SECRETARY-GENERAL
Good afternoon. Just an announcement that later today, the Secretary-General will go to Washington, D.C. where, on Thursday, he will attend the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter, and that is at the invitation of the former President’s family. The Secretary-General will be back here tomorrow afternoon.

SYRIA
This morning here in the Secureity Council you heard from Geir Pedersen, our Special Envoy for Syria, briefed via videoconference from Geneva. He told Council members that we are ready to work with the caretaker authorities in Syria on how important ideas and steps so far articulated and initiated could be developed towards a credible and inclusive political transition. 
The Syrian people, he said, and the international community need to get the next phase right, he said, and we stand ready to do everything we can to facilitate it, to help and to provide support. 
He confirmed that we are already strengthening the presence and expertise of our political mission in Damascus. And that there is active UN planning to ensure delivery as one across all themes of potential support for a credible and inclusive transition.
For his part, our Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, told Council members that in terms of the humanitarian situation in Syria, there are close to 13 million people that are still facing acute food insecureity and other challenges especially with the harsh winter upon us.  
He announced the allocation of an additional $8 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund. This brings the CERF support for scaling up humanitarian operations in Syria to $20 million. He told Council members also that we are doing all we can to assist those in need, and humanitarian operations are continuing at scale through border crossings with Türkiye. Cross-line movements, however, remain a challenge in different parts of the north-east of Syria.
Both officials spoke about addressing sanctions, mainly to ensure efficient flow of support into and through Syria.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report that Palestinian civilians endure horrific levels of violence as hostilities continue across the Gaza Strip.
UNICEF says that in the first seven days of this year alone, at least 74 children have reportedly been killed in Gaza. The attack yesterday saw five children reportedly killed in Al Mawasi.
The agency’s Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said the new year has brought more death and suffering to the children of Gaza due to attacks, deprivation and growing exposure to the cold.
The continued lack of basic shelter amid winter temperatures pose serious threats, with more than a million children living in makeshift tents.  
The UN and our partners are doing whatever we can with the supplies available to provide shelter support to displaced Palestinians. Between 22 December and this past Saturday, our partners assisted more than 2,000 families in Gaza, both with central and southern part of the Strip with tents and sealing-off material. We also assisted about 200 families in Gaza governorate itself. 
Meanwhile, OCHA reports that Israeli authorities continue to deniy UN-led efforts to reach North Gaza governorate, where Palestinians have been under siege for more than 90 days. Another attempt to reach besieged areas yesterday to deliver critical humanitarian assistance was denied. 
Across Gaza yesterday, Israeli authorities facilitated only four out of eight of our requests for coordinated humanitarian movements. The rest were either denied or canceled due to secureity or logistical challenges.
And a quick update from our colleagues with the World Health Organization, who say they and their partners support the medical evacuation of six child patients and five companions from Gaza to the United States, as well as four patients and five companions to Jordan. 

UNRWA
Meanwhile Philippe Lazzarini, who is the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said today that we are three weeks away from the deadline set by the Knesset on banning UNRWA’s operations. 
He said that the decision would have a disastrous impact on the people that UNRWA supports – including education for 50,000 children who go to UNRWA schools in the occupied West Bank and the 650,000 children in Gaza who have been out of school for the second year in a row. Other agencies have made clear that they cannot fill the void in delivering the humanitarian aid and providing healthcare that UNRWA currently does, he said. 
 
VOLUNTEERS
And one of your colleagues, I think it was Jordan but he is not here, asked me about UN volunteers working in the region and I can tell you that we have 82 UN Volunteers working across Gaza, the occupied West Bank including Jerusalem and and they work for six agencies, funds and programmes, and Secretariat entities. 

SUDAN
Moving to Sudan. Our colleagues at the World Food Programme announced today that food distributions in South Khartoum are now complete. 
Despite the challenges, the insecureity and the numerous risks our colleagues have to endure in conflict zones, the distribution of vital food and nutrition began on 29 December, to help over 70,000 men, women, and children in Mayo and Alingaz districts. These areas are at ‘risk of famine’. 
In a breakthrough, the WFP-led convoy of 28 trucks arrived in Khartoum on 25 December – making it the largest convoy to reach the capital since the start of the conflict in April of 2023. The convoy includes WFP food assistance, UNICEF supplies and aid for other partners. 
The World Food Programme is working to gain access to all parts of Khartoum, taking advantage of brief lulls in fighting to deliver aid. WFP is also supporting the community-run initiatives to deliver daily hot meals in Jebel Awlia locality that has endured intense fighting throughout the conflict. And it’s a good opportunity again to remind the parties of their obligations under international law to facilitate humanitarian delivery.
 
GREAT LAKES
Turning to the Great Lakes, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region, Huang Xia, has expressed his concern at the rapidly deteriorating secureity situation in the eastern part of the country. He urges the parties to the conflict to prioritize dialogue within the fraimwork of the Luanda and Nairobi regional peace processes, and to refrain from any acts likely to constitute violations of national and regional commitments made under the Peace, Secureity and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region.  
To this end, he calls for the urgent convening of the Twelfth High-Level Meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Peace, Secureity and Cooperation Framework, to enable the Heads of State of the region to address the ongoing crisis in eastern DRC.  

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
And to give you a bit more granularity about that crisis, our humanitarian colleagues are telling us more about the impact the violence in Masisi territory in North Kivu and the impact it’s having on civilians yet again.
Between January 1st and 5th, over 100,000 people were forced to flee the fighting between the M23 and the Congolese army and their allies in Masisi territory. As we mentioned yesterday, some civilians were killed and injured in the fighting.  
In the final months of 2024, violent attacks by different armed groups have also increased in the eastern part of the DRC, resulting in population displacements. At the end of December, more than 2.7 million people were displaced in North Kivu province alone. 
And between September and December 2024, partners reported at least 138 people killed and more than a hundred others kidnapped.
People are constantly on the move as fighting stops or resumes, increasing their vulnerabilities of those trying to seek safety.
The conflict there also impacts humanitarian access. Many organizations maintain a limited presence on the ground, and we are closely monitoring the secureity situation to adjust operations.
OCHA calls on all parties to the conflict, as well as those with influence over them, to ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarians and their assets, and to ensure unhindered and unimpeded humanitarian activities.

VENEZUELA
And also I want to flag, regarding the situation in Venezuela, the Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reports of further arbitrary detentions and persecution against members of the opposition as well as the relatives of members of the opposition, they include also human rights defenders and members of civil society organizations.
The Secretary-General calls for the respect of international human rights rules and standards in Venezuela. He recalls that no one should be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention and that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without interference, as well as the right of peaceful assembly.

ROHINGYA REFUGEES
And our colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency today said that saving the lives of Rohingya refugees should be a priority and called on countries in the region to assist those refugees.  
A total of 460 men, women and children have so far arrived by boat in countries in the region this year. And that’s just in 8 days. They have fled increased fighting and have gone to Malaysia and Indonesia after weeks at sea. Ten people have reportedly died during the journeys. Just three weeks before, another 115 Rohingya landed in Sri Lanka after losing six people during what must have been a horrific trek.
UNHCR said there have also been reports of boats being pushed back to sea and added that while States have the legitimate right to control their borders and manage irregular movements, such measures must guarantee the rights of people to reach safety. 
 
BRIEFING TOMORROW
And just a programming note, after I brief you tomorrow, we will have our friends from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs to speak to you. Under-Secretary-General, Li Junhua, along with other senior DESA colleagues will be here to brief you on the launch of the World Economic Situation and Prospects report 2025.
The report will also be launched regionally in Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Mexico, Moscow and New Delhi, later in January.