UN News Today 13 July 2026 |

El Niño will require early investment in resilience, says UN relief chief

The naturally occurring weather system El Niño that’s associated with climate extremes is upon us and the world should “invest in resilience” now to avoid the worst, the UN’s top aid official, Tom Fletcher, said on Monday.

In an appeal for flexible funding, Mr. Fletcher, warned that extreme heat, droughts and floods “are once again set to devastate communities across Latin America, Eastern and Southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific.”

The last El Niño from 2023 to ’24 “left tens of millions of people in need”, but this time round the forecast is for even worse shortages of food, nutrition, water, sanitation, healthcare and agricultural support, the top UN aid official stressed.

His warning follows confirmation from UN weather experts that strong El Niño conditions are expected to develop rapidly from now until September. 

This is linked to significantly warmer ocean temperatures than normal across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific which could turbocharge prolonged heatwaves and droughts in some regions, while provoking heavier than usual rainfall in other parts of the world.

Mr. Fletcher noted that El Niño’s arrival comes in addition to “widespread conflict and rising numbers of uprooted people. They face soaring fuel, fertilizer and food prices”, just as the humanitarian system is reeling from “deep cuts”.

More than $20 million from a central emergency fund has already been allocated for preventative action in six countries, the UN aid chief said, as he called for early and flexible funding to help vulnerable communities withstand the shock of El Niño.

Gaza: Aid agency WFP calls for easier access to enclave 

To Gaza, where the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday issued an urgent appeal for easier access to the war-torn enclave, to reach more Palestinians with critical aid.

There is only one crossing point open into Gaza from Israel at Kerem Shalom, which is in the very south of the Strip.

In addition to access restrictions, the ongoing violence and a lack of funding continue to reduce the reach of humanitarian operations.

Reporting from a recent aid convoy mission to Gaza, here’s WFP Representative and Country Director for Palestine, Shaun Hughes:

“Because of the security situation there’s only certain roads that we can use inside the Gaza Strip so you can see they’re of poor condition and often very congested and that’s difficult for the trucks. And because there’s only one crossing that we can use at the south of the Gaza Strip, everything that we need to deliver to the north needs to come through here as well.” 

Echoing those concerns, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, warned last Friday that aid convoys face growing insecurity and delays, as “ex ternal actors exploit humanitarian shipments to smuggle high-value items into Gaza, where the de facto authorities attempt to locate and confiscate them”.

OCHA said that there are ongoing airstrikes in the enclave along with new and protracted displacement, particularly along the Israeli military’s Yellow Line. The people of Gaza “remain confined to less than half of the land area”, the agency noted. 

It also highlighted how funding shortfalls have caused a 37 per cent drop in the number of families receiving shelter assistance in the enclave between May and June.

Shortages of critical supplies include fuel, engine oil, generators and other  specialized equipment. This is a result of funding shortfalls and Israeli restrictions that limit what and how much can be taken into Gaza.

Since the announcement of a ceasefire agreement on 10 October 2025, 1,084 Gazans have been killed and nearly 3,500 injured, according to the health authorities.

Afghanistan’s children in deepening nutrition crisis: UNICEF 

To Afghanistan, where a deepening nutrition crisis is causing more wasting among children, earlier than before. Youngsters under two are affected most, accounting for 83 per cent of severe acute malnutrition cases, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

In an alert, the agency said that wasting has worsened across 26 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, compared with last year. 

Wasting is an acute and potentially life-threatening form of malnutrition. It means that a child is too thin for their height, often because of food deprivation, illness –  or both. It can quickly become life-threatening without timely care.

Most concerning is that this deterioration is happening before the July to September peak period, which indicates “an early and deepening crisis”.

A total of 3.7 million children under the age of five in Afghanistan are at increased risk of undernutrition, which is linked to wasting, said UNICEF’s Representative in Afghanistan, Dr Tajudeen Oyewale.

Daniel Johnson, UN News