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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES

WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY 2026

SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVEL 

The Secretary-General is on a plane, heading back to New York, and should be landing in a few hours. He concluded today his chairing of the biannual Chief Executives Board (CEB) meeting. &�Բ�����;

At the meeting of UN leaders in Japan, the heads of the UN system committed to building a stronger, more effective and more impactful United Nations in the face of greater challenges and fewer resources. 

While in Tokyo, the Secretary-General also had an audience with His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.  

I do need to apologize, because we issued a readout of that meeting that should not have been issued, and we withdrew it from our platforms. And we do apologize for having done so.

The Secretary-General also held a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Motegi Toshimitsu. Discussions focused on the UN–Japan partnership, with the Secretary-General underscoring that the organization has benefited enormously from Japan’s generosity and commitment to the multilateral system.    

At a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, Mr. Guterres said that he is determined to further strengthen that partnership for the future, noting that the true hallmark of a partnership is revealed in times of crisis. 

In that context, he underscored the importance of international cooperation and solidarity in addressing today’s global challenges. The Secretary-General said that the world today is being rocked by conflicts, by climate chaos and by inequality. Inflation is rising and the cost-of-living crisis is deepening, made worse by the conflict in the Middle East, which is sending prices for energy and raw materials skyrocketing. 

Stressing that it is essential to immediately reestablish freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz, end all ceasefire violations, and create the conditions for a political solution to the conflict. 

UNITED STATES 

In response to questions, the Spokesman confirmed the Secretary-General received on Tuesday a call from Marco Rubio, Secretary of State of the United States. 

During the call, they discussed the situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The Secretary-General reaffirmed his call to reestablish full freedom of navigation in the Strait, as well as the importance of efforts to help address global humanitarian needs, including emerging challenges such as the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC and other areas. &�Բ�����;

They also discussed the important work of the World Food Programme, and the Secretary-General explained the process of selection for the next Executive Director of the World Food Programme.  

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL 

Meanwhile, the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, is on her way to Baku, in Azerbaijan, to attend the 13th session of the World Urban Forum. 

During her visit, Ms. Mohammed will deliver remarks at the closing ceremony of the Forum and engage with governments and stakeholders to advance sustainable urban development and the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. In addition, the Deputy Secretary-General will meet with senior government officials in Azerbaijan to discuss the country’s partnership with the UN, especially on urban development, climate, and the environment. 

On Friday, on her way back to New York, the Deputy Secretary-General will stop briefly in the United Arab Emirates. She will meet with senior government officials to discuss the socio-economic impacts of the conflict in the Middle East, as well as the preparations towards the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, which is scheduled later this year.                                   

The Deputy Secretary-General will be back in New York on Monday.  

SECURITY COUNCIL 

Edem Wosornu, the Director of OCHA’s Crisis Response Division, spoke at today’s Security Council meeting on the protection of civilians, saying that data drawn from 20 armed conflicts shows that one civilian was killed approximately every fourteen minutes in 2025. 

She added that in 2025, the UN recorded more than 1,350 attacks on medical care workers and facilities across eighteen conflicts, while 147 million human beings faced acute food insecurity that year, driven largely by conflict.  

Meanwhile, she said sexual violence remains widespread, with the United Nations reporting over 9,300 cases last year, the overwhelming majority of them being women and girls, with the total number obviously much higher. 

Protecting civilians in armed conflict is not charity, she said; it is the minimum that humanity and civilization require.                                                                                                     

She was speaking on behalf of Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, and  asserted the need by all States to uphold their commitments under the Charter of these United Nations.  

PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS 

The principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which as you well know, brings together the heads of UN agencies and our major NGO partners, today warned of growing and blatant violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in conflicts throughout the world. 

In a statement issued during Protection of Civilians Week, they said civilians – including children – are being killed, injured and displaced at an alarming scale, while sexual violence, attacks on hospitals, schools and civilian infrastructure, as well as the denial of humanitarian access, continue with impunity. 

The principals also highlighted the unprecedented toll on aid workers, with more than 1,000 humanitarian personnel killed in the past three years.       

They call on Member States and the Security Council to uphold their responsibility to protect civilians. 

IRAN  

In response to questions about the activities of Jean Arnault, the Spokesman said the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for the Middle East Crisis and its Consequences, Jean Arnault, is currently in New York for consultations. His visit here follows recent travels to Pakistan and Türkiye. 

Mr. Arnault remains committed to supporting, in practical ways, all efforts towards a comprehensive settlement. 

