United Nations 1d ago

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. Highlights: Venezuela UN Charter Day Senior Personnel Appointments Sudan/Security Council Sudan Lebanon Special Coordinator for Lebanon Occupied Palestinian Territory Haiti Deputy Secretary-General/Trip Announcement Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations/Travel Counter-Terrorism Week International Days VENEZUELA The Secretary-General last night spoke to the Acting President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez. In a call, he expressed his solidarity with the people and Government of Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes. The Secretary-General pledged the full cooperation of the UN system in support of the government led-relief efforts. On the ground, the UN and its humanitarian partners, are rapidly scaling-up our response, conducting assessments and mobilizing assistance. The Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, allocated yesterday $15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support urgent, life-saving assistance, including health care, shelter, food and water. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today said that the Government is leading the response efforts focused on search and rescue, emergency medical care and damage assessment, while international assistance is scaling-up rapidly, with Urban Search and Rescue teams deploying from multiple countries. OCHA is supporting coordination efforts on the ground, facilitating information-sharing and working with partners to help ensure the effective deployment of international search-and-rescue teams. A total of 30 of these teams are deploying to Venezuela, with more than 1,600 personnel and more than 100 dogs, coming from a wide array of countries. The UN Disaster and Assessment teams have also been mobilized, along with a four-member operational support team. Several OCHA staff are also being deployed to Venezuela. Our colleagues at the World Food Programme (WFP) tell us that the first 72 hours are obviously crucial for search and rescue, but they are also critical for positioning food and other relief supplies that people will need in the coming days. WFP says that it has enough to feed more than 10,000 families for two months in Venezuela. Teams are also looking for the fastest way to mobilise further food assistance and are establishing response priorities across the affected areas. WFP added that there are also over 1,400 Metric tonnes in relief items from partners that are ready to be deployed at the WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD), which is in Panama. For its part, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that an estimated 3.9 million children live in the areas affected by the earthquakes, putting thousands of children and their families at even further risk. UNICEF is on the ground and coordinating closely with national authorities, the broader system and local partners and international partners to assess needs and support a rapid, effective response. To enable immediate action, UNICEF has allocated $1.5 million from its internal resources and $1 million from the Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for its part is scaling core relief item distributions in coordination with the government and partners. Regional Core Relief Items stocks, such as tents and housing units, mosquito nets and solar lamps in Panama will be quickly mobilized. UNHCR teams on the ground continue coordinating the protection response and scaling-up emergency shelter, relief, and support services. The UN and its humanitarian partners remain fully mobilized, working closely with national authorities to ensure assistance reaches those most in need as quickly as possible. On Monday, the noon briefing guest will be Gianluca Rampolla Del Tindaro, who is the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Venezuela. He will brief virtually from Caracas about the earthquakes that hit Venezuela. UN CHARTER DAY This morning, the Secretary-General marked that 81st UN Charter Day, which commemorates the signing of the UN Charter, which took place in 1945 in San Francisco. At the ceremony today in the General Assembly, he said that the Charter was a promise to the world: that humanity can choose cooperation over chaos; law over lawlessness; dignity over domination; and hope over fear. Mr. Guterres said that the UN has never been perfect, but it is irreplaceable. Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-26