Food

Launching its Humanitarian Action for Children 2026 appeal today, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is seeking $7.66 billion to provide life-saving support to 73 million children in 133 countries next year. This comes as severe shortfalls in 2024 and 2025 are forcing UNICEF to make impossible choices.

Typhoons in South and South-East Asia have had a devastating impact on children’s education. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that since late November, more than 4.1 million children in Viet Nam, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have had their education disrupted due to climate-related disasters.

In Gaza, UN humanitarian colleagues report that the humanitarian scale-up is well under way, even as insecurity persists, with frequent reports of attacks across the Gaza Strip causing casualties, including among civilians, causing further destruction.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Director General Qu Dongyu and World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain announced today the appointment of Matthew Hollingworth of the United Kingdom as WFP Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the city and region of Kyiv were hit by large-scale drone and missile strikes, killing and injuring several civilians. Up to 500,000 families in Kyiv lost electricity, with water and heating services disrupted. In Dnipro, an attack also killed and injured civilians.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is raising the alarm over the rapidly deteriorating situation in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly in Fizi and Mwenga Territories, where fighting among armed groups and restrictions have severely limited humanitarian access — or made it impossible.

In Cyrus, the Greek Cypriot leader, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhürman, met for the first time as leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. The meeting took place in the UN protected area and was facilitated by the Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urges the swift release of 25 girls abducted following a reported attack on a girls’ school in northern Nigeria. This tragic incident is another stark reminder of the urgent need to protect children, schools and the personnel they rely upon to learn safely. It calls for those responsible to be held to account.

The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) reports it has completed repairs and maintenance on the Banton Bridge over the River Kiir, a vital link between Abyei’s central and southern areas and an important trade route with South Sudan. The bridge had been unsafe for months, restricting civilian movement and aid access.

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks to the Security Council’s high-level open debate on conflict-related food insecurity, in New York today: