UN News Today 11 March 2026 |

Aid chief condemns use of drones in $1 billion a day Middle East war: OCHA

The UN emergency relief chief on Wednesday condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war roiling the Middle East, at a time of severe cuts to the global body’s humanitarian work in emergencies and “soaring” needs.

“We’re seeing the consequences spread faster than we can respond,” said the Under-Secretary-General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher.

Speaking in Geneva, he highlighted that a $23 billion appeal announced last December to help 87 million of the world’s most vulnerable people remains around two-thirds underfunded.

“We still need over $14 billion now to deliver this plan, and this is at a time when conflict in the Middle East is costing $1 billion a day,” he said. “Even just $1 billion would allow us to save millions of lives. So, the choice is there: are we going to close this gap?”

Mr. Fletcher insisted that without additional support, “millions of people will die”, in a call to donors to deliver on their pledges quickly.

He appealed to “those who have more funds available to get (them) moving fast “in the first half of the year, not the second half, to allow us to deliver where support is most needed”.

UN ‘blue helmets’ to remain in Lebanon, says peacekeeping chief

Amid deteriorating security in Lebanon, the UN’s peacekeeping chief pledged on Wednesday that the United Nations force there, UNIFIL, will remain on the ground.

In a briefing to the Security Council, Jean-Pierre Lacroix described intensifying hostilities along the Blue Line that separates Lebanon from Israel.

He said that daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and Israeli forces since early March have involved rockets, missiles, drones and airstrikes.

UN peacekeepers continue to support local communities and humanitarian operations in southern Lebanon, including by protecting civilians leaving villages ordered to evacuate by Israel

Lebanon has been drawn into the escalating Middle East conflict following Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel on 2 March.

UNICEF worker confirmed killed in DR Congo 

Finally, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it’s been confirmed that a UN worker has been killed in an attack on a residence in Goma.

The French national, Karine Buisset working with UNICEF, was killed along with two others, whose identities have not been released.

Condemning the attack, the agency said that it was devastated to learn the news and “outraged” that their colleague had been killed in a reported drone strike on a building housing aid workers. 

“Karine was a dedicated humanitarian who worked tirelessly to support children and families affected by conflict and crisis. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and colleagues during this extremely difficult time,” UNICEF said. 

According to reports, drones hit Lake Kivu and a two-storey residential building housing foreign workers and aid teams in the rebel-held city early on Wednesday morning.

Goma is the capital of North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is held by M23 rebels who are also known as the March 23 Movement. They control large areas of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and seized Goma in January 2025, after a rapid offensive. 

Daniel Johnson, UN News