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STORY: UN / GAZA FAMINE SECURITY COUNCIL PRESSER
TRT: 3:25
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGAUGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 AUGUST 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
27 AUGUST 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, members of the Security Council arriving at the press encounter
3. Close up, Trishala Simantini Persaud, Deputy Permanent Representative, Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Guyana to the United Nations speaking at the podium
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Trishala Simantini Persaud, Deputy Permanent Representative, Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Guyana to the United Nations:
“We express our profound alarm and distress at the IPC data on Gaza published last Friday. It clearly and unequivocally confirms famine in the Gaza Governorate. We trust the IPC's work and methodology. This is the first time famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region. Every day, more persons are dying as a result of malnutrition, many of them children. We are alarmed by the report that famine is projected to expand to the Deir al Balah and Khan Yunis by the end of September. At the same time, across the Gaza Strip, nearly 1.5 million people are facing emergency and crisis levels of food insecurity.”
4. Wide shot, representatives at the press encounter
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Trishala Simantini Persaud, Deputy Permanent Representative, Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Guyana to the United Nations:
“We stand in front of you especially disturbed by the levels of acute malnutrition among children in Gaza. We note that at least 41,000 children are at heightened risk of death from malnutrition between now and June 2026. This is a man-made crisis. The use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately. International humanitarian law must be respected. And Security Council Resolution 2417 of 2018 must be implemented.”
4. Wide shot, representatives at the press encounter
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ondina Blokar Drobic, Deputy Permanent Representative, Chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations:
“One, we call for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. We call for the immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups. We call for a substantive surge of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza. Two, Israel must immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on a delivery. This includes opening all land routes and allowing the UN and humanitarian partners to operate safely and at scale. Humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence must be central to humanitarian action. We call on Israel to immediately reverse its decision to further expand its military operation in Gaza, with the aim of taking over Gaza City. This decision, which we reject, will inevitably worsen the already horrific humanitarian situation and endanger the lives of all civilians, including the hostages. Time is of the essence. The humanitarian emergency must be addressed without delay, and Israel must reverse course. We have seen what is impossible to achieve during the ceasefire.”
6. Wide shot, representatives leaving the press encounter
Fourteen members of the Security Council expressed “profound alarm and distress” at the latest IPC report on Gaza which “clearly and unequivocally” confirms famine in the Strip. “The use of starvation as a weapon of war is clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law. Famine in Gaza must be stopped immediately,” the joint statement reiterated.
At a press encounter after a Security Council meeting today (27 Aug) on the same topic, representatives from Guyana and Slovenia spoke in their capacity as informal court focal points on conflict and hunger in the Security Council. They spoke on behalf of other twelve Council Members, namely Algeria, China, Denmark, France, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and the United Kingdom.
Trishala Simantini Persaud, Deputy Permanent Representative from Guyana to the UN said, “We trust the IPC's work and methodology,” highlighting that this is the first time famine has been officially confirmed in the Middle East region.
“Every day, more persons are dying as a result of malnutrition, many of them children,” the Guyanese diplomat stressed.
She continued, “We are alarmed by the report that famine is projected to expand to the Deir al Balah and Khan Yunis by the end of September. At the same time, across the Gaza Strip, nearly 1.5 million people are facing emergency and crisis levels of food insecurity.”
According the statement, at least 132,000 children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition between now and June 2026. Older persons and persons with chronic diseases also continue to be disproportionately affected by the conflict, and are among the vulnerable groups reportedly succumbing to malnutrition related deaths. All this while hundreds of trucks laden with lifesaving it sit a short distance away.
“We stand in front of you especially disturbed by the levels of acute malnutrition among children in Gaza,” Ambassador Persaud stressed. She noted that at least 41,000 children are at heightened risk of death from malnutrition between now and June 2026.
“This is a man-made crisis,” the Guyanese diplomat said, reiterating that “international humanitarian law must be respected. And Security Council Resolution 2417 of 2018 must be implemented.”
For her part, Ondina Blokar Drobic, Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the UN called for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire.”
She continued, “We call for the immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups. We call for a substantive surge of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.”
“Israel must immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on a delivery. This includes opening all land routes and allowing the UN and humanitarian partners to operate safely and at scale,” Ambassador Drobic said.
She stressed that humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence “must be central to humanitarian action.”
“We call on Israel to immediately reverse its decision to further expand its military operation in Gaza, with the aim of taking over Gaza City,” the Slovenian diplomat said, explaining, “this decision, which we reject, will inevitably worsen the already horrific humanitarian situation and endanger the lives of all civilians, including the hostages.”
“Time is of the essence. The humanitarian emergency must be addressed without delay, and Israel must reverse course,” Ambassador Drobic concluded.
