Weekly schedule of President António Costa, 24 February–2 March 2025
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Post-war order facing ‘greatest test since its creation’: UN relief chief
Tom Fletcher was addressing the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) which was set up by the UN General Assembly in the early 1990s as a coordination forum for humanitarian aid worldwide.
“The humanitarian community confronts a massive funding, morale, and legitimacy crisis,” he said, framing his remarks as personal reflections based on earlier discussions within the IASC.
“We took time to recognize the devastating impact that funding cuts will have on those we serve, our partners, and our teams,” he continued.
Without referencing any specific loss in funding – but against the backdrop of a suspension of most humanitarian spending by the new administration in Washington – Mr. Fletcher appealled for the aid community to be “calm, brave, principled, and united.”
He said they need to make the case strongly for greater international solidarity.
“We can draw confidence from extraordinary progress made by humanitarians over decades. The mission is right. Our allies are still out there. But the delivery system is struggling. We need to be lighter, faster, and less bureaucratic.”
Four-point plan
The UN relief chief said there needed to be four priorities: first, be clear that saving lives is paramount.
“We agreed to remain independent, neutral, and impartial. This does not mean we do not pick a side: we are on the side of those in greatest need.”
Secondly, he said duplication and bureaucracy must be pared down under a new “bold plan” of action.
“Donors must simplify too. We must innovate or become obsolete. We will prioritize robustly and make the toughest choices. I have commissioned urgent work to identify how we could reach the 100 million people in greatest need.”
‘Genuine partnership’ with private sector
He said aid chiefs must find new partners, not just rely on traditional sources and governments. This must include “genuine partnership” with the private sector and the World Bank.
“I believe there is a movement of billions of people who care, and who want to act in solidarity with those in most need. We should launch a public campaign to fill in the gaps left by governments, targeting the equivalent of 0.7 per cent for each country.”
Mr. Fletcher said turf wars between agencies need to end with each organization focusing on what it does “uniquely well”.
Leadership needs to be empowered, he added, with great authority vested in UN Humanitarian Coordinators throughout the system.
Third, there needs to be more devolution, giving more power and accountability to local partners who are suffering the most from cuts.
Fourth, aid workers need to defend their work more robustly.
End impunity
“We need to call time on the era of impunity: end attacks on civilians and aid workers; and hold perpetrators to account. We must communicate more clearly the impact we have and the cost of inaction, with humanity not institutions at the heart of the story.”
Humanitarians worldwide are “underfunded, overstretched and under attack,” he declared, but the argument for lifesaving aid has not been lost: “Our cause is mighty, and our movement is strong.”
Full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has sown ‘psychological terror’, warns top aid coordinator
Briefing from Ukrainian capital Kyiv after another night of “air sirens and more loud explosions”, Mr. Schmale noted that the crisis began in 2014, with Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. “So, all children that were born since – all children up to the age of 11 – have never experienced their country at peace,” he said.
According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, 2024 saw a 30 per cent increase in civilian casualties compared to 2023. “The humanitarian situation is worsening, especially in frontline areas,” it said in an update, highlighting that a full 36 per cent of Ukraine’s population – 12.7 million people – needs humanitarian aid this year.
“There are very strong pushes by the armed forces of the Russian Federation along the front line and evacuations are ongoing,” Mr. Schmale explained. “We are supporting people with essential goods, including cash assistance, as they are on the move to transit centres, collective sites and wherever they end up being.”
Speaking from Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, Toby Fricker from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that more than 2,520 children have been killed or injured since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
“The real number is likely far higher and it’s getting worse”, said Mr. Fricker, chief of communication in Ukraine. “There was a more than 50 per cent increase in child casualties in 2024 compared to 2023 and what we see is no place is safe: schools, maternity wards, children’s hospitals, all have been affected by attacks.”
Behind battle lines
Underscoring the essential role played by women in Ukraine “beyond the battlefield”, UN Women Geneva Director Sofia Calltorp explained that “there is another story unfolding, and that is the story of all those women and girls who are bearing the brunt of this war.”
