HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 6 MARCH 2025
CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND
With global humanitarian funding being scaled back precipitously, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced today that $110 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
The aim is to boost life-saving assistance in 10 of the world’s most underfunded and neglected crises across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
OCHA warns that more than 300 million people around the world urgently need humanitarian aid, but funding has been dwindling annually, with this year’s levels projected to drop to a record low.
Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that for countries battered by conflict, climate change and economic turmoil, brutal funding cuts don’t mean that humanitarian needs disappear.
The new funding will go towards Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Honduras, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela and Zambia.
Resources will also support vulnerable people from climate shocks.
AFGHANISTAN
And turning to Afghanistan, OCHA is warning that the country continues to face a severe humanitarian crisis defined by decades of conflict, entrenched poverty, climate-induced shocks and rising protection risks, especially for women and girls.
More than half of the population – almost 23 million people – are in need of humanitarian assistance in the country. This number is one of the highest globally, second only to Sudan – where 30 million people currently need aid and protection.
Both food insecurity and malnutrition remain stubbornly high.
During the first quarter of this year, nearly 15 million people – one in every three Afghans – will experience high levels of acute food insecurity. This is according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC.
Nearly 3.5 million children under 5 and more than 1 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are expected to become acutely malnourished.
Explosive hazards continue to pose a lethal threat, with an estimated 55 people killed or injured every month – most of them children.
Funding cuts are already significantly constraining the humanitarian community’s efforts to provide assistance to those most in need. In the past month, more than 200 health facilities have closed, depriving 1.8 million people of essential health services. Malnutrition services for children have also been impacted. OCHA warns that aid funding cuts will cost both lives and livelihoods – and undermine development gains.
The UN and partners are urgently reprioritizing our programmes to ensure we can continue reaching the communities and areas most in need. This includes preparing for a potential increase in returns from neighbouring countries and needs arising from current flooding and heavy rains, which will continue in the coming months.
In addition to the funds allocated from CERF today, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund will provide an additional $30 million to support the most urgent life-saving priorities in the country.
UKRAINE
Turning to Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that last night, a strike in the city of Kryvyi Rih, in eastern Ukraine, killed and injured civilians, according to local authorities. Significant damage was also reported, with more than a dozen residential buildings, two kindergartens, multiple shops, a post office and private vehicles impacted.
In the Odesa region, an attack late last night destroyed an electricity substation, and damaged a boiler unit and more than a dozen houses.
The town of Pivdenne – which is home to 40,000 residents, including 5,000 displaced people – was left without electricity, heating and water.
Hostilities and attacks across Ukraine over the past two days have also killed and injured civilians in the regions of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Sumy. Homes and education facilities have also been damaged. This is according to authorities.
The UN, along with its partners, are providing emergency assistance to people impacted by the deadly attacks. In Kryvyi Rih City and the Kharkiv and Odesa Regions, aid organizations have been providing first aid, hot meals, mental health and psychosocial support, and shelter materials for families whose homes were damaged.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is alarmed by the recent surge in violence in Ituri Province in the country’s east. Since January, clashes and attacks by armed groups in Ituri have killed more than 200 civilians and nearly 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes. The violence also forced more than 100 schools to close.
In the latest attack, on 3 March, armed men burned down houses in the village of Ndengesa, in Irumu Territory, killing three people and forcing residents to flee.
Meanwhile, in North Kivu, authorities report that cholera cases spiked by nearly 40 per cent since last week. The UN and its partners are supporting the cholera response, but remain concerned that limited access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare will fuel further spread of the disease.
In Tanganyika Province, local authorities report that nearly 18,000 people have fled into the province from neighbouring South Kivu since mid-February. The displaced families urgently need food, water and other basic survival items.
OCHA and its partners continue to carry out needs’ assessments and provide assistance to returnees. Between 25 February and yesterday, humanitarian partners distributed water, sanitation and hygiene kits and essential household items to more than 88,000 people in the territories of Nyiragongo and Rutshuru, in North Kivu Province.
Also yesterday, the World Food Programme distributed food to 17,000 people in sites around Goma and to nearly 15,000 people in Sake on Monday.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
OCHA continues to warn that the already catastrophic situation on the ground in Gaza risks deteriorating even further unless the flow of aid resumes without delay. We cannot emphasize enough that according to international humanitarian law, civilians' essential needs must be met, including through the unimpeded entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance.
Shelter partners report that tens of thousands of tents are unable to enter, at a time when hundreds of thousands of people are in need of shelter support during this winter weather.
With no supplies entering Gaza, our food security partners report price fluctuations in the markets. Just to give you a closer look: prices of a 25-kilo bag of flour in South of Wadi Gaza on Tuesday was ranging from the equivalent of $11 dollars all the way up to more than $27.
Despite the challenges, the humanitarian community in Gaza continues to do everything possible to sustain the response. Since 19 January, our health partners have supported services provided to 1.3 million people. The UN and its partners also continue to carry out needs’ assessments of previously inaccessible sites to mobilize response efforts, though these will depend on the entry of more aid into Gaza.
Turning to the situation in the West Bank, mainly in the northern parts. OCHA is warning that the situation remains deeply alarming, with partners reporting to us what they see on the ground, from displacement to demolished homes and to damaged streets, due to the continuing Israeli forces' operations there.
The UN once again underscores that international law must be respected at all times and demand that civilians be protected.
YEMEN/SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, briefed Security Council members via VTC from Amman, on the situation in Yemen. He said that Yemen’s current trajectory is deeply concerning, where the fear of a return to full conflict is noticeable.
As he continues his engagements with both Yemeni and international stakeholders.
Mr. Grundberg once again called for the immediate and unconditional release of the detainees by the Houthis. And of course we echo these calls.
For his part, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, focused on women and girls in his briefing - the figures are heartbreaking.
He said that 9.6 million women and girls are in severe need of humanitarian assistance and 1.5 million girls remain out of school.
Unfortunately, due to severe funding cuts, Mr. Fletcher said that by the end of next week, he will get more information from colleagues on the ground on where, in Yemen, we will need to cut back most dramatically.
MEXICO
And in Mexico, the UN Refugee Agency today said the country recently marked a milestone: 50,000 refugees and asylum-seekers have been integrated into Mexican communities through the agency’s local reintegration programme since 2016.
These men, women and children have gained access to health services, education and housing, formal employment and have been facilitated access to Mexican nationality.
By focusing on self-sufficiency through skill matching and local support, 94 per cent of working-age refugees secure formal employment within the first month, 88 per cent of school-age children enroll in school, and 60 per cent of families rise out of poverty within a year.
The initiative is part of the consolidated regional strategy outlined in Cartagena +40 and the Chile Declaration and Plan of Action, which reaffirm Latin America’s leadership in refugee protection and solutions.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Tajikistan and Saint Lucia paid up their full dues to the regular budget, bringing us to 72 fully paid nations.
**Noon briefing guests today are Sarah Hendriks, the UN Women Director of Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division, and Papa Seck, the UN Women Chief of Research and Data section.
They briefed reporters on the report “Women's Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing.”
