UN News Today 18 August 2026 |

Ebola: Motorbike riders carrying the sick may hold key to response boost

As the Ebola outbreak continues in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN aid teams underscored the danger involved in the response, after another attack on an ambulance.

Speaking from the outbreak’s epicentre in Bunia, Dr Thierno Baldé from the World Health Organization, said that Monday’s incident was a regular occurrence:

“Almost on a daily basis, you know, we face some kind of reaction, you know, from the communities. And again, these are difficult situations. People are having their relatives who are sick, who are dying.”

Dr. Baldé stressed the need to boost the response within the most vulnerable communities of eastern DRC, where millions have been displaced because of decades of fighting in the resource-rich region. 

Motorbike riders are seen as a valuable resource in the response as they transport Ebola patients and dead bodies. 

The hope is that they can be encouraged to tell WHO whenever they transport a sick person, so that the surveillance team can then follow up on suspected cases for testing. 

Lebanon: 860,000 people return to ruined homes in devastated south

More than 860,000 Lebanese have returned to their homes and villages in the south of the country, only to find devastation, ongoing shelling and airstrikes.

In an update, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, stressed that the country’s humanitarian crisis is far from over, amid ongoing clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces whose airstrikes “continue to put many lives at risk”.

UNHCR spokesperson, Babar Baloch, highlighted the need for temporary housing solutions for displaced families so that they can remain close to their communities:

“Humanitarian needs remain substantial. Widespread damage to housing, water system, electricity networks, schools, health facilities, agriculture, land and community infrastructure continue to constrain prospect of recovery.”

On Saturday, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, condemned the reported killing of three youngsters in airstrikes in the town of Ansar, north of Tyre.

The UN refugee agency said that despite declared ceasefire arrangements between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, fresh Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon over the weekend triggered new displacement, with hundreds of families fleeing northward in search of safety. 

Gaza: Just three per cent of cropland can still be farmed

Amid ongoing deadly hostilities in Gaza, the enclave’s farmers face the increasingly difficult challenge of finding safe land to grow their crops.

Satellite images published on Tuesday in new analysis from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNOSAT, the UN Satellite Centre, indicate that just three per cent (448 hectares) of the shattered enclave’s farmland remains usable. 

For cucumber and tomato grower Taysir Dahdouh, the war between Hamas fighters and Israel sparked by Hamas’s deadly attacks in October 2023 has been marked by overwhelming loss.

“I had a good income before the war,” he said, adding that even the steel frames of the greenhouses were destroyed, along with his home, belongings and irrigation pipes. 

Today, Mr. Dahdouh farms about one-tenth of a hectare of land which he restored with the help of his family.

Rafah in the far south of Gaza has the highest levels of unreachable cropland and greenhouse growing areas. The most extensive physical damage remains concentrated in North Gaza and Gaza governorates.

Rein Paulsen, Director of FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience, said without urgent action to restore safe access and provide more support to farmers, conditions will only deteriorate.

Daniel Johnson, UN News