Category: The Civic Circle

Highlights:
– 30th Anniversary of the Genocide in Srebrenica
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Syria
– Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and the Russian Federation
– Haiti
– Attacks in the Red Sea
– Sudan
– Central African Republic
– World Population Day
– International Days
– Briefings

30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GENOCIDE IN SREBRENICA
Today is the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. In a message for the Day, the Secretary-General notes that as we mark this anniversary in Srebrenica – the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War. He stresses that this day is not only a moment of reflection, it is also a call to vigilance and action.
The Secretary-General points out that at a time when hate speech, denial and division are gaining ground, we must stand firm for truth and justice, adding that we must detect early warning signs and respond before violence takes hold, and that we must respect international law, we must defend human rights, and we must uphold the dignity of every individual, and also invest in reconciliation and peace.
And also to note that Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, represented the Secretary-General at the official ceremony that took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina today. In her remarks, she noted that the genocide in Srebrenica remains one of the darkest chapters in Europe’s recent history, a stark reminder of the consequences of hatred, division and the failure to protect civilians. She emphasized that the legacy of Srebrenica must be a world that never again turns away in the face of atrocity.
Also present from the UN side was Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that every day without a ceasefire brings more preventable deaths – children dying in pain, and hungry people shot while trying to reach the trickle of aid that is allowed in.
And today, once again, we’ve seen horrifying reports of casualties – dozens of them – among people in Rafah who were simply trying to get food and other basic supplies for their families.
Meanwhile, the fuel crisis remains acute.
Yesterday – for the second straight day – our colleagues were able to pick up 75,000 litres of fuel and bring them to the Gaza strip. This is of course a positive development. However, these amounts are a small portion of what is actually required to sustain lifesaving operations every day in Gaza.
To be clear: fuel is still running out in Gaza. More fuel is needed than what is actually brought in. If the current limits aren’t lifted immediately, so we can bring in greater volumes, more services will go dark
We also urgently need unimpeded, safe access inside Gaza. Yesterday, our teams could provide hospitals with some of the fuel that came in – but only in the south. That’s because Israeli authorities denied our attempt to bring fuel to the north.
Such denials are life-threatening.
We know that hospitals in the north are on the verge of shutting down. But it’s not just hospitals: Fuel is also running out for ambulances, it is running out for water treatment facilities and it is running out for many other essential services, all of which are at risk of collapsing.
Overall, out of the 15 humanitarian movements attempted yesterday where coordination was required with the Israeli authorities, five were denied outright, four were initially approved but then faced impediments on the ground, and only six were fully facilitated. Critical missions – such as the evacuation of vulnerable people from high-risk areas, the retrieval of vehicles and spare tires, and the assessment of medical equipment – could not be accomplished.
The facilitation of movements also needs to be timely. OCHA reports that on Wednesday, Israeli authorities denied a request to reach part of Gaza city where 18 injured people were trapped under the rubble. By the time the mission was finally allowed through yesterday, no one was found alive.
And another important reminder from OCHA is that much-needed operations, such as the distribution of tents, cannot even be attempted as stocks are fully depleted, and Israeli authorities are blocking the entry of any shelter materials – for over 130 days now.
Meanwhile, active hostilities and insecurity continue to put civilians – including aid workers – at risk.

Rae, who is presiding the 4th meeting of the UN ECOSOC High-level political forum (HLPF) on sustainable development, noted that the world remains off-track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) by 2030, but stressed that “it’s not a litany of failure.”

He said, “we ‘ve seen significant areas of improvement. We’ve reduced childhood mortality quite substantially in the last five years, we’ve had major success on improving maternal and childhood health. These have been very significant. We have more women going to school than ever before, more girls participating in the education system. We can point to many areas in which we’re in fact not necessarily on track, but where we have improved, compared to where we were before.”

The Canadian Ambassador said, “some decisions that have been taken with respect to the global economy and decisions that have been taken with respect to the funding of the critical institutions that we have created since 1945 have and are having a negative impact on the ability of countries to achieve what has to be achieved.”

He said, “nation states that have the means to provide greater support for sustainable development have chosen not to do so for their own domestic reasons. And that also represents a significant challenge for all of us and for the global system.”

