Edited News , Press Conferences | UNOG , UNITED NATIONS , UNCTAD
Guterres highlights ‘unique level of destruction’ in Gaza and deep commitment to UNRWA's humanitarian aid ahead of G7 meet
UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his solidarity with the people of Gaza and the global body’s deep commitment to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on Wednesday, while also issuing a stark message to the world’s richest nations ahead of the G7 Summit in Italy to do more to help emerging economies crippled by debt repayments.
“In Gaza, we are deeply committed to humanitarian aid to the population in Gaza, where UNRWA is the backbone of that support,” Mr. Guterres told journalists in Geneva. “We have faced a number of difficulties and obstacles that are well known, but nothing diminishes our commitment,” he added, amid a long-running misinformation to discredit the UN agency.
Turning to the ongoing challenge of providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, especially since early May when the Israeli military closed the vital Rafah border crossing, the UN chief noted that it remained “extremely difficult to support the population that is under fire; it's extremely difficult to support the population when there are so many restrictions to the entry of the necessary supplies for humanitarian aid”.
Asked to comment about the findings of a report published earlier in the day by a top Human Rights Council-appointed probe into the Gaza war that found Hamas and Israel guilty of war crimes, the UN chief underscored the enormous scale of destruction and death in the past eight months of hostilities.
“We have witnessed and we are perfectly aware of what was a unique level of destruction and the unique level of casualties in the Palestinian population during these months of war that has no precedent in any other situation that I've lived as Secretary-General of the United Nations.”
The Secretary-General was speaking on the sidelines of the Global Leaders Forum at UN Geneva, hosted by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), where he took the opportunity before heading to the G7 Summit in Italy beginning on Thursday to repeat his deep concerns about the unequal distribution of wealth in the global economy – and the need for richer nations to support those trying to embrace industrialization.
“Developing and emerging economies outside China have seen clean energy investments stuck at the same levels since 2015 and Africa was home to less than one per cent of last year’s renewables installations despite its wealth of resources and its vast potential,” Mr. Guterres said. “We need advanced economies to rally behind the emerging and developing ones and to show climate solidarity by providing the technological and financial support they need to cut emissions. We need a clear commitment from the G7 on doubling finance for adaptation by next year and closing the adaptation finance gap.”
Echoing that message, Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the UN Trade and Development agency UNCTAD, welcomed the “resurgence of industrial policy” in some parts of the world that vindicated the State’s “vital role” in economic development and transformation.
But she cautioned that for many developing nations burdened by debt and limited fiscal space, “this resurgence is a distant horizon”, just as the UN Secretary-General told delegates that new trade barriers introduced annually “have nearly tripled since 2019, many driven by geopolitical rivalry with no concern for their impact on developing countries”.
Such a trend must be avoided if the world’s most vulnerable countries and individuals are to enjoy the benefits of the UN-backed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mr. Guterres insisted, as he declared that the world “cannot afford splits into rival blocs. The implementation of the SDGs and the need to ensure peace and security makes essential to have one global market and one global economy in which there is no place for poverty and hunger.”
Some progress has been made in tackling these enduring problems and in the 60 years since UNCTAD was created, “over a billion people have been lifted out of poverty” and the developing world “is now the engine of global trade and economic activity”, Ms. Grynspan noted.
But she added that far while for some, this may “give the illusion that the ground is less uneven today than it was six decades ago”, for “the poor, the unconnected, the discriminated, the rural, but also the women, and the youth – the ground remains uneven, the climb too steep”.
ends
Story: UN Secretary-General Stakeout
TRT: 3’53”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 12 June 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
NO RESTRICTIONS
SHOTLIST
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
What can each one of us do to save the planet, asks Yann Arthus-Bertrand on World Environment Day
The last documentary film of legendary nature photographer, documentary director and environmental activist “Nature: The Call for Reconciliation” looks for an answer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | FAO , ILO , OHCHR , UNDP , UNHCR , WHO
Rolando Gómez, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the International Labour Organization, the UN Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians
Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , OCHA , UNCTAD , WMO
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the International Federation of the Red Cross, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Trade and Development, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Humanitarian Aid in Gaza
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WHO , OCHA , UNRWA
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Telecommunication Union.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA
As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WHO , WMO , OCHA , UNHCR , OHCHR , UNDRR
Michele Zaccheo, Chief, UNTV, Radio and Webcast Section, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis - UN humanitarians
Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO
UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount
Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday, But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.