In 2024, the number of people killed and injured in Ukraine increased by 30 per cent, Ms. Calltorp noted. “Of them, 800 women lost their lives and more than 3,700 women were injured last year in Ukraine. We also know that the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons are women, and 6.7 million women are in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”
Funding crisis
Responding to questions about the impact of the US funding freeze on humanitarian work, Ukraine Humanitarian Coordinator Mr. Schmale expressed “hope that US funding will become part of the equation. Last year, it made up 30 per cent of what we spent on the humanitarian side, 10 per cent on the development side.”
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine added: “We are of course worried about the funding freezes; as we all know, it’s not the end of the day yet, there are a lot of discussions going on. We have some of our partners, including within the UN, that have received some exemptions from the general freeze of funding, but so far, no money has been flowing as a result of those exemptions.”
In addition to repeated attacks on energy infrastructure across Ukraine, other public facilities have also been targeted, with 780 health centres and more than 1,600 schools damaged or destroyed, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
“In Odessa this week we saw a health clinic providing care for 40,000 children and a kindergarten serving 250 of the youngest children were severely damaged in an attack,” said Dr Jarno Harbicht, WHO Country Representative for Ukraine. “When a children’s hospital is hit, a school shelled or electric grid destroyed, children suffer even when they survive.”
Haunted by drones
The mental stress faced by millions of Ukrainians because of the war is real and debilitating, the WHO official continued: “Imagine a young mother in Kharkiv region in Ukraine, her days interrupted by air raid sirens and her nights haunted by drones. Each day is a struggle balancing her children’s safety with their anxiety that has become her constant companion.”
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission (HRMMU) has confirmed the killing of more than 12,654 civilian men, women, girls, and boys since the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, with nearly 30,000 injured. Eighty-four per cent of the casualties happened in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government and 16 per cent in territory occupied by Russia.
“Three years of full-scale conflict in Ukraine have wrought persistent and escalating human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law,” said Danielle Bell, Chief of HRMMU. “As the civilian toll grows heavier, the human rights of all those affected must remain at the forefront of any negotiations for sustainable peace.”
Rising toll
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission (HRMMU) has confirmed the killing of more than 12,654 civilian men, women, girls, and boys since the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, with nearly 30,000 injured. Eighty-four per cent of the casualties happened in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government and 16 per cent in territory occupied by Russia.
“Three years of full-scale conflict in Ukraine have wrought persistent and escalating human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law,” said Danielle Bell, Chief of HRMMU. “As the civilian toll grows heavier, the human rights of all those affected must remain at the forefront of any negotiations for sustainable peace.”
Criminal group forging over 12 000 official documents halted in Poland
The investigation started in 2020. Since then, law enforcement authorities have seized over 12 000 counterfeit documents, secured EUR 250 000 and arrested 42 suspects in total, all members of the same organised criminal group. The most recent action days against the gang took place on 3 and 4 December 2024 in Poland and resulted in:7 suspects arrested4 locations searchedSeizure…
DR Congo violence has pushed 35,000 to Burundi, says UN refugee agency
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, reported on Thursday that 35,000 Congolese nationals have now reached Burundi since the beginning of February, as Rwanda-backed M23 fighters continue to advance across both South and North Kivu.
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) in DRC also expressed concern over growing lawlessness as warlords responsible for grave crimes including rape, were reportedly sprung from prison in Goma, Kabare and Bukavu in recent days.
These former detainees are now at large and pose a threat to their former victims and judges who sentenced them, along with the lawyers who represented victims of sexual violence, said Patrice Vahard, Director of the UN Joint Human Rights Office in DR Congo (UNJHRO).
“The consequences will be huge, first for the state of law, but in particular for these women who believed in justice because they received help, but who unfortunately now risk being confronted by some of their tormentors.”
Burundi arrivals
UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado told UN News that those fleeing DR Congo are entering Burundi via its northwestern border.
“The vast majority are women and children, they are arriving exhausted, tired,” she said. “Many of them tell our teams on the ground that they have lost family members, sometimes children, while they were fleeing.”
Ms. Sarrado described dire conditions at the border and said that the majority of those arriving from DRC do so by unofficial means, with many taking risks to cross the Ruzizi River.
“Some of them are sheltering in the open, just in makeshift shelters, others are being sheltered in schools and also in a stadium at the border,” the UN refugee agency official added.
Needs are increasing and there is a significant shortage of basic services in the displacement shelters including toilets, food and water.
Goma aid lifeline resumes
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Thursday that it had partially resumed food assistance to parts of Goma, which fell to M23 rebels three weeks ago.
But as fighting between M23 and national troops continues, the UN aid agency expressed alarm at “soaring hunger” caused by people fleeing displacement camps.
In North Kivu, WFP has reached 9,000 people with emergency food assistance out of a target of 83,000. “Security must improve for WFP to reach tens of thousands more of the most vulnerable populations at risk,” it stressed.
Where possible, the UN agency is delivering vital nutrition supplies to treat moderate acute malnutrition in children aged six to 59 months, amid surging staple food prices that have made it increasingly difficult for families to eat.
Prices rise along with insecurity
The price of maize flour has risen by nearly 67 per cent, salt is 43 per cent more expensive than before the crisis erupted and the cost of cooking oil has increased by up to 45 per cent, WFP said.
“Escalating violence is forcing more families to flee – and now they have no food, no security and nowhere safe to go,” said WFP spokesperson Shaza Mograby. “The desperation of affected communities continues to grow by the day.”
Humanitarians continue to struggle to reach the most vulnerable while major access routes remain blocked and Goma International airport remains closed.
“WFP’s priority is to resume operations fully as soon as it is safe to do so,” the UN agency insisted.
“The longer we are unable to give food and emergency assistance to families affected by the conflict, the greater and more dire their needs are,” said Peter Musoko, WFP’s Country Director and Representative in DRC.
“I do not want to see children and mothers sink deeper into hunger and severe malnutrition. We need the violence to stop so we can resume our humanitarian activities. The most vulnerable people in DRC cannot afford to be overlooked during this crisis.’
WFP plans to reach seven million of the most vulnerable women, men, and children in DR Congo with lifesaving food and nutrition assistance this year. It is working with other UN agencies, NGOs and Government partners to address immediate needs and prepare for a potential large-scale response once conditions allow.
A key part of this operation is the WFP-run UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) operation. It provides aid teams with critical access and logistical support for their work across the country but it urgently requires $33.1 million to avoid the suspension of operations by the end of March.
In recent weeks, the UNHAS fleet relocated to Kalemie in Tanganyika, establishing a new operational hub for eastern DRC.
So far this year, the air service has transported 2,464 passengers, including humanitarian workers relocated from Goma and Bukavu; it has also delivered 23 metric tons of essential light cargo across DR Congo.
From suits to social justice: World’s top human rights forum turns stage over
Trading suits, ties and debates for DJ turntables, bright traditional Indigenous garb and ancient instruments, three performers – an anthropologist, an R&B singer and a genre-defying artist – showcased their music and messages at the Stand Up for Social Justice event to celebrate the World Day of Social Justice, marked annually on 20 February.
It took place in front of hundreds of people in the emblematic Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room, where high-stakes diplomacy happens throughout the year.
The world needs more diverse platforms like the UN “so that transculturality can exist”, said Brisa Flow, a Chilean-born Mapuche artist who got her first break in rap battles in Brazil, following her intense musical performance.
“We need more empathy and to listen more to Indigenous Peoples in order to better understand how to take care of our territories that need care, not just in terms of water, food and land, but also our children and our elders,” said the São Paulo-based singer, rocking a green marble-printed manicure.
