Commemoration of Genocide in Srebrenica & other topics - Daily Press Briefing

Really sorry because I'm late, but as always, it's things beyond my control.
In a short while, we will be joined in person by Anacláudia Rossbach who, as you know, is the Executive Director of UN Habitat.
She will also be joined by Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, permanent representative of Kenya to the United Nations.
They will also be joined by Shirley Price, who is a member of the UN Habitat Advisory Group on gender issues and also a member of the Jamaica Household Workers Union, among other organizations.
They will brief you on the renewing commitments of sustainable cities and communities and the launch of SDG 11 Global Synthesis Report 2026.
Tomorrow, I will be joined virtually from Haiti by Youri Saadallah, the Global emergency Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Maria Moita, the Director of the Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery from IOM.
They are part of a group of emergency directors who are on a mission to Haiti and this group includes UN agency representatives and representatives from large international and GOs.
This morning in the General Assembly, Courtney Ratt, the Secretary-General Chef De Cabinet delivered an address on behalf of the Secretary-General at the observance of the International Day of reflection and commemoration of the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica.
The day, as you know, honors the over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys, many who had sought refuge in a UN compound, who were killed during the genocide in 1995, as well as the thousands of women, children, and older persons who were forcibly displaced.
The Secretary-General called on member states to pursue accountability for the atrocities in Srebrenica and to take action against genocide and its warning signs, including the rise in hate speech that is fueling discrimination, division, and extremism globally.
As a reminder, the international day itself is marked on July 11th, which is Saturday and our UN team in Bosnia and Herzevina will be participating in those events.
This afternoon, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at a civil society special event on the UN 80 initiative.
In his remarks, he's expected to tell participants that the UN 80 is vital to our ability to succeed in the age of profound instability.
The challenges we face are complex, but they point to a simple truth and that is that the United Nations can only deliver on its promise if we dare to evolve.
The Secretary-General will also be highlighting the UN 80 initiative only succeeds if it strengthens our ability to deliver on the sustainable development goals, implement the PC for the future, and work in partnership with civil society.
That event will be broadcast live as of 3:00 P.M.
And I think we've shared those remarks with you.
Also, want to flag some travel by the Under Secretary-General for operational support at Tokare.
He'll be heading to Tokyo from the 13th to 17th of July, then Seoul from the 20th to 21st.
Beijing from the 22nd to 24th.
During the visit, he will meet with senior government officials to discuss operational support priorities, UN field missions, including capacity building for troop and police contributing countries through the Triangular Partnership Program, S for uniform peacekeepers and mission transitions and UN 80 related reforms and initiatives.
A quick update from our peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon UNIFIL peacekeepers continue to observe air violations with over 41 violations detected yesterday.
Peacekeepers also observed two Israeli defense forces, reconnaissance quadrcopters, and one armed quadcopter operating on the coastal road near El Bayada and later observed three strikes around 700 meters from a UN position in that very area.
Peacekeepers also observed airstrike near Kunin and sector West, which resulted in a secondary explosion, as well as an airstrike outside the area of operations in Nabath.
Peacekeepers continue to face restrictions on their freedom of movements around the mission's area of operations.
Yesterday, UNIFIL peacekeepers were temporarily stopped by IDF soldiers on the coastal road near Al Bayeda.
Soon after, the Israeli defense forces deployed a mobile barrier to halt a subsequent convoy, which, though in the end was later allowed to proceed.
Also, yesterday, peacekeepers reported 11 firing incidents from IDF forces positioned south of the blue line with one impacting near Shebba and the rest outside of the mission's area of operations.
Peacekeepers observed armored movements and tank fire in Sector East.
On the humanitarian front, displaced families in Lebanon continue to return across conflict impacted areas.
As of this week, more than 33,000 people remain in 325 collective shelters across the country.
Local authorities and humanitarian partners report limited access to basic services in Naba where many communities face shortages of water, shortages of electricity, and shortages of fuel.
Humanitarian partners supported by the humanitarian notification system continue to assist people in conflict related areas.
Also hard to reach areas between March and July 9th, over 370 humanitarian movements were facilitated in southern Lebanon with over 770 trucks delivering assistance to impacted areas.
Funding, as you can imagine, remains a major concern.
The revised flash appeal seeks $640 million to support 1.4 million people through August 2026.
To date, our appeal is only 42.2% funded.
We reiterate that all returns must be safe, they must be voluntary, and of course, dignified and people must have access to the humanitarian assistance that they need.
Turning to the occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza, more specifically, the Deputy Special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, doctor Amiz Akbaov together with our Deputy humanitarian coordinator, Susannah Takalk led a virtual diplomatic field visit to one of the displacement sites in Al-Mawasi in Han Yunus, Um, the visit was attended remotely through a video link by members of dozens of diplomatic missions who observed the living conditions and relief efforts at the site, interacting with displaced children and adults as well as aid workers.
