Description
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
- Security Council/Colombia
- Ukraine
- Lebanon
- Yemen
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Afghanistan
- Refugees
- World Cities Day
SECURITY COUNCIL/COLOMBIA
This morning, the Security Council unanimously adopted a draft resolution renewing the mandate of our Verification Mission in Colombia for another year, until 31 October 2027. The Mission in Colombia is a special political mission established in 2016 by the Security Council to verify the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement and support Colombia’s efforts to end conflict and build sustainable peace.
UKRAINE
Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, noted that each day the ceasefire in Oleshky holds means hope for civilians in that city. He stressed that those wanting to leave must be able to do so safely and must be able to do so voluntarily. Let this pave the way for vital aid to get in, Mr. Fletcher said, as well as more humanitarian access on both sides of the front line.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the UN and its humanitarian partners are responding to the latest wave of deadly attacks in the regions of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Poltava. Aid organizations have been providing hot meals, cash assistance, emergency shelter assistance and temporary repairs to the many damaged homes.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) notes that two humanitarian vehicles came under drone attack yesterday. In the Zaporizhzhia Region, a clearly marked bus was struck, killing a woman and injuring passengers and the driver. This bus service, which is supported by the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund managed by OCHA, provides essential transport for a community of more than 1,600 people. In the city of Sloviansk, in the Donetsk Region, an armoured evacuation vehicle was hit, injuring two evacuees.
Attacks against civilians, attacks against civilian infrastructure, and attacks targeting humanitarians are unacceptable, and must stop, and are contrary to humanitarian international law.
LEBANON
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that as of Wednesday, more than 300,000 men, women and children remained internally displaced in Lebanon. They have been displaced since 2 March, and we are at the end of October. While nearly 970,000 people have returned to their communities in the Southern part of Lebanon.
Despite people’s willingness to return to their homes, continued Israeli military activity and presence in southern Lebanon are undermining the Lebanese residents’ ability to return safely and to be able to start rebuilding their lives. This week alone, further demolitions, fires and strikes by Israeli Defense Forces were reported across the southern part of the country, both within the so-called combat zone declared by Israel, from which residents were ordered to evacuate, and beyond it, where communities were also affected by these actions.
OCHA cautions that the humanitarian crisis is far from over.
Many people returning find their homes damaged, essential services disrupted and their livelihoods very challenge to try to start to resume.
For those who returned, earning a living remains a major challenge. In Nabatieh Governorate for example, insecurity and restrictions on access to agricultural land are disrupting the olive harvest there. In some villages, farmers have been able to harvest for only two days before being forced by the Israeli army to stop doing so.
As part of the humanitarian response, the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund has allocated $91 million to support displaced people, returnees, refugees and other communities affected by this year's escalation.
Without safety, without access to essential services and without opportunities to earn a living, families cannot rebuild their lives. The UN reiterates its call for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, unimpeded humanitarian access, and the facilitation by all parties of the safe and dignified return of people to their homes.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-10-30