Geneva-filtered UN News
Collated by Peter Hulm
WHO says Ebola outbreak in Uganda is over, as cases rise in Congo (ground news LINK) — 26 August 2026
— Uganda declared the epidemic over on July 28, following an outbreak that caused 20 cases and two deaths in the country. Cases continue to rise in Congo, with more than 5,600 cases and more than 2,700 deaths; the outbreak is the second-deadliest in history and is outpacing containment efforts. Marie Roseline Belizaire, director of emergency preparedness for the WHO African region, flagged an immediate $30 million funding gap, warning, "Without this immediate investment, we risk stalling the momentum we have built."
UNDP teaming up with Switzerland-based DFINITY Foundation to test alternative to U.S.-based cloud giants (LINK) — 25 August 2026
— UNDP plans to select five countries for the initial pilots within roughly a month, with each project built around a specific problem proposed by participating governments. The new pilot builds on DFINITY's ongoing work with Pakistan.
UNRWA condemns "unauthorized and deeply concerning incursion" into Kalandia Training Centre in occupied East Jerusalem (LINK) — 25 August 2026
— "The KTC is a United Nations facility protected by the privileges and immunities afforded to the Organisation under international law. Its inviolability must be fully respected. The Kalandia Training Centre is not merely a building. It is UNRWA's oldest vocational training centre and has served Palestine Refugees for more than seven decades."
UN and Red Cross call for urgent rules on autonomous weapon (ground news LINK) — 25 August 2026
— Ahead of the CCW Review Conference in November in Geneva, the UN and Red Cross called for "political courage", urging countries to decide whether to launch negotiations after three years of discussions
Two U.N. peacekeepers killed in ambush on patrol in South Sudan (ground news LINK) — 24 August 2026
— Seven others were injured in the attack, including three peacekeepers, two South Sudan National Police Service personnel, and two civilian staff. In response, UNMISS deployed a "Quick Reaction Force" to secure the area and support emergency response. Jonglei state remains a focal point of conflict between government forces and militias loyal to opposition leader Riek Machar, as the 2018 power-sharing deal between President Salva Kiir and Machar has been deteriorating. The government is attempting to hold the country's first elections in December.
Time: Make the U.N. Great Again: the uphill struggle facing the Next Secretary General: U.N. insiders question why anyone would even want the job at such a testing — and turbulent — moment (LINK) — 22 August 2026
— The U.S. is supposed to cover about a fifth of the organization's core costs and a quarter of the budget for its Blue Helmet peace operations, which add up to roughly $8.5 billion this year. Washington was already behind on its dues when Trump returned to office, and currently owes the U.N. about $4 billion. The U.S also previously covered roughly a third of the separate budgets for the organization's big relief agencies—such as the World Food Programme—which need tens of billions of dollars to feed, vaccinate and shelter vulnerable people each year.
— China is now on the hook for almost as much of the U.N.'s core and peacekeeping budgets as the U.S., but is often slow to stump up its annual contributions. Beijing also contributes very little to the humanitarian sector.
Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett and Otunnu show biggest gains in UN SecGen poll (LINK) — 21 August 2026
— Birkett moved into first place in the race to become the next United Nations secretary-general among eight candidates so far, after the Security Council held its second secret straw poll, on Friday, Aug. 21. Uganda's Olara Otunnu gained the sharpest percentage increase support for his candidacy. Yet no nominee drew the required nine yes votes from the Council poll to fully command a lead.
Who are the eight candidates running to succeed Antonio Guterres as UN chief? (LINK) — 21 August 2026
US plans $725 million payment towards its large UN debt (LINK) — 21 August 2026
— The $725 million would be less than 20% of the more than $4 billion that the U.N. said in May that the United States owed — though Washington has said that total figure is much lower and that it has made some payments. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this year that the U.N. faced "imminent financial collapse" due to unpaid contributions from member states, and the global body has brought in large budget cuts.
DR Congo to receive 70,000 doses of Ervebo vaccine effective in previous outbreaks as Ebola infections surge (LINK) — 20 August 2026
— Bundibugyo virus is responsible for the current outbreak, which has so far killed 2,476 people out of the 5,208 confirmed cases.
PassBlue: Stark differences between the latest two nominees for UN boss: Ivonne A-Baki, an Ecuadorian backed by Tonga, and Olara Otunnu, a Ugandan diplomat and ex-UN official (LINK) — 20 August 2026
— A-Baki, 75, projected herself as an activist who would leave New York City often as UN boss to head to war zones and to insert herself directly into peace efforts to try to rebuild confidence in the UN. Otunnu, 75, said he would be a leader grounded in the UN Charter, focusing on consensus, reform of the institution and careful use of the secretary-general's "soft power".