Rae said, “a retreat from global solidarity will have a negative impact on our ability to improve the lives of the people of the world.”

Asked about the United States withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) he said it was “It’s not a great day,” but added, “it’s not the end of the WHO. And frankly, it’s not the end of the world, because we have to build organisations that are resilient enough to deal with the impact of short term and, in my view, misguided political decisions by governments.”

The ECOSOC President said, “let’s hold to account the people who should be held to account. It’s the member states who have to take responsibility. And yes, some member states more than others.”

He said, “the two largest donors – not donors, the two largest assessed contributions, taxes to be paid to the UN – who have not been paying their taxes are China and the United States. And they are two members of the Security Council. So, we have to have a much more candid conversation about who is responsible for what prescription.

The Deputy Executive Director briefed reporters today (11 Jul) in New York on his recent visit to Gaza.

“Starvation is spreading,” Skau said, referring to the recent IPC report a few weeks ago pointing to the entire population being acutely food insecure and 500,000 people in starvation, he added, “it’s much worse now. Malnutrition is surging.”

The senior WFP official also highlighted the displacement in the Strip. He said, “I’ve met families who have moved maybe two or three times. Now it’s a situation where I meet families who have moved two or three times in the past ten days. They have moved 20 or 30 times, and obviously every time they are able to bring less and the margins to survive become slimmer

Skau also said that the Programme’s ability to response and assist as humanitarians “have never been more constrained.”

“The first issue is obviously the amount that we are able to bring in. It’s just a fraction of what’s needed,” he explained, adding that the price of a kilo of wheat flour was over $25 during his visit last week.

Skau described the operating environment for his team as “impossible.”

He said, “Some 85 percent now of the territory, there are active military operations. Our teams get stuck in waiting for clearances and at checkpoints, often spending between 15 to 20 hours straight in the armored vehicles trying to escort our convoys.”

“There’s not enough fuel. There are not enough spare parts to our vehicles. Most of the windows in our armored vehicles have been damaged, and we don’t have basic communication. Radio, antennas from our cars have been ripped off. And so, if you are more than 20 metres away from each other, we don’t have proper communication. And that, it is really an issue when you are in this kind of environment, he added.

The Deputy Executive Director also informed the reporters that WFP has been “actively engaging with Israeli authorities over the past few weeks.”

He noted that there were some agreements in terms of improving the conditions, but the implementation of the agreements is not yet enough.

Khan described a series of ongoing violations, including hospitals, humanitarian convoys, and other civilian objects apparently being targeted; famine escalating and humanitarian aid not reaching those in need; people being deprived of water and food; rape and sexual violence being weaponized; and abductions for ransom or to bolster the ranks of armed groups becoming common practice.

She said, “we come together at a time when it can seem difficult to find appropriate words to describe the depth of suffering in Darfur. The humanitarian position has reached an intolerable state.”

The Deputy Prosecutor noted the Office’s conclusions are grounded on the activities it has been undertaking in the last six months and in earlier reporting periods, relying on documentary, testimonial, and digital evidence, collected and analysed by the Office.

She said, “drawing on the over 7,000 evidence items collected to date, the Office of the Prosecutor remains focused on delivering concrete landmarks, so as to respond to the legitimate and impassioned calls for justice heard from victims and survivors.”

Khan said, “to those on the ground in Darfur now; to those inflicting unimaginable atrocities on its population; they may feel a sense of impunity at this moment, as Ali Kushayb may have in the past. But we are working intensively to ensure that the Ali Kushayb trial represents only the first of many in relation to this situation at the International Criminal Court.”

On 9 July 2021, Pre-Trial Chamber II confirmed all the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought by the Prosecutor against Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman – commonly known as Ali Kushayb – and committed him to trial. The trial ended on 13 December 2024

Khan said, “there is an inescapable pattern of offending, targeting gender and ethnicity through rape and sexual violence which must be translated into evidence for the Court and the world to hear,” and stressed that “these alleged crimes are being given particular priority by our Office as we proceed with focus in our investigative work.”

Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, for his part told the Council that “militia of the Rapid Support are launching an all-out destruction war against the state without the main parameters of a regular army.”

Al-Harith Mohamed, said, “they lack unity of control and command or even knowledge of the rules of engagement. They are established based on communal bases. The recruitment is based on ethnicity. They have been designated as a terrorist group.

