Author: chiefeditor

“Families have actually reverted to stuffing even soft toys to their windows to block some of the freezing cold,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine.

The alert follows another night of reported attacks against power infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia oblast in the south and Kharkiv oblast in the east which have left many residential areas without electricity and heating.

The deadly threat of cold caused by attacks on energy networks is becoming a “national-scale emergency…on top of the war”, Mr. Mammadzade told journalists in Geneva during a scheduled briefing.

Pointing to temperatures of -15°C (5°F) in Kyiv on Friday, the UNICEF official warned that next week could be even colder, while millions of families across the country live without heating, electricity and water supplies. 

“Children and families are in constant survival mode because of that,” he said.

Aid shift

While the humanitarian focus until now has been on frontline areas, the constant Russian strikes on urban infrastructure including residential areas have highlighted a far more complicated set of needs among people living in apartment blocks. 

These include Kyiv resident Svitlana “who is doing what she can to care for her three-year-old daughter, Adina”, on the 10^th floor of her building. “She told us that she had no heating or electricity for more than three days, and that was in the first week of disruption – we’re already on the second or almost third week – and many families continue to go without,” Mr. Mammadzade said.

Echoing those concerns from Kyiv, Jaime Wah from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) noted that although power has been restored “in a matter of days” following previous attacks on Kharkiv and Odesa, the situation appeared more difficult in the capital, where she rubbed her hands to keep warm while talking via video to journalists in Geneva. “In Kyiv, we’re facing a situation for sustained outages and also higher populations affected because of it,” she said.

Nearly four years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, “children’s lives are still consumed by thoughts of survival and not childhood”, UNICEF’s Mr. Mammadzade warned, noting an 11 per cent increase in verified child casualties during 2025, compared to the previous year.

The agency helps vulnerable people in Ukrainian cities by supporting large communal tents where they can get warm and find games and toys to play with. 

“Svitlana can’t bathe Arina or prepare hot food, so she wraps her child in multiple layers and navigates 10 floors of the dark stairwell to reach a tent set up outside by Ukraine’s State Emergency Services,” explained Mr. Mammadzade. “There, they can warm up, get hot food, charge devices and speak with a psychologist – or simply sit in the warmth.”  

The UN Children’s Fund warns that children are especially vulnerable to the physical and mental impact of living in the dark and coping with freezing temperatures which it says can intensify fear and stress “and can lead to, or exacerbate respiratory and other health conditions”.  

“The youngest are the most vulnerable,” Mr. Mammadzade explained. “Newborns and infants lose body heat rapidly and are at heightened risk of hypothermia and respiratory illness, conditions that can quickly become life-threatening without adequate warmth and medical care.” 

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) issued the warning on Friday, citing latest analysis from the food security framework Cadre Harmonisé, the regional equivalent of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) that uses a one to five scale – with five spelling catastrophe/famine – to inform response. 

It projects that 13 million children are also expected to suffer from malnutrition this year while over three million people will face emergency levels of food insecurity – more than double the 1.5 million in 2020.

Communities cannot cope 

Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger account for 77 per cent of the food insecurity figures, including 15,000 people in Nigeria’s Borno state at risk of catastrophic hunger for the first time in nearly a decade. 

Although a combination of conflict, displacement, and economic turmoil has been driving hunger in West and Central Africa, the slashes to humanitarian funding are now pushing communities beyond their ability to cope. 

 “The reduced funding we saw in 2025 has deepened hunger and malnutrition across the region,” said Sarah Longford, WFP Deputy Regional Director. 

“As needs outpace funding, so too does the risk of young people falling into desperation.” 

Rations reduced, hunger soars 

WFP urgently requires more than $453 million over the next six months to continue its humanitarian assistance across the region, where the impacts of the aid budget cuts are evident. 

In Mali, when families received reduced food rations, areas experienced a nearly 65 per cent surge in acute hunger (IPC 3+) since 2023, compared with a 34 per cent decrease in communities that received full rations.  

Continued insecurity has disrupted critical supply lines to major cities – including for food – and 1.5 million of the country’s most vulnerable people are on track to face crisis levels of hunger.  

Malnutrition levels deteriorate 

In Nigeria, funding shortfalls last year forced WFP to scale down nutrition programmes, affecting more than 300,000 children.  Since then, malnutrition levels in several northern states have deteriorated from “serious” to “critical.” 

The UN agency will only be able to reach 72,000 people in Nigeria in February, down from the 1.3 million assisted during the 2025 lean season.  

