15 September 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing (LINK) — 15 September 2026

Worsening food situation in South Sudan

Matthew Hollingworth, World Food Programme (WFP) Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations: over 2.2 million children and over 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women need immediate support.

— WFP was experiencing a USD 86 million gap right now, and USD 416 were missing over the coming six months. In Malakal, an important logistics hub in the northern part of South Sudan, WFP had significantly less food in stock than in the past years, not because there was less need, but rather because the humanitarian agencies could no longer afford it. Shipments along the Nile faced illegal checks and taxation, adversely affecting both humanitarians and traders.

— Replying to questions from the media, Mr. Hollingworth said that super El Niño was already having visible impact in South Sudan. Parts of the country which had never experienced food insecurity were now struggling because of the dryness. The regional impact was of big concern, as several countries in the region on which South Sudan had relied for imports were also affected. WFP was still supporting over three million people, while it would ideally be able to help all 7.8 million food insecure people. Without the missing resources, warned Mr. Hollingworth, the number of people WFP could help in the coming months would go down to only one million. The needs were great and immediate, he stressed.

Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Julien Harneis, Special Ebola Coordinator:. In Ituri and Bunia, there was some progress, with certain areas under control, while in North Kivu, on the other hand, case numbers were going up. The area covered by cases of Ebola covered two time zones, and it took over 2.5 hours to fly between these zones. A minority of Congolese citizens, mostly young men, were attacking health workers and responders

Education of children in war conditions in Ukraine

Ricardo Pires, for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Sumy: 15 days into the new school year there had been over 1,000 air raid alerts across the country - the highest number for this period in the last five years and nearly double the same period in 2025. That amounted to over 100 alerts every single day and at least four every hour.

— According to government estimates, between January and August this year hundreds more educational institutions had been damaged, taking the overall toll in Ukraine to over 4,200 since the start of the war. In Sumy, specifically, essentially one in every two education facilities had been damaged or destroyed by the conflict.

— As a testament to the resilience of parents, the Government and humanitarian partners, nearly 4.2 million children had returned to learning this September, including over 712,000 preschoolers. More than 366,000 teachers had also returned to their classroo

8 September 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing (LINK) — 8 September 2026

War and the rise of women-headed households in Gaza

Sofia Calltorp, UN Women Chief of Humanitarian Action: women head nearly one in four households in Gaza: an estimated 86,290 families, double the pre-October 2023 rate and followed the widespread killings of Palestinians.

— Nearly seven in ten women-headed households did not have adequate shelter, compared with 55 percent of households headed by a male. Three-quarters of women-headed households report housing damage, compared with two-thirds of those headed by a male. Women-headed households had been forced to flee, on average, eight times since October 2023, and two-thirds of them needed urgent cash assistance to ensure survival.

Escalating hostilities drive displacement Yemen's West Coast

Abdusattor Esoev, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Yemen, speaking from Aden: escalating violence on Yemen's west coast, which had displaced more than 18,500 people in just 72 hours.

Families were arriving destitute, with no shelter, food, or safe options for return. Many had already endured multiple displacements over the past 12 years of conflict.

Strait of Hormuz disruptions affect global employment

Marcelo Risi, for the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD): UNCTAD was releasing new analysis on the economic effects of disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, which looked into what happened when higher costs reached firms, and why smaller firms were likely to feel them more.

Scaling up Ebola care in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Luca Fontana, Technical Officer, Health and Technical Logistics at the World Health Organization (WHO): . There are some 1,400 beds Across 59 treatment centres, one of the fastest scale-ups ever witnessed. Another 1,600 beds would nonetheless be required to meet the rapidly growing needs. 9,000 health workers had to be trained and equipped to care of the estimated 3,000 patients. Running a treatment centre with 50 beds cost about USD half a million per month.

Smoking and infertility

Dr. Kerstin Schotte, Medical Officer, Tobacco Free Initiative, at the World Health Organization (WHO): a new report today showed that women who smoked had a 40 percent higher chance of infertility than those who did not.

Women exposed to second-hand smoke had a 20 percent higher chance of infertility compared to those without such exposure. Men who smoked also had sexual reproductive issues, including semen quality and sexual dysfunction. On a positive side, women who quit smoking saw their risk of infertility go down by 25 percent after they quit.

Data centres and energy system resilience

Thomas Croll-Knight, for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE): Global electricity consumption by data centres was projected to increase from approximately 485 TWh in 2025 to 950 TWh by 2030, equivalent to three percent of global demand. Additional demand came from cryptocurrency mining (100-130 TWh annually) and industrial electrification.

Aligning data centre growth with public interest required integrated governance, treating energy planning, socioeconomic development, digital policy, environmental management, spatial planning, and national security as a unified strategic framework. Authorities should respond to the growth of data centres and other large loads through a phased roadmap combining immediate risk management with longer-term planning reform. The objective was to move from reactive power connection decisions to strategic integration, ensuring that large electric loads supported grid resilience, decarbonization, responsible resource use, and value for the public.

4 September 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing (LINK) — 5 September 2026

Merger of the UN System Staff College and the UN Institute for Training and Research to create new United Nations Institute for Capability and Learning Innovation, or UNICLI

Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR): the aim was not simply to bring two organizations together, but to create a more coherent and accessible platform for learning and capability development.

UNICLI would be formally established on 1 January 2027. Savings of USD 5.5 to 7 million were expected, with one-time merger costs of USD 7 to 9 million. Ms. Gyles-McDonnough said that the approved new structure foresaw the staffing of 153; there would be a 26 percent reduction compared to the existing staffing.

Attacks on WHO warehouses in Ukraine

Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO): In the past three months, three WHO humanitarian warehouses in different regions of the country had been damaged by air-strikes, destroying essential medical supplies intended for frontline and hard-to-reach areas.