“We need to be in spaces where everything we speak about is not just a utopia, where hope, which exists, can be heard and considered.”
Calls for change around the world
Ms. Flow joined French-speaking Geneva-born R&B revelation Ocevne (pronounced Océane) and anthropologist-cum-poet Idjahure Terena in delivering powerful music and personal messages inspired by social justice while helping to link local realities to issues of a global scale.
Echoing the Day’s 2025 theme Strengthening a Just Transition for a Sustainable Future, the event was co-organised by UNRISD, an independent UN research institute focusing on development issues, and Antigel, a Geneva-based music festival designed to make culture more accessible.
The messages from the young people on stage did just that, with electrifying performances and calls for change around the world.
For Ocevne, 28, the message was about equality.
“The simplest way I could define it is simply the right to equal opportunities,” she said. “No matter your background, where you come from, who you are, your gender, everything, we all have the right to that opportunity.”
Ocevne warming up the room at the Stand Up for Social Justice concert in Geneva.
‘No climate justice without social justice’
Climate justice was another recurring theme throughout the event, an issue highlighted by Mr. Terena, a doctoral student in social anthropology at the University of São Paulo and poet who spends much of his time defending the rights of his community and others.
“There is no climate justice without social justice,” he told the audience. “We know that standing forests are the simplest and most efficient solution for fighting global warming.”
The young researcher slammed the impact of mining companies and agribusinesses on his ancestral land that belongs to the Terena people of Brazil in the Pantanal region of Mato Grosso do Sul.
“This is not just a territorial issue, but a matter of physical and cultural survival for our peoples and for humanity as indigenous lands represent the most important areas of biodiversity,” he said, inviting the audience to fight for a “common, diverse living world”.
Idjahure Terena playing the japurutu flute with his father-in-law Francisco Baniwa in Brazil.
‘The future is going to be very hot’
Indeed, “the future is going to be very hot,” said Ms. Flow, adding that “it is already very hot in Brazil, and this is urgent for us because without water, we cannot live, and without food, [we cannot] either.”
Advocating for issues affecting indigenous communities, including the burning impacts of climate change on the natural resources of her home country, she said collectively not enough is getting done.
“We need more communication and more exchanges. By exchanges, I mean listening, speaking, listening, speaking and thinking about new ways of living well so that we can keep heading into the future.”
Brisa Flow performing with Brazilian federal deputy Célia Xakriabá.
Amplifying marginalised voices
The event is the brainchild of UNRISD communications chief Karima Cherif, who wanted to bridge art and research through the initiative.
She says her institute works with scholars from the global South to ensure that the voices and expertise of minorities are heard.
“We’re giving voices to the marginalised and the youth,” explained Ms. Cherif, who sees art as a way to “translate what we do in a language that can touch hearts”.
‘Never give up’
Thuy-San Dinh, who heads Antigel, echoed her vision and encouraged the young audience to pursue their goals, recalling when she co-created the annual event 15 years ago.
“You have to believe in your ideas and never give up,” Ms. Dinh said.
Melanie Rouquier, who created SHAP SHAP, a non-profit that fights global inequality and discrimination through cultural projects, told several activists in the room that each of their actions showed citizen engagement was not a lost cause.
“To resist, we have to get together,” she said.
Brisa Flow playing a traditional instrument at the Stand Up for Social Justice concert in Geneva in February 2025.
Connecting generations
For Aryan Yasin, a designer from Geneva who founded a cultural non-profit supporting disadvantaged youth, the show was an opportunity for cross-pollination and broadening his network by connecting with UN staff.
The exceptional venue “is not a place where you would necessarily see young people”, he said. “But, that actually allows us to create an intergenerational connection, with people who are more experienced, more established,” he added.
After the show, management student Ludivine said she was mesmerised by the experience. Putting on a concert with one of her favourite artists there to denounce inequalities “makes sense… because at the UN, people get together to talk about inequalities around the world.”
