22 September 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing webcast (LINK) — 22 September 2026

81st Session of the General Assembly

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service: Theme "Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all". 71 heads of states, 45 heads of governments, 50 ministers, 11 vice presidents, and one crown prince expected. Final general debate for the current Secretary General, after ten years in office

Yemen: Escalating conflict could fuel more displacement and refugee movement

Babar Baloch, for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): More than 130,000 people had fled their homes since the beginning of September. Civilians continued to bear the brunt of the conflict, with at least 110 casualties as reported, including 28 lives lost.

Even before this escalation, more than 5.2 million people were internally displaced inside the country, where it was estimated that more than 22 million people required humanitarian assistance, including the internally displaced people (Yemen had a population of around 35 million people). Yemen was also hosting some 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia. Conversely, 3,000 Yemeni civilians, fleeing across the Gulf of Aden, had arrived in Djibouti; hundreds of others had landed in Somaliland and Puntland.

Armen Yedgaryan, UNHCR Representative in Yemen: Taiz remained the epicentre of the crisis, accounting for more than 60 percent of overall displacement.

Answering questions from journalists, Mr. Baloch said the Refugee Agency expected more arrivals in Djibouti by mid-October, when the seas would calm down. Displacements inside Yemen could reach over 230,000 in the next month; this figure was on top of millions who had already been displaced in the country. Around 70 percent of displaced persons inside Yemen were women and children, some of them going through their fourth displacement, according to testimonies. UNHCR's response was constrained by severe funding shortfalls. UNHCR's operation in Yemen was 18 percent funded in 2026 (33 of 193 million US dollars). An estimated 25 million US dollars was needed for UNHCR to address the present emergency.

Health and climate impact of El Niño

Armel Castellan, Extreme Heat Services Technical Advisor at the World Meteorological Organization: El Niño was strengthening rapidly, the two last months having been the hottest on record. El Niño was strengthening rapidly, the two last months having been the hottest on record.

Dr Teresa Zakaria, Unit Head for Risk Reduction, Humanitarian Operations and Climate Change at the World Health Organization: The health impacts of El Niño were predictable and there was a window of opportunity to act now before these risks became crises. More than 150 million people were already facing acute food insecurity globally; that number was expected to rise as climate-related shocks disrupted food production and livelihoods.

Heat exposure could contribute to death and severe illness by exacerbating cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, metabolic and mental health conditions. Heat-related illness and respiratory disease linked to wildfire smoke and poor air quality were also a concern. Droughts and flooding could destroy homes and livelihoods, displacing people and reducing their access to food, clean water and health care. Malnutrition and cholera were among the most serious concerns.

— WHO's recent Global Public Health Situation Analysis — El Niño 2026 (5 September), developed with WMO, outlined health risks across different regions and the actions countries and communities could take to reduce their impact. Countries should strengthen disease surveillance systems, ensure rapid response capacities were in place, and pre-position medical supplies in areas at greatest risk. Report

Tiger mosquitoes in Palais des Nations

Asked about the tiger mosquitoes that plagued the Palais des Nations, Ms. Vellucci advised keeping windows closed overnight, keep the offices clean and avoiding still water under plants that contributed to mosquito proliferation.

18 September 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing webcast (LINK) — 18 September 2026

Displacement in Yemen

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS): More than 22 million people — nearly half of the population — across Yemen needed humanitarian aid, and with the current escalation that number was rising

Actions taken by the Houthi de facto authorities, including the arbitrary detention of UN personnel, the death of a colleague while in detention, the forcible entry and occupation of UN premises, and the seizure of UN assets, had made the delivery of UN humanitarian assistance in Houthi-controlled areas untenable, limiting millions of people's access to life-saving assistance. As of today, 73 UN personnel remained arbitrarily detained by the Houthi de facto authorities, some of them since 2021. In addition, five former UN personnel and dozens of personnel from non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, and diplomatic missions remained detained. /p>

Shabia Mantoo, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): 110 casualties since the escalation of hostilities, of whom 28 killed. The actual number was likely to be higher.

Abdusattor Esoev, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Yemen, speaking from Aden: The escalating conflict along the West Coast and South Taiz, forced to make an impossible choice between staying in danger or fleeing into uncertainty. Families were leaving with almost nothing, many for the second or third time in 12 years of war.

Francesco Galtieri, Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), connecting from Aden: UNFPA estimated that nearly 2,000 pregnant women were among the newly displaced, and more than 200 might give birth this month.

Tarik Jašarevič for the World Health Organization (WHO): Of the 5,415 health service delivery units assessed for functionality, only 60 percent were fully functioning, while 35 percent were partially functioning and four percent were non-functioning. Trauma care was available as a full-service package in only six percent of assessed facilities.

