UN Geneva Press Briefing
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Education Cannot Wait, the World Health Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Address by the UN Secretary-General at the London Climate Action Week
The briefing started with the screening of an address by António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, at the London Climate Action Week. In his address, Mr. Guterres warned that the world was moving dangerously close to a reversible climate tipping point, underscoring the urgency of stronger action to keep the 1.5 centigrade goal within reach. Mr. Guterres announced the launch of a Global Call to Action on Methane, urging government and industry to rapidly cut methane emissions, particularly from the oil and gas sectors.
Heat Wave in Europe
Mary Friel, for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that without action, extreme temperatures could quickly become a matter of life and death. IFRC urged people to take this heatwave seriously and to look out for those most at risk, to save lives. People were encouraged firstly to stay connected to heat alerts and act on advice from local authorities, and then to check in with family, friends, neighbours and people who were at risk, to keep them safe and well.
Across Europe, the IFRC network had already mobilised staff and volunteers to help communities beat the heat with door-to-door visits, handing out water, establishing cooling stations in cities, providing lifesaving first aid, and sharing practical advice on how people can protect themselves and those around them.
Answering questions, Ms. Friel said the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies were integrated in heat-action plans led by governments, municipalities and health authorities. The focus was on groups who may be isolated, or without family or friends support, to make sure that people were keeping hydrated, and that action be taken in case of heat stress. As heat continued to rise and the length of heat waves extend, so rose the risk, Ms. Friel warned: she urged again people to act and check in with their neighbours and friends.
FAO priorities in Syria
Pirro-Tomaso Perri, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Acting Representative in the Syrian Arab Republic, said the food security situation in the country remained extremely serious. Around 13.4 million people were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, and 30 percent of households still struggled to meet their daily food needs. The 2024/25 drought had caused a major production shock, with wheat production down by around 60 percent, resulting in a national wheat deficit of some 2.7 million tons. Livestock systems were also under stress, with herds having declined by 40 to 50 percent.
In this context, explosive ordnance contamination across Syria stood between rural families and recovery. For many rural Syrians, simply trying to cultivate land, graze animals, harvest crops or restore livelihoods could be life-threatening: since 8 December 2024, 1,299 explosive ordinance-related incidents had been recorded, with 2,325 casualties. Explosive ordnance was a direct obstacle to food production, safe returns, rural livelihoods and economic recovery.
Mine action saved lives by making land safe, and FAO brought agricultural, socio-economic and environmental analysis into mine action planning. This helped identify areas where clearance could have the greatest impact on food production, livelihoods, safe returns, water access, market recovery and community resilience.
With the support of the Government of Japan, FAO and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) were working together to link explosive hazard clearance with agricultural rehabilitation. But despite this potential, emergency agriculture remained severely underfunded: in 2025, only 16 percent of the Food Security and Agriculture Livelihoods Sector target for emergency agriculture had been reached. FAO’s Emergency and Resilience Plan 2026–2028 aimed to assist 9.8 million people; it required USD 286 million.
Rolando Gómez, for the UN Information Service in Geneva, said the Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Claudio Cordone, had briefed the Security Council yesterday, speaking of the UN engagement with the Syrian government on the political transition, and noting it was advancing constructively even though significant work remained.
ECW’s New Global Estimates Report
Maysa Jalbout, Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), introduced a new ECW report: Breaking Barriers: Understanding Educational Exclusion in Crises – Global Estimates 2026 Update. Climate change and climate crises, Ms. Jalbout noted, had a devastating impact on education, putting the lives and futures of children in the most affected countries at acute risk. The report estimated that 258 million school-aged children and adolescents in 87 countries had seen their education affected by crises, including 93 million who were entirely out of school. The report also showed that educational exclusion was highly concentrated, with 182 million crisis-affected children and 74 million out-of-school crisis-affected children living in the world's 20 most severe crisis contexts.
The report also demonstrated that educational exclusion was deeply unequal. Children affected by displacement, disability, and the most severe crises faced the greatest barriers to education. A girl adolescent with disabilities in South Asia was 40 percent more likely to be out of school than a boy with the same barriers. Further, the report found that financial barriers and conflict-related school closures accounted for nearly 80 percent of school withdrawals.
The primary barriers to education were not a lack of demand: even under extraordinary hardship, families wanted their children in school. The barriers were economic, structural, and political, not motivational. ECW wanted to raise USD 600 million to reach 10 million children in the most severely affected, crisis-affected countries.
Newborn screening can prevent birth defects becoming a growing cause of child death and disability
Dr. Ayesha De Costa, Scientist for Newborn Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, said a baby may be born with some conditions that could affect the rest of his/her life, if not picked up early and managed. Some of these were visible and easily identifiable (e.g. club feet), others were invisible, like hearing impairment or congenital hypothyroidism. Newborn screening for visible and invisible conditions in the first days of life could change a child's future.
