UN News Today 15 September 2026 |

DR Congo: Ebola outbreak needs massive funding boost to halt deadly spread 

The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday. 

Julien Harneis, UN Special Ebola Coordinator, said that infections are spread across 1,500 kilometres, or 925 miles.

“If we don’t have the resources, the epidemic will come back”; it remains “deadly” and “massive” he told journalists in Geneva.

He also highlighted the challenges involved in working in communities which have suffered decades of armed violence:

“[In] many areas, the roads are massive potholes – not even potholes – trucks disappear into the mud; [in] many areas, the access, even by small plane, is complicated. And then there’s violence against the response.” 

The virus is now present in seven provinces in DR Congo.

Latest data from the UN World Health Organization indicates 7,200 reported cases and close to 3,500 deaths across 62 health zones. 

“Although the response has been unprecedented in its scale, the epidemic continues to expand,” the health agency said.

Super El Niño already causing more misery in South Sudan: WFP

The already dire hunger crisis in South Sudan is becoming increasingly critical as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

In an update, WFP’s Matthew Hollingworth said that “conflict, displacement, economic hardship, climate shocks” and the war in Sudan are pushing millions of people deeper into vulnerability, while humanitarian resources are “starting to run out”.

He described the situation in Malakal, close to the borders of Sudan and Ethiopia and a place of shelter for around 40,000 displaced people:

“If a family is eating something other than tomatoes, okra, chilies and onions that are grown locally, anything else they are eating has been flown into Malakal because it simply does not longer arrive by road or by barge because it’s too expensive, because the materials have to pay so much, or the transporters have to pay so many illegal taxes on the way. They’re just not taking the risk anymore. This is starting not just to raise costs, it’s starting to be a cost in terms of people’s lives.” 

Some 7.8 million people, or more than half of the country’s population, struggle to find food each day, while 2.2 million children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding mothers require urgent nutrition support, Mr. Hollingworth said. 

A further million vulnerable people could lose access to lifesaving food and nutrition assistance by October without additional resources.

Mr. Hollingworth noted that the impact of the “super El Niño” is clear in South Sudan, as even the most fertile agricultural areas have been affected, with crops failing and low yields because of drought.

El Niño will also increase hunger levels across Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, the World Food Programme official insisted. 

Belarus: Criminal justice system weaponised to crush dissent

To Belarus, where a Human Rights Council investigation has found strong evidence that the country’s criminal justice system is being used as an “instrument of repression”.

People in the country who are either real or perceived opponents of the authorities are terrified that they may be arrested “at random” in the street and imprisoned without a fair trial for years, said the group of independent experts.

“Defence lawyers are disbarred or detained, motions are routinely dismissed, and proceedings are often held behind closed doors while defendants are kept in metal cages in the courtroom,” they said, in a new report.

Here’s report-co-author Monika Stanisława Płatek, briefing reporters in Geneva:

“What emerges is not a picture of isolated violations, but of a system in which state institutions have systematically been used to suppress dissent and fundamental freedoms. Arrests are arbitrary and violent. Detainees are held in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions. Prosecutors prolong pre-trial detention that can last up to two years. Appellate courts uphold convictions. Penitentiary staff systematically abuse detainees held on politically motivated grounds.”

The report’s authors noted that once in jail, these prisoners are marked with yellow tags, excluded from educational and religious activities, kept for extended periods in freezing isolation cells and denied sleep and food.

“The international community must not look away,” insisted the independent expert and report co-author Susan Bazilli. “Those responsible for serious human rights violations must know that impunity is not a permanent shield and victims must know that their rights have not been forgotten,” she stressed.

The Belarusian authorities have consistently denied allegations levelled against them in the Human Rights Council.

Daniel Johnson, UN News