On the other hand, he continued, “the soldiers of the Sudanese Armed Forces are coming from all strata of the Sudanese society they have been trained on IHL (International Humanitarian Law); they follow a strict code of conduct. They also apply the principles of precaution and distinction. We’ve also, through our spokesperson, have issued a number of statements warning citizens from any potential areas that might be turned into a theatre of war. “

Outside the Council, Ambassadors Michael Imran Kanu of Sierra Leone and Sandra Jensen Landi of Denmark issued a statement joined by Representatives from France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

Kanu said, “we express, position to the office for their continued dedication to their mandate under exceptional, challenging circumstances. We welcome the ongoing intensive activities with respect to the situation in Darfur, reflected in the report. Based on extensive testimonial, digital and documentary evidence collected, the office has confirmed it has reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Darfur.’

Arafat Jamal, UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan, addressed the press virtually from Kabul today (11 Jul), in New York on the country’s humanitarian situation, notably on the increase of Afghan returns in adverse circumstances

He reported, “Since the spring of this year, first Pakistan, then Iran and now possibly others, such as Tajikistan, are fomenting the mass return of Afghan refugees. Some people are moving in a voluntary fashion, but others are not.”

He said, “Of concern to us is the scale, the intensity and the manner in which returns are occurring. In terms of the scale, over 1.6 million Afghans have returned from both Pakistan and Iran this year alone, including 1.3 million from Iran.”

He also said, “At the Iran Afghanistan border, where I just was a few days ago, and to which I’m heading again tomorrow, we are seeing peaks of over 40,000 people a day. And on the fourth of July, we actually saw 50,000 people coming across that border. Many of these returnees are arriving having been abruptly uprooted and having undergone arduous, exhausting and degrading journeys.”

He highlighted, “And while they are from Afghanistan, they often appear to be not of Afghanistan. Often born abroad, with better education and different cultural norms. Their outlook is different from and often at all with present day in Afghanistan. We are particularly concerned about the fate of women and girls in a country in which their most basic human rights are at risk and not respected.”

He continued, “What we are seeing with these returns is precarity layered upon poverty, on drought, human rights abuses and an instable region. In other words, we are having a deeply impoverished people coming to a country that is itself, while welcoming wholly unprepared to receive them.”

He stressed, “Many will be left with a desperate choice: Do they flee, or do they fight? Do they do they come home find nothing to do and simply bounce back to Iran, to Turkey and on to Europe? Or if they are, particularly if they are working age men, are they going to be victims of those groups that are prowling the countryside looking for recruits for their various causes.”

UNAIDS today launched its 2025 Global AIDS Update, AIDS, Crisis and the Power to Transform, which shows that a historic funding crisis is threatening to unravel decades of progress unless countries can make radical shifts to HIV programming and funding.

Angeli Achrekar, UNAIDS Assistant Secretary-General, addressed virtually the press today (10 Jul) in New York about the report and said, “The report details one of the most successful public health responses in history, saving nearly 27 million lives, and showing what’s possible when the world comes together in solidarity. Right now, we show that 31 point 6 million people living with HIV, or 77 percent of all people living with HIV globally are on life saving treatment. This is extraordinary progress, and what we saw by the end of 2024 is that the end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 was indeed in sight.”

The report highlights the impact that the sudden, large-scale funding cuts from international donors are having on countries most affected by HIV.

Achrekar said, “There has been a sudden, abrupt, wave of massive cuts and weakening of aid consensus from the single largest HIV donor, but also other governments all over the world since January 2025, and onwards. And what’s happening is that it’s putting the entire global HIV response in peril.”

Yet it also showcases some inspiring examples of resilience, with countries and communities stepping up in the face of adversity to protect the gains made and drive the HIV response forward.

Some 25 of the 60 low and middle-income countries included in the report have indicated increases in domestic budgets for their HIV responses in 2026.

The estimated collective rise among the 25 countries amounts to 8 percent above current levels, translating to approximately USD 180 million in additional domestic resources.

Achrekar said, “We’re seeing phenomenal new tools, a suite of long-acting HIV prevention medicines that are already coming to market with injections just twice a year, that are nearly 100 percent effective at preventing and stopping HIV transmission from occurring.”

