Today's top news: Central Emergency Response Fund, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine
#Central Emergency Response Fund
UN hosts high-level pledging event for global emergency fund in 2026
At today’s high-level pledging event for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the UN appealed for stepped-up commitments to its global emergency fund, at a time when humanitarian needs are outstripping the resources on hand to meet them.*
In his opening remarks at the event, which was co-hosted by Ireland and the Philippines, Secretary-General António Guterres said that in creating CERF 20 years ago, the international community made a simple promise: When disaster strikes, help will come. He called on donors to renew that promise and contribute to “keep hope alive for millions of people who depend on us.”
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, said that at a time “when we’re needed at full strength, the warning lights are flashing,” stressing that if CERF falters, then the world’s emergency service will falter – “and the people who rely on us will suffer.” He called on donors to help reach the Secretary-General’s target of US$1 billion this year.
Mr. Fletcher also announced an allocation of $100 million to support life-saving action in several of the world’s most underfunded emergencies, including Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar and Syria.
*Donations made to CERF through UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in need with urgent support.
#Occupied Palestinian Territory
Humanitarian community launches US$4 billion flash appeal for Gaza and the West Bank
OCHA says that the UN and its partners continue their efforts to scale up the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, delivering life-saving assistance despite persistent impediments on the ground.
Yesterday, the UN and its partners coordinated 10 humanitarian movements inside Gaza with the Israeli authorities. Eight were facilitated, allowing for the collection of critical supplies from the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings – including fuel, blankets, tent toolkits, jerrycans and vaccines. One mission was denied and another impeded.
Today, the World Health Organization reported that a second batch of five medical freezers has been delivered to five hospitals – including two stabilization centres for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition – to ensure the safe storage of therapeutic milk and foods for malnourished children. The agency added that since August, it has provided 23 medical freezers to hospitals offering maternity and nutrition services in Gaza. These units help strengthen maternal health services and improve child and newborn care.
With a severe storm expected this week, partners providing shelter services report that since the ceasefire, they have distributed with bilateral donors tents, tarpaulins, blankets, winter clothes and other critical items to help families cope. However, what has reached people in Gaza despite major impediments remains a trickle compared with the needs. Partners estimate that nearly 1.3 million people still require shelter ahead of winter. Past storms flooded displacement sites, contaminating living areas with sewage and solid waste. More than 760 displacement sites hosting some 850,000 people are at risk of flooding.
A major impediment to the shelter response is the restrictive NGO registration requirement. Many NGO partners remain blocked from bringing in relief, and nearly 4,000 pallets of shelter materials have been rejected by the Israeli authorities. Gaza urgently needs heavy machinery, tools and many more shelter items to prevent catastrophic flooding.
Meanwhile, partners leading efforts to restore education services report that as of yesterday, the number of temporary learning spaces across Gaza has risen to more than 390, up from just over 300 in October. These spaces now support nearly 221,000 students, taught by some 5,200 teachers.
Despite this progress, partners note that just over a third of Gaza’s school-aged population in the 2025-2026 academic year were enrolled in these learning spaces, highlighting the continued gap in access to education.
Yesterday, the humanitarian community in the Occupied Palestinian Territory launched the 2026 Flash Appeal, calling for just over $4 billion to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance to 3.6 million people across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The appeal underscores dual humanitarian crises: catastrophic destruction and extreme deprivation in Gaza; and rising displacement, demolitions, settler violence and movement restrictions in the West Bank.
The plan seeks to address priority needs – including food, water, shelter, health and nutrition services, sanitation and hygiene aid, cash assistance, protection, mental health support, and the rehabilitation of basic infrastructure.
OCHA warns that significant bureaucratic impediments, access restrictions and anti-UN rhetoric continue to constrain aid operations, stressing that full implementation of the humanitarian response depends on a stable and enabling operating environment.
#Ukraine
UN Deputy Relief Chief calls on Security Council to prevent fourth winter of suffering
Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, told the Security Council today that intense missile and drone attacks across Ukraine – many conducted at night, during freezing temperatures – have continued to exact a worrying toll on civilians.
She noted that energy infrastructure has also been targeted in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, with winter sharply raising the stakes. “Each damaged sub-station, heating pipeline or pumping station risks cascading failures with grave repercussions for the well-being of civilians,” Ms. Msuya said.
The Assistant Secretary-General stressed that as winter deepens and access tightens, the humanitarian community’s ability to provide support hinges on timely and efficient funding. “Underfunding has a human cost,” she said. “Families face freezing temperatures without heating support; women and girls lose access to safe spaces; and older people in front-line communities are left without the means to evacuate.”
Ms. Msuya called on the Security Council to ensure that the rules of war are upheld to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, that safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to civilians in need is facilitated, and that humanitarian action is funded in line with the scale of need.
“Your actions in the coming weeks will influence whether this winter becomes another chapter of avoidable suffering, or a moment when the Council helped prevent it,” she said.