UN Meeting on Palestine: Ceasefire, UNRWA Crisis & Starvation in Gaza

The international community must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and work towards the reconstruction of Gaza, the UN Chief told the Palestinian Rights Committee today, highlighting the essential role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the process.
“At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his remarks to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People as it opened its 2025 session.
On 5 February 2025, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People convened its first annual meeting (421st meeting) to elect its Bureau and adopt its annual Programme of Work.
As customary, the Secretary-General participated in the meeting and presided over the election of the Bureau. The newly elected Bureau comprises:
H.E. Coly Seck (Senegal) - Chair
H.E. Neville Melvin Gertze (Namibia) - Vice-Chair
H.E. Jaime Hermida Castillo (Nicaragua) - Vice-Chair
H.E. Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir (Indonesia) - Vice-Chair (represented by H.E. Hari Prabowo, Deputy Permanent Representative)
H.E. Ernesto Soberón Guzmán (Cuba) - Vice-Chair
H.E. Ahmad Faisal Muhamad (Malaysia) - Vice-Chair and Rapporteur
The meeting heard briefings by State of Palestine, by UNRWA, by Mr. Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and by Mr. Hani Al Madhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen. The Committee adopted its Programme of Work for 2025.
More details:
www.un.org/uni...
Statement of the UN Secretary General • UN Secretary-General W...
Statement of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri • UN Expert: ‘This Is No...
Statement by Hani Almadhoun, co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen and Senior Director of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA • "Forcing the Palestini...
4:38 UN Secretary-General's statement
34:00 Statement by UNRWA representative
47:25 Statement by Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food