That was why WHO had organized a global consultation to learn from country experience, persons and families affected, about how best to implement newborn screening at scale. The resulting report was grounded in the experiences of countries that were already leading the way. What emerged was a clear message: progress was possible, even in resource-constrained settings, when screening was linked to diagnosis, treatment, referral systems and long-term care.
Ebola outbreak
Ugochi Daniels, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Deputy Director-General for Operations, reminded that the present outbreak was layered onto an already difficult reality, deepening fear and stretching resilience to its limits. It was also centered on areas where people crossed borders every day. Responding effectively required reaching communities affected by conflict, displacement, and insecurity; maintaining surveillance, where formal and informal cross-border movements continued; and building trust, where fear, misinformation, and previous experiences had led communities to question public health interventions.
Cross-border transmission underscored the need to maintain safe and monitored movement without weakening surveillance. In this context, IOM was launching a multi-country preparedness and response plan, seeking USD 55.8 million to support coordinated action against Ebola across 11 countries over the next six months. The funds would strengthen border health, surveillance and mobility tracking; improve cross-border coordination; and support community engagement and preparedness in high risk and displacement settings, with a focus on protecting vulnerable and mobile populations and reinforcing frontline response capacity. To date, more than USD 20 million had been received, leaving a current funding gap of USD 35 million.
Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, World Health Organization (WHO) Director of Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations, said that since he last briefed journalists on 9 June from Bunia, the outbreak had expanded. As reported by the Ministry of Health, as of yesterday there were 1,048 confirmed cases reported, of which 267 deaths. To reach 250 deaths during the 2014 and 2016 West Africa outbreak, it took 130 days; in this outbreak, only 37 days.
Surveillance was being scaled up: laboratory capacity had gone from 30 tests a day at the INRB Kinshasa laboratory last month to more than 2,000 tests per day through a network of 8 decentralized laboratories in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivi. More communities were aware of the risks of Ebola and asking for tools and support to protect themselves from it. But surveillance still needed to scale up, including in areas not reporting cases. Also, the current treatment centres were under pressure, with 84 percent of beds occupied.
WHO was supporting the Government in ensuring that Ebola did not disrupt the entire health system, by providing health care beyond Ebola, improving health centres with water and electricity, and keeping them safe from Ebola outbreaks, so that population and health workers felt confident to use them. WHO was asking for USD 115 million to slow and stop this outbreak.
Paolo Cravero, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the IFRC continued to deliver essential materials to the areas affected by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Federation was prepositioning supplies in neighboring Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan, as part of a CHF 2.9 million supply-chain operation.
As needs were growing, the supply chain operation was scaling up. By the first half of July, the IFRC estimated the delivery of 181 safe and dignified burial kits supporting over 3,600 burials, 16,450 body bags, 550 personal protective equipment kits, and 24 vehicles in the DRC and in neighboring countries. Safe and dignified burials and PPE kits, as well as body bags, were not just operational goods, but frontline public health tools that protected health experts, Red Cross volunteers, and communities from the spreading of the virus. They were also an act of respect for families in their most painful moments, Mr. Cravero noted.
Answering questions, Mr. Mahamud explained that the present outbreak had started in densely populated areas, compared to previous outbreaks, which had started in rural areas before reaching large cities. In terms of clinical presentation, WHO had not seen any major difference between the Bundibugyo, Ebola Zaire, and Marburg viruses, but the data was still being analyzed by clinical partners. Mr. Mahamud mentioned the importance of building trust among the community.
As regards the financing available to the Ebola response, Mr. Mahamud said WHO appreciated the support from donors. But there remained a financial gap: only 25 percent of the humanitarian response needs were funded. Another problem was the conflict: peace was the best medicine to detect and contain outbreaks like this, before they became too large.
Mr. Cravero said that like in any crisis, tensions now tended to grow. The IFRC had seen violence against its volunteers: this was explained by a lack of trust in the response. IFRC was working hard with communities to bridge that gap.
Dr. Abdoulaye Wone, Senior Programme Officer at the International Organization for Migration, said that there were more than 100 settlements for internally displaced persons (IDP) in the Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak. Along with WHO, IOM had made a field visit to devise a multi-sectorial response, to improve the detection and isolation of cases and thus avoid any further spread of the disease within the IDP settlements.
Mr. Gómez, for the UN Information Service in Geneva, said the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) was providing security whilst contending with the virus, as well as critical logistical support to deliver much needed aid.
OHCHR on Sudan
Seif Magango, for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said a report published this morning by the Office lay bare the brutality and magnitude of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since the fighting broke out more than three years ago. There had been at least 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan between the 15 April 2023 and mid-April 2026, affecting at least 838 victims. These figures represented only the tip of the iceberg, as most cases went unreported. Almost one quarter of the incidents documented involved gang rape. Other acts included sexual violence, forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual torture and trafficking for the purpose of sexual violence.
