UN Geneva Press Briefing: OCHA, UNICEF, WMO, WHO

Description

100-day mark of the Ebola outbreak declaration, progress and challenges in the response Julien Harneis, Senior Ebola Coordinator the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), speaking from Bunia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), said the Ebola outbreak was growing exponentially. In the last three months 2,500 people had died, half of those in the last 20 days. The outbreak was now covering an area bigger than France and growing faster than the response. This was occurring in an area impacted by three decades of conflict, generating huge humanitarian needs. Since 1999, conflict had displaced one million people in Ituri alone, undermined law and order, and fragmented the health system. The conditions were brutal; healthcare workers were dying from Ebola and others had been attacked by youth, with ambulances burned and stoned. Getting around was difficult; one journey of 60 kilometres had taken three hours. There were a multitude of overlapping health systems, the banking system barely functioned, and aid cuts over recent years had reduced the capacity of humanitarian workers by over 30 percent. OCHA was initiating a scaled-up response through five Government-led integrated packages, aiming to deepen community engagement, strengthen surveillance, increase safe and dignified burial times, triple care capacity to 3,000 beds and implement the humanitarian response plan. The packages brought together the core functions of multiple UN agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), through OCHA pooled funds. 80 million USD had been used to kickstart the packages, however, this would run out in the coming weeks. There urgently needed to be greater investment and support from the international community. Responding to questions from the media, Mr. Harneis said in the last six months there had been more than 260 attacks against health workers in the DRC and eight health workers had been killed. In the last month, part of the security incidents had been directed towards persons working on the Ebola response. This emerged predominately from young men and in some of the mining communities. The breakdown of law and order was unacceptable, as was the violence being directed against health workers, who were only trying to help. Mr. Harneis clarified he was speaking from Bunia in the eastern part of the DRC. He had been referring to five operational packages led by the DRC Government. Under government leadership, OCHA was bringing together UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to deliver an integrated response. There were also preparedness activities taking place in neighbouring countries, including South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Burundi and Uganda. The growth of the epidemic depended on the actions of the international community. If there was investment now to provide more staffing and bring additional resources into remote areas, within months the transmission could be slowed and stopped. If this did not happen, then the epidemic would become more deadly, and risked spreading into neighbouring countries. Governments needed to support the DRC and the United Nations to control the epidemic. Responding to other questions on the issue of funds availability, Mr. Harneis said early on in the outbreak, there had been a decision to stop all commercial flights into Bunia, which was already a three-hour flight from the capital, which prevented money being delivered to the local banks. This was an area where mobile phone banking was not an option due to a lack of connectivity. Cash payments were risky due to issues of violence. There needed to be operational banking systems. There were tens of thousands of people working on the response who needed to be paid. Increasingly the Government was paying the healthcare workers in hospitals, treatment centres and primary healthcare locations, which was a source of hope. UN agencies and non-governmental organizations were also paying for community workers and ancillary staff. The government was playing a greater role, which was the direction for the future. Answering further questions, Mr. Harneis said there were multiple overlapping health systems in the DRC, resulting from the fragmentation of the country in the 1980's. There was no singular system responsible for payments. The cleaning of the lists for payments had taken significant time, as well as the issues in the banking sector. This had all led to delayed payments for healthcare workers. Ebola was a disease which generated significant fear in the community, which translated into angry young men who threw stones at their objective fear, the ambulance. Without law and order it was difficult for these incidents to be brought under control and for the perpetrators to be brought to account. Responding to further questions, Mr. Harneis said when Ebola reached a country with a functioning health system it was easy to control; for example, when it spread into Uganda it was quickly brought under control. In the short-term, there needed to be support for the integrated packages, which had been implemented in recent weeks, to stop the epidemic. For example, there was a short-term goal of increase the number of beds from 900 to 3,000 in the next three months, and OCHA were well on their way to achieving this goal. Long term, there needed to be efforts to create a solid, robust health system for the DRC. Responding to another question, Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said a group of strategic advisors had met this week, and had discussed a vaccine which had three trials so far. While the vaccine was a great tool, it was not the solution to everything. The community outreach was the main tool. The vaccine would be a great addition, but work had to be done with what they had. More workers, materials, and staff were essential. Answering a question on OCHA's pooled funds, Mr. Harneis said the United States was a great supporter of the response; more than fifty percent of funding for the response came from the United States. The method in which it was provided meant those on the coordination side were able to finance responses from multiple agencies. The updated response plan to be released in a few days would provide an outline of the exact needs. Responding to an additional