Woman vying to become the first Caribbean head of the UN: Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett of Guyana (LINK) — 19 August 2026
UN rights chief: Fresh US sanctions on ICC 'unacceptable' (LINK) — 19 August 2026
DR Congo Ebola outbreak 'far from being under control': WHO chief: moving faster than any previous epidemic of the disease and risks spreading to more countries (LINK) — 18 August 2026
WHO official says Congo Ebola outbreak can still be brought under control within three months "if [we] have the necessary resources" (ground news LINK) — 18 August 2026
— The outbreak, Congo's worst yet of 17, has so far killed at least 2,325 people. Resources are currently lagging requirements, and the WHO has raised about 60% of the $115 million it is seeking for the Ebola response.
World off-track on nearly every food system goal, latest FSCI assessment reveals: for some indicators, such as greenhouse gas emissions from food systems, no country in the world is projected to meet the target (LINK) — 17 August 2026
— The study finds that, of 30 indicators, only one — mobile phone subscriptions, a proxy for connectedness and resilience — has been met by most countries. For 22 indicators, fewer than one-third of countries will meet their global target or benchmark by 2030. The indicator "greenhouse gas emissions from food systems" has one of the largest gaps, with the global average 75% away from the target. No country in the world will meet the target at its current pace.
— Most regions of the world would need dramatic annual changes to achieve 2030 targets. For example, Africa will require at least a 15% to 20% improvement across 23 indicators every single year, and Asia will have to cut food insecurity by more than 63% every year. High-income regions are not exempt. In Europe, 19 indicators remain unattainable by 2030.
— For the first time, the Food Systems Countdown Initiative (FSCI) study goes beyond tracking trends to assess progress and measure how food systems are actually performing and how much more they need to improve to meet globally set targets. FSCI is a global interdisciplinary research collaboration co-led by Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition.
New transmission from animals likely caused Congo-Uganda Ebola outbreak, study says: previously unseen variant of the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus (LINK) — 10 August 2026
DRC's Ebola outbreak began months before it was officially declared, says WHO: earlier cases were wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid (LINK) — 10 August 2026
UN calls for urgent action to protect children from online information risks: more than eight in 10 young people aged 15 to 24 worldwide are now online (LINK) — 10 August 2026
UNCTAD head emerges as surprise, strong contender to be first female head of UN as continuity candidate: Rebeca Grynspan secured 10 "encourage" votes, four "no opinion" votes and one "discourage" vote from Security Council members (LINK) — 9 August 2026
— Guardian: the identity of the discourage vote is not known, but the fact that she had only one objection places her in a strong opening position.
Putin told he 'must stop' after Russian strike destroys WHO warehouse in Ukraine (LINK) — 9 August 2026
FAO: Food prices edged up in July 1% more than a year ago amid heatwaves and energy price hikes: sugar up 5.6% since June, cereals 3.4% (6.9% on year), maize 3.6%, vegetable oil 2% — highest price since June 2022 (LINK) — 7 August 2026
Peacocks return to UN Geneva (LINK) — 7 August 2026
Greece put Mount Olympus forward for UNESCO World Heritage status in 2014. Twelve years later, at the mythological home of Zeus and the twelve gods of the ancient world, the committee has finally said yes (LINK) — 6 August 2026
Ebola outbreak spreading faster than efforts to fight it: WHO (LINK) — 5 August 2026
Only 26 percent of Afghanistan humanitarian response plan funded as aid agencies warn of deepening crisis (LINK) — 5 August 2026
Politico: The UN is in crisis. Who wants to run it? (LINK) — 5 August 2026
New UN cybercrime treaty could be used to crack down on dissent (LINK) — 5 August 2026
Afghanistan's child deaths are rising as food distributions face cuts, WFP says (LINK) — 4 August 2026
Jewish Chronicle: United Nations study shatters the Gaza starvation narrative: UNICEF-led survey found child malnutrition in Gaza to be exceptionally low by regional and even Western standards (LINK) — 4 August 2026
— "Equally important, it also deals a final blow to the highly controversial 'famine' designation issued one year ago by the Famine Review Committee of the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system. Contrary to the prevailing narrative, the survey found that acute malnutrition measured by WHZ ranged from merely 0.2 to 0.8 per cent across Gaza's regions. For comparison, Gaza's pre-war rate was 0.8 per cent – an already relatively low rate comparable to those seen in developed countries and well below those reported in nearby countries such as Egypt (2.9 per cent) or Jordan (2.0 per cent)."
Denmark targets August 21 for second Security Council UN chief poll (LINK) — 3 August 2026
Newsweek: The UN is hiring a captain for a sinking ship (LINK limited) — 3 August 2026
— The candidates are "an impressive field, ranging from former ministers to the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. Yet, not one of them is qualified for the job. It's because the job description itself is simply impossible for one person to fulfill."
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