Meanwhile, more than half a million vulnerable people in Cameroon are at risk of being cut off from assistance in the coming weeks.  

‘Paradigm shift’ needed 

WFP underscored the importance of having adequate funding for its operations, which have helped to improve food security in the region.   

For example, teams have worked with local communities in five countries to rehabilitate 300,000 hectares of farmland to support more than four million people in over 3,400 villages. 

WFP programmes have also supported infrastructure development, school meals, nutrition, capacity building and seasonal aid to help families manage extreme weather and security risks, stabilise local economies and reduce dependency on aid. 

“To break the cycle of hunger for future generations, we need a paradigm shift in 2026,” Ms. Longford said. 

She urged governments and their partners to step up investment in preparedness, anticipatory action, and resilience-building to empower local communities. 

Ten additional temporary learning sites in Gaza Governorate have been renovated so far this month, and more than 440 spaces are operational overall, serving roughly 270,000 pupils supported by more than 6,300 teachers.  

The UN and partners continue to push for the lifting of restrictions on education supplies, including stationery, so that more children can get back to learning.  

Humanitarians also continue to assist people affected by the recent deadly winter storms that hit the Gaza Strip. More than 200 tents were distributed to families this week, alongside thousands of tarpaulins, blankets, warm clothes, cooking and serving utensils, as well as solar lights.  

Across Gaza, more than one million people still require shelter assistance and durable shelter solutions, including repairs to damaged homes.   

Guterres in London for 80th anniversary of first UN General Assembly meeting 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in London on Friday where he will participate in a special event to mark the 80th anniversary of the first meeting of the General Assembly, held in the UK capital in 1946.  

The Secretary-General had discussions with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and thanked him for the UK’s continued support for multilateralism and its active role in the UN.  

The two leaders discussed the war in Ukraine, Sudan, the Middle East and UN reform, among other topics.  

The Secretary-General also met the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and their talks focused on the role of cities in dealing with climate change.  

On Saturday, the Secretary-General will deliver the keynote address at the United Nations Association of the United Kingdom (UNA-UK) conference, which will take place at Methodist Central Hall in London where the first General Assembly meeting was held.   

UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq previewed his remarks – entitled ‘UNGA at 80: From 1946 to Our Future’ – during the regular media briefing at Headquarters in New York. 

“The Secretary-General is expected to say that as we wish to make the world fairer, it is critical that the international system reflects today’s reality, including the drive to update the Security Council and to reform the unjust and unfair international financial architecture,” Mr. Haq told journalists.  

“He will say that at a time when the values of multilateralism are being chipped away, the world needs civil society movements everywhere that are fearless and persistent and that make it impossible for leaders to look away.”  

Venezuela: One in four people needs humanitarian assistance 

Humanitarians continue to deliver aid across Venezuela, including food, school meals, healthcare and psychosocial support, UN aid coordination office OCHA said in an update on Friday. 

Years of turmoil have left many families without reliable support, and one in four people requires humanitarian assistance. 

The UN and partners continue to coordinate with authorities, monitor needs nationwide and inform people about humanitarian services available to them.  

OCHA urged donors to keep supporting aid efforts in the country, noting that the 2026 humanitarian response plan for Venezuela calls for just over $600 million.  

In 2025, the response plan was only 17 per cent funded – among the lowest globally. 

The UN agency has reached 10 million vulnerable people with food, cash and nutrition assistance since the conflict began and continues to deliver aid to an average of four million people monthly, including in previously hard to reach areas in the Darfur and the Kordofan regions as well as Khartoum and Al Jazira states. 

However, “these hard-earned gains now risk being reversed,” said Ross Smith, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, as WFP has been forced to reduce rations to the absolute minimum.

“By the end of March, we will have depleted our food stocks in Sudan,” he warned. 

Millions going hungry 

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and military rivals the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a battle for power since mid-April 2023, creating the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis. 

More than 21 million people are not getting enough to eat, and famine has been confirmed in parts of the country where humanitarian access is practically impossible.   

The fighting has forced nearly 12 million people to flee their homes and seek shelter whether elsewhere in Sudan, or across the border. 

Furthermore, some 3.7 million children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are malnourished. Recent surveys have documented record levels of malnutrition in some locations of North Darfur, where up to more than half of all young children are affected. 

‘We can turn the tide’ 

WFP has teams in Sudan and the access to scale up and save more lives, yet funding remains a challenge and $700 million is urgently needed to continue operations through June. 

In the past six months, WFP has provided regular assistance to nearly 1.8 million people in famine areas or where the threat exists, which has helped to push back hunger in nine locations. 

