UN News Today 20 March 2025 |

Guterres welcomes deals to halt energy attacks in Ukraine, Russia

UN chief António Guterres on Thursday hailed positive announcements from the White House, the Kremlin and Kyiv aimed at stopping crippling attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine and Russia, linked to Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Here he is speaking in Brussels after meeting leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union:

“Any ceasefire is welcome because it saves lives, but it is essential that a ceasefire paves the way for a just peace in Ukraine. And a just peace in Ukraine is a peace that respects the UN Charter, international law and Security Council resolutions, namely about the territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

The UN chief earlier welcomed declarations by the US and Ukrainian presidents seeking to extend the ceasefire to the Black Sea – a crucial trade route for food and fertilizer exports to the wider world.

“It would reflect the importance of trade routes from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation” to world markets and global food security, Mr. Guterres insisted, in a statement issued by his office.

New Gaza escalation leaves five more UNRWA workers confirmed killed

To Gaza now, where there’s deep concern among aid teams after the Israeli military confirmed that it had begun ground operations in the north of the enclave and “waves of attacks throughout the Strip”.

Responding to the development, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees – UNRWA – expressed his fears for civilians “given the ongoing ground invasion separating the north (of Gaza) from the south”. 

In an online message warning that the people of Gaza were “going through their worst nightmare” again and again, Mr. Lazzarini explained that Israeli military evacuation orders were impacting tens of thousands of people.

The vast majority have been already displaced and treated like “pinballs” since the war began nearly one and a half years ago, he said.

The veteran humanitarian also condemned the confirmed killing of another five UNRWA staff “bringing the death toll to 284. They were teachers, doctors and nurses: serving the most vulnerable”, he added.

WHO give clean bill of health to cities acting against preventable diseases

Finally, the UN gave a clean bill of health on Thursday to three cities which have won awards for their smoke-free parks, clean air quality and school lunch initiatives.

Córdoba in Argentina, Fortaleza in Brazil and Manchester in the UK picked up gongs at a healthy cities summit, co-hosted by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Bloomberg Philanthropies and Vital Strategies.

The Argentinian city won recognition for its policy to eliminate sugary and artificially sweetened drinks along with ultra-processed foods from all schools by 2026. So far, 15,000 primary schoolchildren in 26 schools have benefited.

From the UN health agency, here’s Jaimie Guerra, Communications Officer.

“We’re seeing a lot of progress in local leadership and mayors from across the world taking on the fight and trying to lower rates of the world’s biggest killers, heart disease, diabetes, cancers and respiratory diseases.”

The meeting in Paris brought together mayors and officials from 61 cities around the world to discuss how to build healthier local communities.  

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated the three winners and insisted that they were an example to other cities, which are at the forefront of the fight against noncommunicable diseases and injuries.

Non-communicable diseases are responsible for more than 80 per cent of all deaths globally, but the good news is, they are preventable”, said former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who serves as UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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