You'll recall that just like journalists diplomatic missions have had difficulty getting into Gaza since October 2023.
At a distribution point within the site, diplomats joining the virtual visit saw how community members, including children, collected water carried by trucks.
This project is operated by local partner and funded by the occupied Palestinian humanitarian Fund.
Displaced people told diplomats that they need sustainable water services, especially during hot summer days and cash for work opportunities to feed families.
Participants in the virtual visit were also led through hundreds of tents crammed along the shoreline.
Doctor Alakbarov thanked the participants for their financial support to our relief efforts, indicating that more is needed to sustain and to scale up operations, including funding and political action to unblock persistent impediments.
Earlier today in Dare Alba, doctor Alakbarov met with heads of humanitarian agencies to discuss relief efforts and challenges.
In the afternoon, he also visited the Emirati Hospital in in Rafah.
I want to turn now to Sudan, where I can tell you we remain deeply concerned by the ongoing drone attack as well as disease outbreaks in the Kordofan region.
In North Kordofan we are continuing to get reports of drone strikes, including one that targeted a water truck in Hamrat Al Sheikh, leaving civilian casualties and further disrupting access to essential water supplies.
The disruptions of these essential services come as cholera continues to spread across Corfan.
On Wednesday, humanitarian partners reported a suspected case in El Obaid where continued drone attacks have led to severe water shortages.
Currently, water supply can meet only 20% of the city's needs.
We and our partners continue to respond to the cholera outbreak.
WHO reports that cholera response supplies have been prepositioned in El Obaid.
The broader humanitarian response, OCHA has already allocated more than $4 million through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund to our partners to provide critical relief to communities in Abai.
This will support food security, nutrition, healthcare, water, sanitation, and many other services.
Also in South Kordofan, UNICEF reported yesterday that health supplies have been delivered to the city of Abu Jabaya in support of both emergency and routine health services for some 240,000 human beings across the area.
We thank donors for their continued support and reiterate our appeal for increased timely and flexible funding.
The 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan is less than one third funded, having received $930 million to date out of the nearly 2.9 billion needed.
And just a quick update on Pka Haveso, the SG's envoy for Sudan.
He concluded his visit to Chad, where he met with the Prime Minister, along with several other cabinet members, including Ministers of Defense, security, and Foreign Affairs, and the mediator of the Republic.
Discussions highlighted the increasing security challenges linked to the conflict and reaffirmed Chad's readiness to continue playing a constructive role in supporting efforts towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Mr.
Haveso also heard directly from Sudanese refugee women and other refugees during a visit to Adré, which is on the border with Sudan.
He also met with humanitarian colleagues there.
He expressed his support for Chad's continued support for Sudanese refugees and appealed for the authorities to facilitate, as they did last year, the organization of a Sudanese national examinations for students who are stuck in refugee camps.
A quick update on on Ebola for you, our emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher just released a statement in which he said that we need to move faster to break the back of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Interagency Standing Committee has activated a system wide scale up to control the disease in the DRC.
As you know, we've also deployed a senior Ebola coordinator to strengthen the leadership, and that is Julian Harness.
Tom Fletcher has also released $60 million from the central emergency response Fund to accelerate the response in the DRC and help preparedness in neighboring countries, notably Uganda, South Sudan, and Burundi, but we need to act with urgencies and parties need to facilitate humanitarian access wherever it is needed.
Border and supply routes must remain open and donors must ensure that pledged funding reaches the responders quickly and flexibly.
And now it's time to invest in the preparedness.
Tom said, the best defense against Ebola remains strong, surveillance, lab testing, referral systems, infection prevention control, and community engagement.
Above all, trust, save lives.
Communities must remain at the center of the response with local leadership, accountability to the people, protection against sexual exploitation, abuse, and a response that is both tailored to women and men must be integral to every part of the operation.
Any delay, he said, will be measured in Ebola deaths and in lives lost in the wider humanitarian um Humanitarian outbreak.
Also, on Ebola, I wanted to flag a little bit of good news and that is from Uganda where no new Ebola cases have been reported in the last 17 days.
As we've mentioned, the response to Ebola has been led by national authorities in Uganda with technical leadership from WHO and support from the UN country team.
Emphasis has been placed on strengthening contact tracing, expanding lab capacity, supported treatment and infection control, enhanced risk communication and community engagement, and reinforced screenings at borders.
To sustain these gains, our team and partners are supporting the authorities in maintaining and updating the national response plan for the next six months to ensure that Uganda remains ready to detect and respond rapidly to any resurgence, I also want to flag to you that Volker Türk, thegh Commissioner of Human Rights, issued a statement on the DRC in which he deployed the impact of civilians on recent clashes in the eastern part of the country calling for concerted international efforts to de escalate tension.