This is promising, but not sufficient to replace the scale of international funding in countries that are heavily reliant.

Achrekar explained, “We have modeled in this report and show that if the world does not act to mitigate and really ensure that there is continuity of support and resources for HIV prevention and treatment efforts, an additional 6 million HIV infections and an additional 4 million AIDS deaths will occur by 2029. What this means is that we will return to the late 1990s and early 2000s when the epidemic would it was at its deadliest peak.”

The event will open with insightful remarks from H.E. Ms. Mathu Joyini, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations, and Ndaba Mandela, Founder & Chairman of the Mandela Institute for Humanity.

Our goal is to create awareness about the International Day of Hope, establish a collaborative platform for governments and non-governmental organizations to exchange ideas and share diverse perspectives on humanity and “Hope”.

Strengthening the power of “Hope” through this meeting will contribute to transforming the world, paving the way for a sustainable future for all. It will further provide insight into fostering peace, prosperity, and sustainable development through “Power of Hope” for a failing system.

Highlights:
– Informal Meeting on Cyprus
– Syria
– Syria/Humanitarian
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Security Council
– MH17 Tragedy
– Sudan
– Haiti
– Myanmar

INFORMAL MEETING ON CYPRUS
Following the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format that was held in Geneva on 17-18 March this year, the Secretary-General is convening another meeting that will get underway later today and tomorrow with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders as well as representatives of the guarantor powers of Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. The informal meeting will start with a Welcome Dinner this evening, here at headquarters
The meeting will provide an opportunity to continue the dialogue and exchange views on the progress made since the meeting in March.
Tomorrow morning, the Secretary-General will hold bilateral meetings with the heads of delegations. This will be followed by a plenary meeting and a working lunch. The concluding session will take place tomorrow afternoon.
I also want to flag that this evening, at 6:50 p.m., there will be a photo opportunity ahead of the welcome dinner. If any of your photographers or camera people want to cover it, they have to go to MALU offices at least 30 minutes in advance. There will also be another couple of photo opportunities tomorrow, which will all be in the media alert that will go out.

SYRIA
The Secretary-General is alarmed by the continued escalation of violence in Suweida, which has reportedly claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including civilians, and injured and displaced many more.
The Secretary-General unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, including reports of arbitrary killings and acts that fan the flames of sectarian tensions and robs the people of Syria of their opportunity for peace and reconciliation after fourteen years of a brutal conflict.
The Secretary-General extends his heartfelt condolences to all Syrians and reiterates his call for an immediate de-escalation of violence and urgent measures to restore calm and facilitate humanitarian access.
The Secretary-General does take note of the statement issued earlier today by the Office of the Presidency of Syria condemning the violations and committing to investigating and holding to account those responsible for them. We reiterate the Secretary-General’s appeal for transparency in this process.
The Secretary-General further condemns Israel’s escalatory airstrikes on Suweida, Daraa and in the center of the Syrian capital, Damascus, as well as reports of the Israel Defense Forces’ redeployment of forces in the Golan. He calls for an immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for respect of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.
The Secretary-General reiterates that it is imperative to support a credible, orderly and inclusive political transition in Syria in line with the key principles of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015).

SYRIA/HUMANITARIAN
The Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, is working the phones in the midst of this crisis, and his deputy, Najat Rochdi, is in Damascus and is actively in communications with various parties.
On the humanitarian front, colleagues are warning that the deadly hostilities continue to put civilians at risk, with ongoing reports of significant displacement and damage to critical infrastructure, including water, electricity and telecommunications networks.
Our Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, said that we and our humanitarian partners plan to send a delegation to assess the needs and provide essential assistance in Suweida, as soon as the conditions allow, and in full cooperation with the relevant authorities.
UN humanitarian colleagues also warn that access to the impacted areas remains severely constrained due to insecurity and due to road closures. Civilians are reportedly unable to reach facilities designated as collective shelters.
In parallel to this, our partners warn that medical services are overstretched, including in neighbouring Daraa Governorate, where hospitals are almost at capacity. The World Health Organization has dispatched emergency medical supplies to Daraa to support trauma care that exists there. Deliveries to Suweida remain pending obviously due to security access.