Some of these acts may amount to war crimes. In Darfur, there were reasonable grounds to believe that some of the acts of sexual violence committed in the context of widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity. Most of the incidents verified had been attributed to men in RSF uniforms and RSF affiliates and Arab militia. Some had been attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces and affiliated security actors and militias. The report warned that unless these patterns and impacts of conflict-related sexual violence were addressed through justice, victim-centered responses and efforts to tackle stigma and discrimination, peace and social cohesion in Sudan risked being undermined for years to come.
OHCHR called for all perpetrators, including those exercising command responsibility, to be fully held to account and for victims to be guaranteed access to effective remedy. The Office urged parties to the conflict to, among other things, take concrete and verifiable measures to prevent sexual violence. The international community should ensure that justice and accountability were central in the efforts towards a ceasefire and resolution of the conflict.
Answering questions, Mr. Magango said the High Commissioner was deeply concerned by the buildup of troops around El Obeid, which pointed to an offensive soon. Yesterday, a drone reportedly had struck a fuel truck in a market, killing an adult and a child; a separate strike had reportedly killed other civilians. There existed a grave risk of atrocities, including killings, sexual violence, abduction and detention. Parties to the conflict must enable civilians to leave the city safely.
Mr. Gómez, for the UN Information Service in Geneva, referred journalists to a statement issued last week from the spokesperson of the Secretary-General, which echoed many of these messages, including the safe passage of civilians. The Secretary-General continued to call for all parties to take measures to protect civilians and cease the fighting.
El Niño: an Appeal for Anticipatory Action
Maxwell Sibhensana, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Deputy Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, said FAO was expecting a strong El Niño event, one that would affect millions of people across multiple regions through droughts, floods and storms. El Niño was not happening in isolation: across many countries, people were already facing record levels of hunger, driven by conflict, economic shocks and repeated climate extremes. At the same time, rising fuel, fertilizer and input costs linked to Middle East crisis were placing additional strain on already fragile food systems. This convergence of risks was creating a perfect storm for vulnerable communities, particularly smallholder farmers, whose lives and livelihoods depended directly on agriculture.
FAO knew from experience that acting early worked. During the last El Niño, FAO and WFP had supported more than 3 million people ahead of peak impacts. There were clear results: households were able to protect their crops and livestock, maintain food consumption, and avoid negative coping strategies. Anticipatory action allowed the international community to act before disasters struck, when it was still possible to protect livelihoods and prevent a crisis from escalating. It was more effective, more dignified, and more cost-efficient than responding after losses had already occurred.
FAO and WFP now launched their first global anticipatory action appeal, to the tune of USD 202 million, to protect 8.8 million people across 22 high-risk countries. Timing was critical:
the window for anticipatory action was narrow and linked to agricultural cycles. FAO and WFP were ready to act as soon as early warning triggers were reached. The two organizations brought complementary strengths: protecting agricultural livelihoods and food production, while safeguarding food consumption and coping capacity.
Richard Choularton, Director of Climate and Resilience at the World Food Programme (WFP), explained that WP and FAO, through their global anticipatory action appeal, proposed a proven model, one that “flipped the script” in that it enabled communities to prepare and receive support as soon as early warnings were triggered, rather than waiting to provide aid after disaster strikes.
On the ground, the first anticipatory actions linked to El Niño had already begun. In Central America's dry corridor, WFP had aided more than 76,000 people, providing cash and food support, and practical guidelines, ahead of the drought. In the Sahel, 290,000 people had already been supported with cash transfers and early warning information, allowing them to buy essential supplies and prepare before a forecast drought.
Elsewhere, El Niño risked compounding vulnerabilities. At a critical moment in Somalia, for example, floods threatened communities already under severe strain; in Sudan, lack of rainfall and extreme heat could put crops and livelihoods at further risk. In these countries and many others, the windows of opportunity would not stay open for long. WFP and FAO were asking the international community to strengthen its commitment and mobilize the financial resources for action.
OCHA: USD 10 million to gender projects in eight countries
Jens Laerke, for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, had just announced a USD 10 million funding package from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support women and girls in some of the world's most severe humanitarian crises. It would be
delivered in partnership with local women-led organizations in Ethiopia, Syria, Burkina Faso, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Mozambique and Mali. These allocations would improve access to services for survivors of gender-based violence, and provide sexual and reproductive healthcare psychosocial support, and other forms of protection.
Announcements
Rolando Gómez, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said journalists should register for the Global Dialogue on AI Governance (Palexpo, 6-7 July) by the end of this week if possible. The Secretary-General would attend this important meeting.
The Conference on Disarmament was meeting in public this morning in Room XII, under the presidency of Norway.
Press conferences
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, would hold a press conference today at 1:30 p.m. to present its latest report. Speakers would be Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission, as well as Florence Mumba and Chris Sidoti, Commissioners.
Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on Violence against women and girls, would hold a press conference on 25 June, at 3 p.m., to present her thematic report on “Violence against Mothers”.
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