International Human Solidarity Day

UN Geneva press briefing chaired by Alessandra Vellucci, Director, UN Information Service. Three years of war in Sudan. Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), stated that the war in Sudan had been raging for three years now, and Sudan remained the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. On that occasion, the International Sudan Conference would be held in Berlin on 15 April. The Secretary-General reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access, and safe passage for people who wanted to flee. Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), read a statement by Tom Fletcher, the UN Humanitarian Chief, who said that nearly 34 million people –almost two out of every three people in the country – needed humanitarian support. Hunger was tightening its grip as the lean season closed in. Hundreds of thousands of children were acutely malnourished, with millions being deprived of an education. ...

UN Geneva press briefing chaired by Alessandra Vellucci, Director, UN Information Service. Updates on the Escalating Conflict in Lebanon and the Middle East. Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said that the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had issued a statement that unequivocably condemned the massive strikes by Israel across Lebanon on 8 April and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk had also issued a statement on the strikes. As the situation continued to deteriorate, the UN reiterated the need for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities, full respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals and healthcare workers; sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access to all those who needed it; and urgent funding for its humanitarian operations, Ms. Vellucci said. Allison Oman, Country Director in Lebanon, World Foo...

   Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) at Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Death of a World Health Organization Contract Worker in Gaza Responding to a question from the media, regarding a WHO contract worker killed in Gaza, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), read a statement by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, which said that WHO was devastated to confirm that a person contracted to provide services to the Organization in Gaza was killed during a security incident. Two staff members were also present at the incident but were not injured. Following the incident, WHO had suspended medical evacuation of patients from Gaza via Rafah to Egypt until further notice. Answering another question about the worker's nationality, Mr. Lindmeier said that typ...

UN Geneva press briefing chaired by Alessandra Vellucci, Director, UN Information Service. Conflict in Lebanon. Marcoluigi Corsi, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Country Representative in Lebanon, connecting from Beirut, stated that in just three weeks, more than 370,000 children had been forced out of their homes in Lebanon, an average of at least 19,000 girls and boys displaced every single day. This was the equivalent of hundreds of school buses filled with children fleeing for their lives every 24 hours. In less than a single month, 20 per cent of Lebanon's population had been displaced, and more than one million people were now uprooted. Mr. Corsi stressed that the mental and emotional exhaustion weighing on the children of Lebanon was devastating. Before having a single moment to heal from the trauma of the last escalation just 15 months ago, they were being violently uprooted all over again. Today, over 135,000 internally displaced persons were seeking refuge i...

UN Geneva press briefing chaired by Alessandra Vellucci, Director, UN Information Service. Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council and the International Labour Organization. UNHCR: Urgent support needed as 32,000 Congolese refugees return home from Burundi Ali Mahamat, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Head of Office in Goma (Democratic Republic of Congo), said more than 33,000 Congolese refugees had spontaneously returned from Burundi to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in a month. Most returnees were crossing through the Kavimvira border point, near Uvira in South Kivu Province. They had fled to Burundi in December 2025, when fighting between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Re...