question, Mr. Lindmeier said 50,000 doses of the Ebola vaccine had been provided to frontline workers. A clinical trial was planned to identify how the Ebola vaccine could provide protection against the Bundibugyo virus. It was not yet known whether the Ebola vaccine could provide such protection, but there had been some positive hints toit. WHO and partners were working to deploy the vaccines as soon as possible. In response to a final question, Mr. Harneis said the current death toll was more than 2,500, and was increasing every day, hence the lack of precision. Launch of addendum to the 2026 Colombia earthquake humanitarian plan Jens Laerke, for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said today OCHA was officially launching the UN response appeal following the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia eleven days ago. 319 people had died with 280,000 people impacted, and more than 31,000 homes were destroyed, with thousands of educational facilities and health centres damaged. The 148 million USD being requested by the Colombian Humanitarian Country team also included 82 million USD to support 127,000 people with high vulnerability. The highest needs were health support, water, food shelter, hygiene, sanitation and protection. The earthquake had made a complex humanitarian situation in Colombia worse. Hundreds of thousands of families already faced limited access to basic services, livelihoods and infrastructure due to armed conflict. Today's launch was an addendum to the country's existing humanitarian health plan, which was currently 62 percent funded. OCHA had already received 35 million dollars from donors which was much appreciated. The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) had also allocated five million for life saving interventions. Mr. Laerke would send a note to the media with further information. Responding to questions from the media, Mr. Laerke said there had been misunderstanding that there was an initial reluctance from the Colombian Government to receive assistance which was not the case; a request had been made early on for humanitarian assistance. Before an appeal like this could be issued, there needed to be significant assessment to identify the exact humanitarian needs, which is why the addendum being launched ten days after the earthquake. However, OCHA had not waited for the plan to be finalised before beginning the response; this had happened immediately. The western part of the country was the area primarily requiring assistance. He added that OCHA had seen reports of the earthquake in Peru and did not have any further information at this point, but it would likely come soon. Devastating impact of aid cuts on children in Somalia James Elder, for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Nairobi, said in Somalia today, aid cuts were closing healthcare and nutrition facilities and pushing water, education and protection further out of reach, with children paying the price. 205 health and nutrition facilities had already closed, and in the first six months of the year, admissions of children with severe acute malnutrition increased by 32 per cent. Fewer facilities mean longer journeys, later treatment, more severe illness and a greater risk of preventable death. Against this backdrop, Somalia was facing worsening drought, conflict and displacement, rising costs and the threat of severe flooding. The pressures driving children into crisis were intensifying, just as the resources to protect them were being cut. This past week, Mr. Elder had met children who had arrived at hospitals severely malnourished, because community facilities had closed, and families who had lost their crops and livestock. He recounted the story of one mother who had been forced to flee her home due to the death of all her livestock. She had come looking for support but received nothing from the international community. Nearly 1.9 million children were projected to be affected by malnutrition this year, including almost half a million with severe acute malnutrition. More than 1.6 million people needed safe water. In education, more than 78,000 children had already dropped out, with another 660,000 at risk, and at least 65 child protection facilities had closed. Yet these programmes worked. Between 2021 and 2025, UNICEF supported more than 2.25 million admissions of children with severe acute malnutrition, with a 97.6 per cent cure rate in 2025. During the 2022 drought, UNICEF support helped more than 130,000 children remain in education. Mr. Elder had also recently met a teenager who dreamed of becoming a mechanic but was recruited by an armed group. UNICEF-supported training had previously helped children like him leave armed groups, learn skills and build livelihoods. But funding cuts now threatened that pathway for others. The programmes and the partners were there; what was missing was the funding. Aid cuts were not simply a humanitarian issue; they risked greater instability, displacement and costs later on. Protecting children was not a discretionary expense. Preventing suffering was not an inefficiency. And cutting effective aid when needs were greatest was not a saving; it meant paying more later, in money, security, lost development and, for some children, in lives. El Niño Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), responding to a question from the media, said the WMO would be issuing its next El Niño update on 3 September, which would be followed by a press conference with the WMO Secretary-General, Celeste Saulo. Ahead of 3 September, Ms. Nullis could not comment on the strength of El Niño but was aware of the reports circulating in the media on this topic. Announcements Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) at Geneva, said two press conferences would be held on Tuesday August 25, including one at 9:30 a.m. where the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would announce findings on Finland, Honduras, India and Kuwait; and the other at 2:30 p.m. where the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) would launch the 2026 Arms Trade Treaty Monitor report. The 2026 session of the Conference on Disarmament would end on 11 September. During a plenary today at 10 a.m., the President of the Conference, Ambassador Andrabi of Pakistan, would present the draft report of the Conference to the General Assembly. ***