21 August 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing (LINK) — 21 August 2026

100-day mark of the Ebola outbreak declaration, progress and challenges in the response

Julien Harneis, Senior Ebola Coordinator the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), speaking from Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): said the Ebola outbreak was growing exponentially. The outbreak was now covering an area bigger than France and growing faster than the response.

Conditions were brutal; healthcare workers were dying from Ebola and others had been attacked by youth, with ambulances burned and stoned. Getting around was difficult; one journey of 60 kilometres had taken three hours. There were a multitude of overlapping health systems, the banking system barely functioned, and aid cuts over recent years had reduced the capacity of humanitarian workers by over 30 percent.

Mr. Harneis said in the last six months there had been more than 260 attacks against health workers in the DRC and eight health workers had been killed. In the last month, part of the security incidents had been directed towards persons working on the Ebola response. This emerged predominately from young men and in some of the mining communities.

Mr. Harneis said the United States was a great supporter of the response; more than fifty percent of funding for the response came from the United States.

Launch of addendum to the 2026 Colombia earthquake humanitarian plan

Jens Laerke, for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia eleven days ago, 319 people had died with 280,000 people impacted, and more than 31,000 homes were destroyed.

148 million USD is being requested by the Colombian Humanitarian Country team, included 82 million USD to support 127,000 people with high vulnerabilityOCHA had already received 35 million dollars from donors.

Devastating impact of aid cuts on children in Somalia

James Elder, for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Nairobi: aid cuts were closing healthcare and nutrition facilities and pushing water, education and protection further out of reach, with children paying the price. 205 health and nutrition facilities had already closed, and in the first six months of the year, admissions of children with severe acute malnutrition increased by 32 per cent.

Fewer facilities mean longer journeys, later treatment, more severe illness and a greater risk of preventable death. Nearly 1.9 million children were projected to be affected by malnutrition this year, including almost half a million with severe acute malnutrition. More than 1.6 million people needed safe water. In education, more than 78,000 children had already dropped out, with another 660,000 at risk, and at least 65 child protection facilities had closed.

Yet these programmes worked. Between 2021 and 2025, UNICEF supported more than 2.25 million admissions of children with severe acute malnutrition, with a 97.6 per cent cure rate in 2025. During the 2022 drought, UNICEF support helped more than 130,000 children remain in education. Aid cuts were not simply a humanitarian issue; they risked greater instability, displacement and costs later on.

Tuesday, 11 August 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing (LINK) — 11 August 2026

Annual Report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar

Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM): The Human Rights Council had established the Mechanism in 2018 to collect evidence of the most serious international crimes committed in Myanmar since 2011, in order to facilitate criminal prosecutions in national or international courts. The IIMM now concentrated on the situation of the Rohingya; on the ongoing conflict in Rakhine State; and on the violence related to the post-coup situation and the conflict between various armed forces opposed to the military junta and the military forces.

— The Mechanism noted that many airstrikes were targeting schools and hospitals, with children often the victims. The Mechanism was also very concerned by crimes of torture and sexual violence in detention. Regarding air strikes, Mr. Koumjian noted that the military was the only force with airplanes in Myanmar. Opposition groups had used drones: the Mechanism was looking into allegations regarding this usage, and the drones' origin. It was investigating another allegation according to which the military had bombed detention facilities where some of its own soldiers and their families were present.

Heatwaves, drought, fires, and extreme weather

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): Western Europe had experienced its hottest June-July period on record, Japan and the Republic of Korea both had had record-breaking heat last week, as did other parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Parts of West Africa were witnessing heavy monsoon rainfall and flooding. WMO had warned of heavy to locally very heavy rainfall, with the risk of flash floods and landslides, this week in Northeast and west India, eastern Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and some parts of South East Asia.

— Not all of Europe was gripped by heat and drought: there had been lower than average temperatures and above average rainfall across eastern Europe and Scandinavia.

— 2026 was on course to be one of the most extreme fire years of the past 24 years. 2026 emissions for France were comparable or higher than the extreme fire years of 2023 and 2022. Data for Spain showed fire emissions to be well above average for the time of year. Fires were also raging in part of the western USA and in Canada, where 43 active fires were classed as being out of control.

— Regarding the situation of the main navigable rivers in Europe, the deficit of rainfall had been building up since April 2026 and it would take much more than one summer storm to replenish river levels and soil moisture, Ms. Nullis noted. For instance, in Hungary, Serbia and the Adriatic Sea, between 250 mm and 350 mm of additional precipitation — which was a lot — would be needed to normalize the surface water balance deficit. Even with normal rainfall starting immediately, it would take a long time to redress that balance.

Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO): Firefighters and emergency response workers were greatly impacted by injuries, burns and smoke inhalation, particularly at a high concentration.

OCHA update on the earthquake in Colombia

Jens Laerke, for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): according to initial official data 1,495 people had been injured and at least 126 had died in the earthquake that had struck Colombia. Nearly 5,000 homes had been damaged, 387 destroyed; more than 550 educational institutions and more than 350 community centers had been affected. Answering questions, Mr. Laerke said that there had not been any official request for international assistance.

Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization: Although international assistance had not been requested, WHO had activated its emergency response mechanisms through its Country Office in Colombia and field teams.