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Libya talks
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), drew attention to the statement by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General at the conclusion of the high-level meeting on the constitutional track of Libya, in which Ms. Williams had stated that the presidents of the House of Representatives and High Council of State had met in Geneva on 28 and 29 June 2022. The two chambers had reached unprecedented consensus on a number of long-standing issues, including: the designation of the headquarters and distribution of seats for the two chambers of the legislative authority; division of responsibilities among the President, Prime Minister, Cabinet and local government; the specific form of decentralization; and a revenue allocation mechanism for the different levels of government. Despite the progress in negotiations, disagreement persisted on the eligibility requirements for the candidates in the first presidential elections, and while the progress secured during rounds of consultations in Cairo and Geneva was significant, it remained insufficient as a basis to move forward on comprehensive national elections. Ms. Williams urged the two chambers to overcome the pending disagreement as soon as possible and continued to urge all actors and parties in Libya against taking any precipitous action; calm and stability must be maintained. United Nations good offices would remain available to provide all support necessary in reaching a sound agreement that met the aspirations of the Libyan people and brought an end to the country’s long period of transition. She would draft a full report on the proceedings and present her recommendations on alternative ways forward to the Secretary-General.
Human Rights Council update
Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that today the Council would continue its consideration and adoption of the reports by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. The urgent debate on the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan would begin at noon with opening remarks by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and Fawzia Koofi, the first woman Vice-President of Afghanistan. The draft resolution on Afghanistan was not scheduled for consideration until the following week.
Monday, 4 July would begin with a panel on the participation of women in decision-making and the elimination of violence against women, followed by more reports by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. Some 23 draft resolutions were expected to be considered at the current session.
Also on 4 July, at noon, the Human Rights Council would be holding a hybrid press conference at which the report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya would be presented by: Mohamed Auajjar, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission; Tracy Robinson, member of the Fact-Finding Mission; and Chaloka Beyani, member of the Fact-Finding Mission. A second report, on the events in Tarhunah, would also be presented.
UNDP Announcements
Sarah Bel, for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that on Wednesday, 6 July, at 2 p.m., UNDP would be holding a hybrid press conference to present a new publication entitled Tackling the Cost-of-Living Crisis: Policy Responses to Mitigate Poverty and Vulnerability around the World (under embargo until Thursday, 7 July, at 6 a.m.). Speakers would include: Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, and George Gray Molina, UNDP Senior Economist. The report would also be discussed during the high-level political forum on sustainable development on 7 July, from 1.30 to 3 p.m. To register, click here.
Ms. Bel also said that UNDP would take part in the Lugano conference on Ukraine reconstruction and that she would be the media focal point.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), added that, while the Lugano conference was being organized by the Swiss authorities, the UN were participating. Media enquiries could be addressed to kommunikation@eda.admin.ch
Impact of food insecurity on health in the Horn of Africa
Dr. Sophie Maes, World Health Organization (WHO) Incident Manager for the Horn of Africa, joining from Nairobi, said that WHO was intensifying its response in the Horn of Africa, with a focus on Djibouti, Somalia, the Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, where malnutrition rates were rising due to acute food insecurity. Children and pregnant and lactating women were especially vulnerable. Although the priority was on providing food, health should not be neglected, as malnourishment and disease tended to exacerbate each other. In addition, there was a lack of clean water and people were leaving their homes in search of food, water and pasture for their animals, thus causing their living conditions to deteriorate. The region was also seeing a spike in disease outbreaks, including of measles, cholera, acute diarrhea, meningitis and hepatitis E, at a time when the population had reduced access to health care and were forced to make difficult choices between buying food and seeking medical care.
WHO had raised the situation to a grade 3 emergency, had released $60 million from the contingency fund for emergencies and had installed an incident management system in Nairobi. It would focus on ensuring that severely malnourished children who were sick got the care they needed, that life-saving supplies of drugs and equipment were available, that disease outbreaks were detected and responded to without delay and that gaps in access to health care were identified so that WHO could coordinate with partners to address the problem. WHO was counting on journalists to make the issue more visible.
In response to a question, Dr. Maes said that many of the countries in the Horn of Africa were
facing the worse drought in 40 years. There had been four consecutive failed rainy seasons and it was feared that the next one would also fail. At the same time, some areas were experiencing devastating floods. The climate problems were compounded by the lingering effects of the coronavirus disease pandemic and the high food and fuel prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
Announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that the Conference on Disarmament was holding the last public plenary meeting of the second part of the 2022 session at 10 a.m., still under the presidency of Ambassador Paul Empole Efambe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ms. Vellucci also said that the Human Rights Committee was concluding its review of the report of Uruguay, while the eighty-second session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women would close that afternoon, at 5 p.m.
Ms. Vellucci announced the following hybrid press conferences:
On Friday, 1 July, at noon, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) would provide an update on the humanitarian situation in Lebanon. The speaker would be Najat Rochdi, Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.
On Monday, 4 July, at 1.30 p.m., the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women would present its findings on Portugal, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Mongolia and the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Speakers would include: Ana Peláez Narváez, Vice-Chair of the Committee; Rhoda Reddock, Member of the Committee; and Lia Nadaraia, Member of the Committee.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
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- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
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Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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