The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates 2.5 million refugees worldwide will need to be resettled in 2026, down from 2.9 million in 2025, even as the global number of refugees continues growing. This is mainly due to the changed situation in Syria, which has allowed for voluntary returns.
In progress at UNHQ
Democratic Republic of the Congo
A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report notes that Asia is currently warming twice as fast as the global average. This is fuelling more extreme weather and taking a heavy toll on the region’s economies, ecosystems and societies.
The latest “Hunger Hotspots” report, released by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), projects a serious increase in acute food insecurity in 13 countries and territories in the next five months. Sudan, Palestine, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali are hotspots of the highest concern.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that a complete collapse of Internet and data services is paralysing aid operations across Gaza. This is reportedly not a routine outage — but a total failure of Gaza’s digital infrastructure — and most agencies are largely cut off from teams on the ground.
UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo helped the country’s armed forces Wednesday respond to armed clashes in Ituri Province near a market in Fataki that caused civilians to flee. Earlier this week, they enrolled over 1,000 ex-combatants from the Zaire armed group into community reinsertion projects.
In Chad, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Thomas Fletcher has allocated $2.5 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to urgently respond to the massive influx of refugees and returnees in the east of the country from Sudan. This brings CERF's total allocation to Chad this year to $16 million.
Today in Geneva, Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) formally adopted by consensus the world’s first Pandemic Agreement. The landmark decision culminates more than three years of intensive negotiations launched by Governments in response to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN welcomes the transfer of over 1,300 disarmed Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and National Police personnel (PNC), along with their dependents, from the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) premises in Goma to Kinshasa.
The Secretary-General has appointed experts to develop recommendations for measures that complement or go beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is a way to recognize that GDP — relied upon as a gauge of prosperity — provides an incomplete picture of the different dimensions of sustainable development.
In Syria, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 670,000 people have been displaced since November 2024, while over 1 million people have returned to their areas of origin. Meanwhile, the UN and its partners continue to deliver aid across the country despite reduced funding.