Recent breakthroughs have included a joint UN convoy into Kadugli in October – one of the areas where families have been cut off from aid for months. 

“One thousand days of conflict is one thousand days too many. Every single day that fighting continues, families are falling deeper into hunger and communities are pushed further to the brink,” said Mr. Smith.  

“We can turn the tide and avert famine conditions spreading further, but only if we have the funding to support these most vulnerable families.” 

In her family’s shelter, the ground is soaked and her children cannot sleep. 

“Our situation is extremely difficult, and we want someone to help us, at least by providing us with a tent that shelters us and is a proper tent,” Amina told the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) earlier this week. 

Millions of others like Amina, who are threatened by rain, flooding and ongoing bombing need live-saving aid.  

A recent Israeli ban of dozens of humanitarian groups, however, makes that assistance out of reach. A move which a group of independent UN human rights experts warned on Thursday is a violation of international law. 

“This strategy will create conditions that force Palestinians into chronic deprivation, threatening their very survival as a group and further violating the Genocide Convention,” the experts said. “It must be stopped.”

Green light for US Gaza peace plan 

Later on Thursday, in a statement released by his Spokesperson, Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the launch of Phase Two of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, announced Wednesday. 

The plan includes the establishment of a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

“Any initiative that contributes to alleviating the suffering of civilians, supporting recovery and reconstruction and advancing a credible political horizon is a positive development,” the statement read.

Mr. Guterres highlighted that the UN will continue to support all efforts to end the occupation and the conflict leading to the achievement of the two-State solution, in line with previous UN resolutions and international law.

‘Uninhabitable’ shelters  

OCHA said that 800,000 people — nearly 40 per cent of the population — now live in sites prone to flooding, where winter storms and heavy rain have made shelters uninhabitable. 

As of Tuesday, UN partners reported that hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters were blown away or severely damaged, leaving over 3,000 people exposed to severe weather, while more than 60 inhabited buildings in Gaza City could be at risk of collapse. 

Prohibited waters

OCHA noted that the Israeli military is still deployed in more than half of the Gaza Strip, beyond the “Yellow Line”, where access is either restricted or banned to aid facilities, public infrastructure and agricultural land. 

Detonations of residential buildings have continued, along with bulldozer activity, OCHA said, including near or east of the “Yellow Line”. 

Additionally, access to the sea for Palestinians remains prohibited and there continue to be reports of Palestinian fishermen being killed or detained in the waters just off Gaza. 

Millions worth of aid blocked

Announced as a national security measure on 30 December 2025, Israel’s new regulation bans 37 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating in Gaza and the West Bank. 

As of 31 December, nearly $50 million in life-saving aid remained blocked amid repeated ceasefire violations, according to the group of Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts. They are not UN staff and receive no salary for their work.

In early December, UN agencies and NGOs were only able to deliver 14,600 tents for 85,000 people, leaving 1.3 million Palestinians without adequate winter shelter. 

Several people, including six children have already died from hypothermia, drowning or cold-related injuries.

“There are no words left to describe what Gaza has become,” the experts said.

Israeli forces stormed the UNRWA-operated health centre on Monday and ordered it to close for 30 days.  They also demanded the removal of UN signage. 

Furthermore, water and electricity supply to multiple UNRWA facilities are scheduled to be cut off in the coming weeks, affecting schools, health centres and other critical buildings.

Legislative campaign 

The development marks “a new step in a pattern of deliberate disregard for international law and the United Nations,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini tweeted. 

“This is a direct result of legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in December, which stepped up existing anti-UNRWA laws adopted in 2024,” he added. 

The UNRWA Jerusalem Health Centre serves hundreds of Palestine refugee patients every day, agency spokesperson Jonathan Fowler told UN News. 

“For most of them, it’s their only possibility of having access to primary healthcare,” he said.  “So, there’s a right to health involved in this.” 

He stressed that UNRWA facilities are United Nations premises, which are protected under international law, and this applies across the globe.  

‘An anti-humanitarian gesture’ 

Mr. Fowler described the impending water and power shutdown as “kind of an anti-humanitarian gesture in many ways,” saying “it’s particularly shocking.” 

He recalled that in October, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “restated in crystal clear fashion that the State of Israel is obliged under international law to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or prevent them. And yet this continues.” 

He also warned of the potential wider consequences. 

“These are disgraceful moves. And it’s very, very important that there be global awareness about what’s going on, because this is much more than directly in East Jerusalem,” he said. 

“It goes beyond even UNRWA. This is something which potentially has global implications because of this pattern of disregard for international law.”