe Lazzarini's immunity so national authorities can investigate those allegations you were talking about of infiltration of Hamas.
Will the Secretary-General consider that request? As far as I know, UN watch is not a judicial authority.
We have always, as a matter of principle, cooperated with investigations and national by national authorities.
Pam Demo, Yes, I wanted to make sure you noted that I was using my arm.
Oh, congratulations.
Thank you.
One on AI and one on the Iran, whatever agreement.
AI, there's been a lot of talk.
I didn't get to see the report fully yet, but about using AI for all the translations that would save the UN a lot of money.
It seems to have started in certain areas.
We all know that it has a long way to go in terms of needing a person to look, especially with foreign languages.
What's your sense of how AI is being used here or can be used here on translation? Well, I'll tell you, our Our Department of conference General Assembly conference services, the ACM, has been really at the forefront of using new technologies such as artificial intelligence for translation of texts, always done under the supervision of humans, of UN staffers who understand the issue and understand the politics of the issue.
But I can tell you, they have been very active in, in leveraging the technology to make the system more efficient and to be able to produce more and to enhance multilingualism.
Thank you.
And totally different topic, Iran, the agreements, I understand the UN is not playing a role in the negotiations thus far, but the IAA has been called in.
There are different versions of whether the IAA is now returning for inspections or not.
I understand it comes from Gross and IAA, but can you clarify it at all? No.
I cannot.
I think those are questions to be asked of our IA colleagues in.
But the UN isn't being consulted at all about what role, the UIA is a specialized independent agency.
They have a they have a very clear technical mandate when it comes to nuclear issues.
When you asked, is the UN being consulted, yes, but it is through the IEA.
You don't have a sense of whether they are actually going I would I would love to speak for everybody and everyone, but I cannot speak for them.
Thank you.
Thank you, Stephan.
In recent days, Iraq has been carrying out what many describe as the largest anti corruption sweep in years, arresting dozens of government officials, including sitting lawmakers.
Does the Secretary-General have any message for Iraqi authorities like this? Thank you.
We have no specific insight on those investigations, but I tell you, you're seeing the pictures that I've seen of monies found in walls and very strange places, I think, is very moving in a sense.
It is clear that globally, and our colleagues at UNODC have been very published many reports, that corruption is prevalent in so many parts of the world, north, south, east, and west, and it is incumbent on a government to take strong action against corruption for the benefit of its own people.
Yes, ma'am.
Yes, Madam Zina.
Thank you so much.
I'm looking to answer for the UNIFIL in Lebanon.
Do you know or do you have any information if the mission will be renewed there, their work there? That is a perfect question to ask the president of the General Assembly, president of security council in 14 minutes, and he can give you an update of what his colleagues are saying.
Let's see if there's another question I can't answer.
Go ahead, Gabriel.
Thanks, Steph.
I preface this question by acknowledging that there are lots of meetings that take place in this building, and the Secretary-General doesn't necessarily control who attends all these meetings, right.
With that said, next week, there's an international conference for police chiefs and interior secretary officials here at UN headquarters in New York.
Israeli National Security Minister Ithmar Ben Gavir is reportedly planning to attend.
Does the Secretary-General agree with him attending this conference in UN headquarters in New York? Look, uh, ministers from, I think, all member states having to do with police and national security were invited to attend Israel's member states and as of 192 other member states.
I think if you look back over the years, you've seen representatives that are being sent by various governments, you will know that the Secretary-General is not there to express an opinion on those representatives.
These are sovereign decisions taken by sovereign member states.
Yes, Linda, and then we will give you another 12 minute hydration break and then Evelyn, as well before the next half.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I'll be quick.
Just regarding another issue, the Houtis microphone a little closer to you.
The Houtis and the detention of UN staff, diplomats, NGOs, et cetera.
I mean, I know everyone's condemned them the Secretary-General, Security Council, et cetera, but what kind of are there any negotiations going on regionally or in other ways it forever it is sadly a forever thing, especially for those colleagues who remain in jail for no good reason, right, being held by the Houtis by the Ana.
Um, We have a point person on behalf of the UN system who puts in great effort to regularly engage with An Sarah, with the Houtis and others.
We continue.
I mean, the results are what they are.
I mean, I'll tell you, we would be the first one to announce a deliberation of all of our colleagues or some of our colleagues, but we are continuing to push, and we very much hope that all member states who have inroads can help us as well.
And just one question regarding the UN staff, are those primarily Yemes Yes, they're all.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Evelyn, and then we'll call it a day.
Thank you, staff.
Totally different Central African Republic.
Does the SG know if the unrest is carried out by the Wagner group? I mean, what we've seen, like, just in the attacks against our Zambian colleagues, these were by armed local armed groups.
Okay.
Enjoy the rest of the day and more briefings.