Ms. Flow (right) at a protest by the Guarani people of Brazil.
What is social justice?
After the event ended, doctoral students Beatrice and Thomas shared what the concept of social justice, which can seem quite abstract, meant to them.
“It’s about recognising and taking differences into account while ensuring that everyone has the same access” to the same opportunities, said Beatrice, from Italy, who studies at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
“That may mean that some people will need more support, while others may not need as much, but have different needs.”
Thomas offered a more societal vision of the idea.
“For me, it’s something that is both individual and collective – something that must be built as a society. It is entirely dependent on the structures we have put in place, but it also relies on everything that is local.”
Read our social justice explainer here.
‘We need to be united’
Ahead of the concert, Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva set the tone in her opening remarks in the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room.
“This room sees a lot of very important and challenging negotiations,” she told the audience. “But, today we open this room to everyone.”
Geneva Mayor Christina Kitsos, whose term is guided by the motto “what connects us”, reminded the youthful audience of the UN’s fundamental role despite the worrying rise of “desire to undermine all the work [that has been done] around humanitarian aid and human rights”.
“We need to be united, strong and truly hopeful and courageous to ensure that we stay the course, that we remain a beacon in this world in turmoil,” she said.
UN chief condemns ‘abhorrent and appalling’ treatment of hostages’ remains by Hamas
Hamas militants said the bodies of the four people who were returned to Tel Aviv on Thursday morning were those of a mother and two children from the Bibas family, along with 84-year-old peace activist Oded Lifshitz.
It is the first time that Hamas – which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2006 – has returned the bodies of hostages seized during the terror attacks it launched on 7 October 2023, since the ceasefire with Israel came into effect last month.
Addressing correspondents at the daily briefing in New York, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that under international law, any handover of a dead person’s remains “must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased – and their families.”
“I can tell you that the Secretary-General condemns the parading of bodies and displaying of the coffins of the deceased hostages in the manner seen this morning, which is abhorrent and appalling,” said Mr. Dujarric.
Ceasefire must continue
The Secretary-General also reiterated his appeal to all combatants who are party to the fragile ceasefire process to stand by their commitments and continue the full implementation of the deal.
Six hostages are due to be freed on Saturday.
Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Shiri Bibas and her two sons had been killed during an Israeli airstrike but provided no evidence. Israelis gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday observed a minute’s silence following news of the handover.
“The hearts of an entire nation lie in tatters,” said Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.
Respect for the dead
The UN chief urged the parties to the conflict “to respect the remains of the dead and to return them to their relatives, consistent with applicable obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law.”
The UN has long called for the release of all hostages, a permanent ceasefire and irreversible progress towards a two-State solution, Mr. Dujarric reminded.
Aid for civilians in Gaza continues to scale-up
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, together with the head of UN migration agency IOM, Amy Pope, heard pleas for urgent shelter and support during a visit to southern areas of Gaza on Thursday.
Mr. Hadi and Ms. Pope also met with humanitarian partners, staff and heads of UN agencies to discuss the ongoing response.
Humanitarian assistance in Gaza continues to scale up, said Mr. Dujarric, with nearly all those in need now reached with food parcels, including rations for one month for most families.
Polio vaccinations
Meanwhile, preparations continue for the third round of polio vaccinations across Gaza, due to resume on Saturday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and children’s agency UNICEF have warned the current environment in Gaza “creates ideal conditions for further spread of the poliovirus, as transmission can happen in overcrowded shelters and when water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure is damaged.”
The UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, reports that nearly 2,400 postpartum kits have been distributed to all hospitals that provide maternity services over the past two weeks, Mr. Dujarric added.
European farmers to get over €98 million in EU financial support
EU farmers who have lost income due to adverse climatic events or natural disasters are set to receive over €98 million from the EU’s agricultural reserve. The funds will be shared among farmers in Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia and Hungary who have all suffered due to extreme weather conditions.
