The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Global Humanitarian Response Plan COVID-19 - OCHA - WFP - UNICEF - UNHCR
Starvation, death from disease and violence can be stopped with $10.3 billion appeal: UN agencies
A huge increase in the number of people facing starvation because of the COVID-19 crisis is only one of the many problems UN humanitarians are concerned about because of the pandemic, they said on Friday.
The alert over acute food insecurity from Africa to Asia and Latin America, along with dangerously low levels of vaccination among children and a startling rise in gender-based violence linked to coronavirus lockdowns have all been flagged by the Organization’s agencies.
In a bid to alleviate people’s suffering in 63 vulnerable countries, the UN has appealed for $10.3 billion from the international community to fund the Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-19.
Originally launched in March as a $2 billion appeal, agencies have received just over $1.7 billion to date.
“We are seeing a huge increase in the number of starving people which could reach some 270 million by the end of the year. The plan has a $500 million envelope for famine prevention,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Echoing the urgency of providing help without delay, World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson insisted that COVID-19 is tightening its grip on much of the developing world, wreaking havoc not only people’s lives but also on their livelihoods.
“We must all act now,” she said. “If not, we would be dangerously short-sighted. The cost of inaction against the food security and other consequences of the pandemic will grow exponentially unless the right combination of relief and recovery assistance is implemented quickly and at scale.”
Of the $10.3 billion appeal – the world body’s biggest to date – WFP’s needs account for $4.9 billon, plus a $500 million special provision for famine prevention, in recognition of the severity of food insecurity threatening the world.
Low-income countries facing the biggest problems “are concentrated in Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and of course in also in Asia, Afghanistan Bangladesh, the Middle East - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen - and of course, Latin America,” Ms. Byrs added.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, highlighted data showing how the new coronavirus is affecting children in ways that will have lasting or irreversible impact.
Its updated global coronavirus appeal is now $1.9 billion, up from $1.6 in May, covering 155 countries and territories including the 63 countries in the Global Humanitarian Response Plan.
Citing projections from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in May, UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado said that “6,000 children could die from preventable causes every day over the next six months as a direct and indirect result of COVID-19-related disruptions in essential services”.
The first four months of 2020 had already shown “a substantial drop” in the number of children receiving three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3), the UNICEF spokesperson continued. “This is the first time in 28 years that the world could see a reduction in DTP3 coverage, which is the marker for immunization coverage.”
At least 30 measles vaccination campaigns “were or are at risk” of being cancelled, according to UNICEF.
Ms. Mercado also cited latest UN estimates showing that close to 1.2 billion students in 150 countries are still affected by school closures.
“Apart from causing mental and psychological distress, the school closures risk hardening already inherent inequalities in access to learning, and to deepen the global learning crisis,” UNICEF said in a statement. “The children already furthest behind, the children most in need of learning, will bear the brunt.”
Highlighting a disturbing global correlation between lockdown measures and domestic abuse, Ms. Mercado also noted that data indicated for every three months the restrictions continue, there could be an additional 15 million extra cases of gender-based violence (GBV).
In its latest report on the problem, 35 out of 68 countries reported an increase in GBV, such as intimate partner violence against women or adolescent girls or online harassment or bullying of adolescent girls.
From the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, spokesperson Shabia Mantoo, underscored the threat faced by people uprooted by violence and natural disaster.
“With coronavirus now present in every country, including those that host large numbers of refugee and displaced populations, the world’s 79.5 million refugees and forcibly displaced people are among the most exposed and vulnerable to the virus.”
The agencies’ comments follow an appeal from UN relief chief on Thursday who called on the world’s leading industrial nations, the G20, to step up support for the appeal.
“The pandemic and associated global recession are about to wreak havoc in fragile and low-income countries”, Mark Lowcock said. “The response of wealthy nations so far has been grossly inadequate and dangerously short-sighted. Failure to act now will leave the virus free to circle round the globe, undo decades of development and create a generation’s worth of tragic and exportable problems.”
Adding that “it doesn’t have to be like this”, Mr. Lowcock insisted that the problem “can be fixed with money from wealthy nations and fresh thinking from the shareholders of international financial institutions and supporters of UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, and NGOs”.
- Wide shot, exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot, Press Room III, UN Geneva, podium speakers sitting wide apart in line with social distancing measures.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “We are seeing a huge increase in the number of starving people which could reach some 270 million by the end of the year. The plan has a $500 million envelope for famine prevention.”
- Medium shot, journalists sitting in front of laptops, writing, reading, checking mobile phone, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson, WFP: “We must all act now; if not, we would be dangerously short-sighted. The cost of inaction against the food security and other consequences of the pandemic will grow exponentially unless the right combination of relief and recovery assistance is implemented quickly and at scale.”
- Close-up, journalist’s hands typing on laptop, in profile, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson, WFP: “These countries are concentrated in Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and of course in also in Asia, Afghanistan Bangladesh, the Middle East - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen - and of course, Latin America.”
- Medium shot, journalists sitting at desk, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, spokesperson, UNICEF: “Projections issued by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in May showed that 6,000 children could die from preventable causes every day over the next six months as a direct and indirect result of COVID-19-related disruptions in essential services.”
- Medium-wide shot, podium speakers sitting spaced apart in line with social distancing measures, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Shabia Mantoo, UNHCR: “With coronavirus now present in every country, including those that host large numbers of refugee and displaced populations, the world’s 79.5 million refugees and forcibly displaced people are among the most exposed and vulnerable to the virus.”
- Medium-wide shot, tables with chairs propped against them to prevent use for seating, journalists sitting wide apart in rear of shot, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “Rich countries are wisely protecting their own economies and people with enormous relief packages, but it is dangerously short-sighted not to invest to protect the world's most vulnerable people as well. The risk is otherwise, that we are going to see multiple new crises, on the back of the COVID-19.”
- Medium shot, journalists to rear of shot, sitting wide apart, chairs propped up against tables in foreground to prevent use, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- Medium shot, podium shot with three speakers sitting wide apart, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
- Medium shot, journalist looking down at laptop and typing, Press Room III, UN Geneva.
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Damaged roads, disrupted services and renewed military activity are putting civilians at risk in south Lebanon, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warns.
The UN peacekeeping mission is urging restraint and renewed political engagement to prevent further escalation.
1
1
1
Edited News | ICRC , UNODA
Amid unconfirmed reports that fully autonomous and AI-guided drones are now being used on the battlefield, UN chief António Guterres and the President of the Red Cross on Tuesday renewed their urgent call for stricter controls, before it is too late.