UN

Guterres, in a statement marking the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, said attacks against the UN increased with 179 personnel arrested or detained in 2025 alone.

The figure marks a significant increase from the 52 UN staff in detention in March 2025.

In Yemen alone, 73 UN staff remain detained by the de facto Houthi authorities, including eight from the UN’s human rights office.

The UN chief said “no colleague is forgotten” and urged Member States to uphold international law to ensure safe and unimpeded humanitarian work.

“Today and every day, let’s stand with those who serve humanity, and ensure they are protected and supported as they carry out their essential work,” Guterres said.

The UN has a presence on the ground in some of the world’s most dangerous and unstable locations including Gaza, Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

President of the General-Assembly, Annalena Baerbock said: “Any detention not only violates fundamental human rights, international law and immunities.

“It also undermines vital humanitarian efforts, delaying lifesaving assistance to millions of people.

“UN staff should never be a target. They are giving their lives, every day, to support communities in dire need and for the principles of the United Nations.”

In Yemen, UN staff continue to face arbitrary arrests whilst “some have been deprived of their liberty for five years now,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said.

“Every day, the injustice of their detention is compounded. Their suffering, and that of their families, is intolerable,” he added.

The UN staff are being held in areas of the country under the control of the de facto Houthi authorities.

The Human Rights chief called on the de facto authorities in Yemen to release immediately and unconditionally the 73 UN staff.

“Under no circumstances can UN personnel be detained, much less charged with crimes, for undertaking their vital work on behalf of the Yemeni people,” Türk said.

Türk paid tribute to the thousands of UN staff who work in the most difficult situations, in crises and conflicts, to serve communities in need of support.

The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members marks the anniversary of the abduction of Alec Collett.

Collett, a former journalist working for the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, was abducted by a gunman in 1985 and his body was found in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 2009.

The aim of the international day is to mobilise action, demand justice and strengthen the resolve to protect UN staff and peacekeepers.

The day is also aimed to protect workers in the non-governmental community and the press. (NAN)

Guterres, in a statement marking the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, said attacks against the UN increased with 179 personnel arrested or detained in 2025 alone.

The figure marks a significant increase from the 52 UN staff in detention in March 2025.

In Yemen alone, 73 UN staff remain detained by the de facto Houthi authorities, including eight from the UN’s human rights office.

The UN chief said “no colleague is forgotten” and urged Member States to uphold international law to ensure safe and unimpeded humanitarian work.

“Today and every day, let’s stand with those who serve humanity, and ensure they are protected and supported as they carry out their essential work,” Guterres said.

The UN has a presence on the ground in some of the world’s most dangerous and unstable locations including Gaza, Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

President of the General-Assembly, Annalena Baerbock said: “Any detention not only violates fundamental human rights, international law and immunities.

“It also undermines vital humanitarian efforts, delaying lifesaving assistance to millions of people.

“UN staff should never be a target. They are giving their lives, every day, to support communities in dire need and for the principles of the United Nations.”

In Yemen, UN staff continue to face arbitrary arrests whilst “some have been deprived of their liberty for five years now,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said.

“Every day, the injustice of their detention is compounded. Their suffering, and that of their families, is intolerable,” he added.

The UN staff are being held in areas of the country under the control of the de facto Houthi authorities.

The Human Rights chief called on the de facto authorities in Yemen to release immediately and unconditionally the 73 UN staff.

“Under no circumstances can UN personnel be detained, much less charged with crimes, for undertaking their vital work on behalf of the Yemeni people,” Türk said.

Türk paid tribute to the thousands of UN staff who work in the most difficult situations, in crises and conflicts, to serve communities in need of support.

The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members marks the anniversary of the abduction of Alec Collett.

Collett, a former journalist working for the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, was abducted by a gunman in 1985 and his body was found in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 2009.

The aim of the international day is to mobilise action, demand justice and strengthen the resolve to protect UN staff and peacekeepers.

The day is also aimed to protect workers in the non-governmental community and the press. (NAN)

As conflict and instability rage, “millions of Muslims around the world carry that pain with them,” Guterres said in an event marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia in New York.

“Let us recommit to equality, human rights and dignity of every person, everywhere,” he said.

The secretary-general warned that for far too many Muslims living as minorities, their daily lives faced being shaped by exclusion, institutional discrimination, socioeconomic marginalisation, unwarranted surveillance and profiling.

As the world’s two billion Muslims approach the end of the holy month of Ramadan,  Guterres called on governments to take responsibility and introduce measures that “safeguard equality, not entrench prejudice.”

Guterres, however,  warned against the “subtle biases” that rarely make headlines but nonetheless “shape lives, erode trust, and send a clear message about who is seen as belonging and who is not.”

These could be “opportunities quietly denied, assumptions left unchallenged, or questions weighted down by suspicion” and “are driven – and dangerously amplified – by anti-Muslim rhetoric, misinformation, and outright hate.”

Guterres said that when discrimination is “echoed by those in positions of authority, prejudice becomes normalised.”

“When stereotypes are left unchallenged, they harden into policy. And when fear is allowed to guide decision-making, injustice follows.”

“Governments have a clear responsibility,” he added, urging them to take action and bring forward legislation and security measures that protect people and respect human rights, “not stigmatise entire communities.”

He also emphasised the responsibility of technology companies and said that “online spaces should bring people together, not drive them apart,” adding that “they must do far more to identify, prevent, and address hate speech and harassment.”

“Silence in the face of hatred only allows it to spread,” the Secretary-General underscored, adding that “we all have a responsibility to speak out against bigotry, xenophobia, and discrimination.”

“As Ramadan draws to a close, Muslims around the world reaffirm values that also form the foundation of the UN Charter… These universal principles must guide our global response to hatred and division.”

Also addressing the event in New York, UN General Assembly President, Annalena Baerbock, said that those prejudices were now amplified in the digital age.

Baerbock said: ”With technology supposed to increase connection, it is instead “accelerating the spread of misinformation and prejudice at an unprecedented speed.

“The consequences are painfully real, with harassment, intimidation, vandalism, threat, and attacks on people and mosques.

“These acts are an “assault on the values that underpin peaceful, inclusive societies everywhere.”

Baerblock added that “standing up against Islamophobia is not only about defending one religious community. It is about defending our shared humanity.”

“I encourage governments, international institutions, technology companies, and civil society to follow the example of the United Nations and play a proactive role in challenging harmful stereotypes while promoting accurate and responsible information,” she added. (NAN)