Sandrine Desamours, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Representative in Yemen, speaking from Djibouti: that nearly 3,000 people had arrived in Djibouti in less than a week. Over 100,000 were recently displaced, and very limited humanitarian access. UNHCR urgently required USD 5.1 million to ensure thar refugees arriving from Yemen to Djibouti had basic support; at the same time, USD 14 million was urgently needed for UNHCR's operations in Yemen.

Alexandre Coissac, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Djibouti, calling in from Djibouti: The national response had been matched by remarkable generosity from the people of Obock. Many refugees are being hosted by local families.

Replying to questions, Ms. Desamours, for UNHCR, said that there had been several waves of arrivals: fishermen arriving with their families first, then people coming with some of their possessions, and then refugees arriving with more possessions, including solar panels and livestock. Inside Yemen, explained Zoe Brennans, for IOM, over 112,000 people had been displaced, and about 3,000 people had arrived in Djibouti. Mr. Jašarevič, for WHO, said that cholera, while it had declined from its peak in 2025, was still present, and disease surveillance was now a challenge.

Sexual violence amid Russia's full-scale armed attack of Ukraine

Shabia Mantoo, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): New report showed that sexual violence had been used against civilians and prisoners of war in Ukraine in a shocking pattern of torture, intimidation and coercion since the start of the Russian Federation's full-scale armed attack on Ukraine more than four years earlier.

Some 1,004 cases of sexual violence had been documented from 24 February 2022, when Russia's attack on Ukraine had begun, through to the end of July this year. Of these cases, 89 percent were attributed to Russian authorities, including members of the armed forces, the prison service and the national security service. The remaining 11 percent were attributed to Ukrainian authorities. Most of the victims of sexual violence were men, particularly in places of detention, but women and children were also affected, primarily in occupied territory of Ukraine. The violations committed include gang rape, rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings to the genitals, and other degrading acts of a sexual nature. The youngest documented rape survivor was a four-year-old-girl and the oldest an 82-year-old woman, with both cases perpetrated by Russian authorities.

Danielle Bell, Head of UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, connecting from Kyiv: More civilians had been killed and injured in the first eight months of 2026 than in the entire 2025. Almost three-quarters of prisoners of war (POWs) and one-half of civilian detainees had experienced sexual violence at least once.

Recovery in Nepal

Sara Netzer, Director of the Asia Pacific Region at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), speaking from Bangkok, who had just returned from Nepal: She had seen debris five to eight metres high, showing remnants of life in the mud, be it blankets, clothes, eyeglasses, or schoolbooks. Displaced people had sought shelter in "holding centres". There was an urgent need for those that had been displaced, including additional temporary shelters so that schools could reopen and children who had experienced this trauma could return to some normalcy.

Unaccounted death toll of women in the Ebola epidemic

Dr. Setcheme Mongbo, UN Women Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), speaking from Kinshasa, had just returned from Bunia, the Ebola epidemic epicenter: The fastest growing outbreak on record put women and girls on the frontline, carrying for the sick, whether young or old, not only as health workers, but also as caregivers in communities and homes. They were also washing dead bodies, collecting and providing water and food to family members.

More than 54 percent of confirmed cases in the DRC were among women, while girls accounted for 51 percent of those between 10 and 16 years old, and girls under ten years of age represented 60 percent of cases in that age group. Women put the health of their children and family members first, often taking care of them without protective equipment. For women, the fear of going to health facilities was made worse by concerns about stigma, harassment, separation from their children, and, in some cases, their safety. More info

Sudan emergency aid running out

Zoe Brennan, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM): less than two weeks Sudan's emergency relief supply via the IOM Common Humanitarian Pipeline. Since July 2023 it had reached 2.84 million people. 8.6 million people remained internally displaced, alongside 4.9 million returnees. Nearly 70 per cent of internally displaced people were living with host families or in informal settlements.

IOM required USD 15 million to maintain the Common Humanitarian Pipeline at its minimum 2026 capacity for 12 months, supporting 305,000 people. USD 27 million would restore assistance to approximately 2025 levels and reach 570,000 people; USD 42 million would allow the Pipeline to scale up and provide immediate lifesaving support to as many as one million people.

New data on global health workforce

Dr. Khassoum Diallo, Acting Unit Head of Health Workforce Policies and Data, World Health Organization (WHO) Academy: National Health Workforce Accounts in 2026 showed health workforce density had increased by 52 percent globally, from 44.8 per 10,000 population in 2006 to 67.9 in 2025. There were now more than 70?million health and care workers worldwide but health worker density remained strongly correlated with national economic status.

In many countries both populations and health workers were ageing at the same time, which could increase the projected global shortage of 11.1 million health workers by 2030. Data from 122 countries showed that nearly one in four medical doctors was above the age of 55 years on average and would retire in the next ten years. In high-income countries, this would increase to nearly one in three. By 2030, 67 countries might not have enough health workers to provide the same level of health services as in 2024. Full data

15 September 2026

UN Geneva Press Briefing webcast (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 webcast (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 webcast (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.