UNIFIL 

Meanwhile in Lebanon, Blue Helmets from the UN peacekeeping Force in southern Lebanon -UNIFIL, are continuing to observe significant air and ground activity across the area of operations, including multiple Israeli airstrikes yesterday in the vicinity of a number of towns in Sector West as well as a number of towns from Sector East. According to the Lebanese authorities, 19 people, including three children, were killed yesterday by Israeli airstrikes. 

Peacekeepers reported 348 incidents attributed to the Israel Defense Forces and 23 trajectories attributed to Hizbullah, with 7 projectile interceptions observed in the area of operations.  

UNIFIL personnel also observed a drone attack, apparently by a first-person view drone, around 200 meters from the UNIFIL Headquarters in the vicinity of Naqoura in Sector West.  

Peacekeepers continue to observe extensive Israel Defense Force military activity across the area of operations, characterized by high-density armored movements, large-scale engineering works, and sustained logistical traffic, alongside persistent artillery shelling, mortar fire, and rocket impacts. 

We continue to urge all to fully respect the cessation of hostilities agreement, cease any further attacks and comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law.  

LEBANON 

On the humanitarian side, our humanitarian colleagues in Lebanon tell us they have received information from Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry that at least 22 people were killed and 28 were injured across southern Lebanon yesterday alone. This brings the total to more than 3,000 deaths and 9,301 injuries nationwide since 2 March.  

People are still being forced from their homes, with humanitarian needs still very high. Despite the agreement on cessation of hostilities, more than one million people, about one fifth of Lebanon’s population, are displaced. 

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) says about 13,000 pregnant women are currently displaced. Some 1,500 of them are expected to give birth in the next month and urgently need access to life-saving healthcare. 

Our humanitarian and health partners are continuing to expand their support, in close coordination with the Government of Lebanon.                                                                                                    

Since 2 March, UNFPA says they have provided sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence support to more than 80,000 displaced people in health facilities, mobile teams and safe spaces in shelters and host communities. Our partners have also supported the Ministry of Public Health to provide more than 66,000 primary health care consultations and medicine for acute diseases to about 90,000 people.  

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY 

Turning to Gaza, our OCHA colleagues tell us that continued Israeli strikes are affecting residential areas and makeshift shelters. On Monday, an airstrike hit Jabalya Camp damaging 30 families’ tents and tarpaulins. Humanitarian teams on the ground are in touch with those affected to assess their needs and to ensure they get adequate response as soon as possible.  

We reiterate that civilians and civilian facilities must be protected at all times and must be protected.    

Meanwhile, aid workers report continued impediments to their movements in areas where Israeli forces require humanitarian teams to coordinate their movements with them.  

Yesterday, a convoy was delayed for about an hour at a congested Israeli holding point.  Another mission to collect supplies requiring refrigeration had to be cancelled because of significant delays on the way to the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem checkpoint.      

And a third mission could not proceed after the allocated road was found to be impassable.  

These constraints have made it challenging for aid groups to provide assistance and essential supplies to people.  

Still, our partners continue responding. For example, we and our humanitarian partners have recently scaled up the delivery of housing units with more durable walling, compared with tents. Since January, the UN Development Programme has taken some 2,500 of these units into Gaza, and partners have installed more than half of them across several sites. These will serve as clinics, classrooms and homes.  

As a reminder, 900,000 men, women and children across the Gaza Strip urgently need shelter assistance and durable housing solutions.  

On food security, we are supporting the production of about 130,000 bread bundles every day. Each bundle weighs about 2 kilograms.  

These are distributed free of charge in more than 300 shelters and community sites or sold at subsidized prices through about 170 shops.   

EBOLA 

We have an update on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. 

Dr. Tedros [head of WHO] spoke to the press today, and said that there are now almost 600 suspected cases and 139 [suspected] fatalities reported. 

He said the epidemic has expanded, with cases reported in several urban areas, including, as we mentioned, Bunia, Goma and Kampala. Dr. Tedros also highlighted the challenges posed by the significant population movements in the DRC where the outbreak is occurring.  

To support the response, the head of WHO has also released an additional US$ 3.4 million from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, bringing the total to US$ 3.9 million. 

On the ground, our colleagues at WFP are telling us today that the Ebola outbreak could worsen food insecurity, unless access constraints are overcome, and assistance is scaled up.                                                                                                        

The food agency is working closely with the Government of the DRC, WHO and partners to support a coordinated response - facilitating the movement of responders, medical supplies, and essential cargo, especially to hard-to-reach areas, and there are many of those in that region.  

Our WFP colleagues plan to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to patients, vulnerable families, contact cases and affected families.  

As we mentioned, they have mobilized immediately, leveraging their operational footprint and long-standing presence in the eastern DRC, and helped to transport 40 aid workers and critical medical equipment to affected areas on the frontlines of the outbreak.  

This support is continuing. 

As a reminder, 26.5 million people across the DRC are already facing acute food insecurity, with needs far outpacing the response.                                                                                 

Almost 10 million people are facing crisis or emergency levels of hunger  in the eastern part of the country. Again, without sustained support, we risk leaving the most vulnerable exposed to both disease and hunger.  

SUDAN 

And in Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are deeply concerned about the growing impact of drone attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure across the country. 

Local sources say that at least 28 people were killed and dozens more injured yesterday in a drone attack on a crowded market in Ghubaysh town, in West Kordofan. Additional drone strikes were reported in the cities of Al Fula, Babanusa and Abu Zabad, reportedly causing further civilian casualties and damage to civilian property. 

We of course condemn each of those deadly drone attacks.

Despite insecurity and limits on access, we and our partners continue to provide life-saving aid to people across Sudan. Across the country, humanitarian organizations reached 9 million people between January and April this year. In South Darfur, about 170,000 people received food rations for April, and distributions for May are obviously under way.  

We and our partners are also supporting aid convoys in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, after the reopening on Monday of a crucial road linking North and South Kordofan following months of disruptions caused by fighting and insecurity.  

Our partners have started using the road to move medical and other life-saving supplies to the city of Dilling, where shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies have increased humanitarian needs.  

However, security conditions along the route remain unstable. Local sources say that drone strikes today hit Dilling and nearby areas, reportedly striking a commercial truck and causing civilian damage.  

We once again calls on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to allow aid to reach people quickly, safely and without any obstruction. 

Meanwhile, rising economic hardship and funding shortfalls are increasing humanitarian needs. The World Food Programme reports that the cost of its local food basket in Sudan  rose by nearly 18 per cent in April compared to March. That is driven by sharp increases in the prices of sorghum and wheat flour. 

UKRAINE 

From Ukraine, we join colleagues from UNHCR and OCHA in speaking out against an attack last night on Dnipro, in which a UNHCR-contracted warehouse was struck by a ballistic missile.  

The UNHCR Representative in Ukraine, Bernadette Castel-Hollingsworth, sent her deepest condolences to the families of two workers who were killed in what she called a “horrific attack,” as well as to the families of all civilians killed in the attacks across the country in the past 24 hours.  

Significant amounts of aid – including blankets and hygiene kits – valued at more than $1 million were destroyed in the attack. UNHCR and its NGO partners were intending to distribute these supplies to evacuees and others in collective sites and transit sites, as well as to people whose homes have been damaged. 

Ms. Castel-Hollingsworth stressed that it is abhorrent that, once again, humanitarian premises and aid items have been damaged by air strikes, amid repeated incidents in which aid workers are harmed while delivering aid to those who most need it. 

Authorities say that at least 12 civilians were killed and more than 90 were injured across the country, including four children. According to Ukrainian authorities, the northern and north-eastern Chernihiv and Sumy regions were among the most heavily affected.  

Humanitarian organizations provided immediate emergency assistance following the attacks in Chernihiv and Sumy, including emergency shelter materials, and other support. 

The attacks continue to damage civilian infrastructure, including gas facilities, with parts of six regions still without electricity, according to local sources. 

HAITI 

We have an update from Haiti. Our human rights colleagues tell us today that at least 390 people have been killed due to intense gang fighting in Cité Soleil and Croix-des-Bouquets. This was documented between 6 March and 16 May.   

Our colleagues say the violence stemmed from competing efforts by gangs to expand or re-establish control. 

As we have mentioned here, the population has been heavily impacted: many people were hit inside their homes or while fleeing, while others were deliberately targeted on suspicion of collaboration. Sexual violence was also reportedly used as punishment, and at least 87 homes and public buildings were burned, disrupting essential services such as healthcare, education, and commerce.  

Our colleagues tell us that despite ongoing security operations, the situation remains volatile.  

GUEST TOMORROW 

Vanessa Frazier, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will be the guest at the Noon Briefing tomorrow. She will brief you on her recent mission to Haiti, in fact.