chief Archives - Page 3 of 23

UNRWA chief: Ceasefire is the start, not the solution

·January 20, 2025·2 min read

Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Lazzarini emphasised that the agreement is only the first step in addressing the region’s overwhelming humanitarian challenges. He joined UN Secretary-General António Guterres in urging all parties to fully implement the ceasefire and ensure unrestricted humanitarian access to meet urgent...

‘Lebanon is on the cusp of a more hopeful future’, says UN chief Guterres

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·January 18, 2025·2 min read

“A window has opened paving the way for a new era of institutional stability, a State fully able to protect its citizens, and a system that would allow the tremendous potential of the Lebanese people to flourish,” Mr. Guterres told reporters in Beirut. The UN chief met with newly elected...

UN human rights chief hails ‘signs of new beginnings’ in Lebanon and Syria

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·January 17, 2025·2 min read

“I arrived, I have to say, with a heavy heart, given the compounded traumas over decades in both countries, but I see signs of new beginnings,” said Volker Türk – speaking in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. On Wednesday, he was in Damascus for his first ever visit to Syria where...

UN stands with Ukrainians for the long-term, insists UN aid chief

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·January 16, 2025·1 min read

In a joint appeal from Kyiv, the UN’s emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher and Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that millions of civilians inside Ukraine and abroad depend on the international community’s support, amid ongoing Russian attacks. “The Ukrainian people have shown incredible courage over these years and we...

UN rights chief in historic meeting in Syria’s with caretaker authority in Damascus

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·January 16, 2025·2 min read

Speaking from Damascus after meeting the leader of the caretaker authorities, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, Mr. Türk said that he had been “assured…of the importance of respect for human rights for all Syrians and all different components of Syrian society”. Syria’s de facto leader – who spearheaded the lightning overthrow of Bashar...

UN chief offers condolences amid devastating wildfires in California

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·January 12, 2025·1 min read

The fires, described as some of the worst in the city’s history, have burned thousands of acres, destroyed homes and left firefighters battling to contain multiple blasts in unprecedented conditions. “The Secretary-General is shocked and saddened by the widespread devastation caused by the fast-moving wildfires,” said his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric,...

It’s not censorship to stop hateful online content, insists UN rights chief

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·January 10, 2025·1 min read

“Allowing hate speech and harmful content online has real world consequences. Regulating this content is not censorship,” Volker Türk wrote on X. In a longer LinkedIn post on the same theme, Mr. Türk maintained that labelling efforts to create safe online spaces as “censorship…ignore[s] the fact that unregulated space means...

UN chief condemns New Orleans truck attack

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·January 2, 2025·1 min read

Media reports indicated that a US male citizen had intentionally driven a pick-up truck into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in the city’s French quarter shortly after 3am local time. The 42-year-old suspect was killed in a police shootout that injured two officers. His potential allegiance to...

UNRWA chief renews call for probe into attacks on humanitarians in Gaza

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·December 31, 2024·4 min read

Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini made the appeal in a statement posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He noted that 15 months after the war began in Gaza, “horrors continue unabated under the world’s watch”. 258 UNRWA staff killed Citing latest information from his teams, Mr. Lazzarini said that 258...

UN chief hails ‘peacemaker, human rights champion’, former President Jimmy Carter

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·December 30, 2024·1 min read

The Democratic Party icon lived longer than any president in US history, serving one term between 1977 and 1981, going on burnish his reputation on the international stage by being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and establishing a major hub for diplomacy and conflict resolution in the form of the...

Global solidarity key to future pandemic preparedness, says UN chief

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·December 28, 2024·1 min read

The world remains dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic, despite the harrowing lessons of COVID-19, Mr. Guterres warned. “COVID-19 was a wake-up call to the world,” he stated, reflecting on the devastating human, economic and social toll of the pandemic. “The crisis may have passed, but a harsh lesson remains:...

WHO chief unharmed following Israeli airstrike at Yemen airport

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·December 26, 2024·1 min read

Tedros was in Yemen to negotiation the release of UN staffers who have been held hostage by the Houthi movement for several months, and assess the health and humanitarian situation in the country. With the mission concluded, explained the WHO chief, he and his team were about to board their...