That statement is online.
And in Venezuela, Tom Fletcher continues his visit.
He has visited a number of the impacted communities.
Throughout his engagements with government people, civilians, and UN teams, he's emphasized the importance of maintaining coordinated and adequate resource response to address immediate humanitarian needs while laying the foundations for early recovery.
Today in Caracas, he met with members of the humanitarian country team and other partners.
As we mentioned yesterday, Mr.
Fletcher is calling for an additional $298 million to address critical needs over the next six months.
We and our partners are implementing an integrated response, including health, shelter, protection, food assistance, water sanitation, and hygiene.
Um, for example, at Laguara, the IOM is providing site management support, distributing kitchen sets and other essential items and UNICEF has maintained access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene for over 1,200 families by distributing hygiene kits and operating dozens of toilets and stations and trucking a lot of water.
This morning, just one flag that Rosemary DiCarlo head of the political and peace Building Affairs briefed the Security Council on Ukraine, noting the past week alone, three massive waves of Russian aerial strikes targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
She said that also Ukraine has continued drone attacks on oil, industrial, and military infrastructure in Russia.
She said that any attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure wherever they occur are clear violation of international humanitarian law.
You've been very patient.
One last note on Haiti, our humanitarian colleagues are alarmed by the impact of armed clashes on people in West department with more than 3,000 people newly displaced in the communes of Gantier and Kentskov.
According to IOM, armed clashes displaced some 1,300 people on July 1st, Displaced families are sheltering with host communities, placing additional strain on already vulnerable households, and in Kensko, 2000 people were displaced following armed clashes between July 4th and fifth.
We continue to assess the situation on the ground, and you'll hear more about Haiti from our colleagues tomorrow.
I've spoken enough up to you to speak up, Gabriel.
Thanks, Steph.
I know you guys put out a statement yesterday about the escalating situation in the Gulf.
In the statement yesterday, the SG called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint or your statement on the SG's behalf and avoid any further escalatory action.
Since that statement was released, there has been more escalatory action, as you know, Iran has launched attacks against Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, among others.
What is the Secretary-General reaction specifically to the events in the last few hours? Look, this tit for tat needs to stop, right? A return to diplomacy is urgently needed for the sake of stability in the region, for the sake of global stability.
I mean, we keep talking about the impact that this conflict is having on the global economy, and I think all of the parties involved need to understand that the best way to end this conflict is a return to the negotiating table.
Clearly, the MOU is not sticking, it's not holding.
From the Secretary-General standpoint, where does he see the UN's role perhaps in the coming days and weeks, given where we've been and given where we're at now? We Secretary-General has always said that he stands ready to assist in any way that we can.
We have his personal envoy on this crisis, Jerne, I think continues to stay in touch with relevant parties.
We have also International Marti Organization which plays a critical role on the maritime issues in the strait.
Yes, Islam.
Thank you, Stephen.
There is a new report that a coordinated pro Israel organizations are working to pressure on Germany to cut the aid to Unrua As Germany became top donor after the US cut the aid, is this a worry the Secretary-General and passionately about the need for member states to support Uno just a few days ago at the pledging conference here.
We very much appreciate Germany's support.
I have to tell you that the Anoi leadership now under the leadership of Christian Saunders has been extremely transparent with donors, ready to answer any questions, any concerns they may have, and we will continue to interact with donors in that very transparent way.
And do you see these precious contradiction with the UN Security Council resolution regarding the Board of Peace, which mandate UN humanitarian aid in Gaza? I mean, you're correct, Islam in pointing out that the Security Council resolution mandates the UN to deliver humanitarian goods, and I think everyone should be supporting our work in that regard.
Okay, I will get our guests and thank you for being patient.
Don't go away.
Steph, I want to ask you questions.
Go ahead, Ben, ben, Benny, ben.
War Sucker, Your Honor.
Go ahead.
Thank you very much.
So yesterday, the Israeli ambassador and the Security Council accused Ver Mila Putin being influenced by the Secretary-General and asked for her to release all communication with the Secretary-General.
A, what's your response to the allegation? B, will you release any documentation? No, we won't.
The report is not Pramila Patten report.
The report is the Secretary-General report.
It's his name that's on it.
He stands by it.
He very much appreciates the work that miss Patton and her office does in preparing the report on his behalf.
So, does that mean that she had no role in it or Of course her title is special representative of the Secretary-General, for sexual violence in conflict.
This is her job.
The Secretary-General fully supports her in her effort to prepare the Secretary-General report.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right.
Don't go away.
I'm sorry.