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UN Geneva Press Briefing - 30 September 2025
UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
30 September 2025
UN Response to the Earthquake in Afghanistan
Indrika Ratwatte, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Humanitarian Coordinator, speaking from Kabul, said one month after the earthquake which had killed 2000 people, injuring 3600 and damaging 8500 homes, the humanitarian community had delivered to Kunar province, a remote part of Afghanistan, in coordination with the authorities and partners. The challenges were such that many of the families in the more remote villages had to come down to the valleys, creating informal settlements.
Some 3000 families were now being supported. The immediate challenge was preparing for the winter, including providing clothing and heating solutions. Other priorities were food, health, nutrition and psychosocial support to the affected populations. There were also challenges in female colleagues delivering assistance: the UN agencies were underscoring the point to the authorities that this remained quintessential for an effective response.
Regarding the initial response from the international community to earthquake, around 23.7 million USD had been contributed so far out of the 140 million asked. Food had been delivered to over 150,000 individuals.
This remained “a crisis within a crisis”: as of yesterday, almost 2.2 million Afghan refugees and undocumented individuals had returned to Afghanistan; at the same time, other parts of the country were affected by a drought. Furthermore, the UN agencies were informed yesterday that the telecommunications and fiber optic connectivity in Afghanistan would be suspended until further notice. This affected not just the UN and its partners in humanitarian assistance, but also health programs, banking services, financial services and air traffic, as flights could not land in the country. The UN agencies were negotiating to get a waiver from this suspension; in the meantime, they were striving to maintain essential support activities with the communications available.
Arafat Jamal, UN Refugee Agency Representative in Afghanistan, also speaking from Kabul, underscored that a large number of affected persons were doubly hurt: first they had been deported from their places of asylum, then they had suffered an earthquake.
Answering questions from journalists about the consequences of the suspension of communications, Mr. Ratwatte noted that there would be a fallout on critical medical services, supply chains and vaccinations. The running of basic essential services in the country would also be impacted. Even the authorities were having challenges in communicating between themselves, Mr. Ratwatte noted.
Situation in Gaza
Journalists inquired about the UN’s reaction to and involvement in US President Trump’s recently announced plan regarding the conflict in Gaza.
Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), noted that the plan was a proposal. In any event, aid was stockpiled in the region and ready to move in; this aid had already been paid for by donors who expected the UN to deliver it to people in need.
Questions were then raised regarding a potential involvement, under President Trump’s plan, of UNWRA to distribute aid. Mr. Laerke said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was and remained the backbone of aid infrastructure in Gaza and elsewhere.
Ms. Vellucci stressed that as the suffering of the Gaza people continue, we continue to advocate for the immediate end of the hostilities, the return of the hostage and the full access for humanitarian aid.
Regarding questions on the volume of aid and the number of trucks the OCHA was getting into Gaza, Mr. Laerke said the question was, rather, how much it was able to pick up and distribute: there was a constant back and forth toggle between whether the UN got permission to go and pick it up, and then whether it got permissions once it has been picked up to go and deliver it.
Ricardo Pires, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), added the Fund had some 11,000 tents not being allowed in, as well as other items that would support sheltering displaced families in the south. It was important to obtain a ceasefire so that aid could flow in, not only to prevent the famine that was moving to the south, but also to make sure that children and families had shelter before the onset of winter. Ms. Vellucci said that between mid-August and the end of last week, some 453,000 displacements had been recorded across the Gaza Strip, the majority originating from Gaza City.
Answering other questions on the political aspect of the situation, Ms. Vellucci reminded that the UN had constantly been involved in the peace process in the Middle East, and had been speaking to all the mediators as well everyone that can do something to end the suffering of the Palestinian people. She recalled the two-State solution that was discussed at the recent conference at UN Headquarters and that remained the only viable way forward. She also recalled yesterday’s briefing of the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process to the Security Council.
Announcements
Thomas Croll-Knight, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said coming up next week would be the 5th UN Forum of Mayors (6-7 October, Tempus) preceding the Ministerial Meeting on Housing Affordability and Sustainability (8-10 October, Tempus). Under the theme Cities Shaping the Future, the Forum of Mayors would stress the crucial role of cities and local actors for sustainable development. The Forum would engage directly with the Ministerial meeting, as part of the 86th Session of the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Development, Housing and Land Management.
The Forum would be chaired by City Leader of Glasgow Council (United Kingdom), with Vice-Chairpersons the mayors of Novo Mesto (Slovenia) and Heidelberg (Germany), and the deputy mayor of Geneva (Switzerland). The keynote addresses would be delivered by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland and the spokesperson of the 5th Forum of Mayors.
Tarik Jašarević, for the World Healh Organization (WHO), announced the release, today, of two reports on antibacterial agents. The first report was an analysis of antibacterial agents in clinical and clinical development, assessing whether current research and development efforts were keeping pace with the urgent need for new treatments against the most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria; the second report was an overview of commercially available diagnostics for bacterial priority pathogens. The WHO expert was ready to take interviews; the reports could be received under embargo. On another topic, the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (Sage) would hold its press conference after the regular meeting today at 4:00 p.m.
Ms. Vellucci, on behalf of Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR), announced that on Thursday, 2 October, at 1:30 p.m., Yao Agbetse, Independent Expert on the Human Rights situation in the Central African Republic, would hold a press conference.
The Committee on Enforced Disappearances would close its 29th session also on 2 October. It would then issue its concluding observations on the three countries reviewed during the session: Montenegro, Benin and Sri Lanka
Finally, Ms. Vellucci reminded that a high-level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar was taking take place today in New York. Its objective was – among others – to propose a concrete plan for a sustainable resolution of the crisis, including efforts to create a conducive environment for the voluntary and dignified return of Rohingya Muslims and other members of the minority group to Myanmar. The conference would be webcast by UNTV.
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- WHO - Tarik Jašarević: Release of two reports on antibacterial agents in clinical and preclinical development
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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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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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